HIS PARENTS wanted a good medical school with a distinct Catholic character. UST fit the billing.
The UST Golden Sox will parade a top-ranked slugger from the University of Texas to fortify their lineup in the upcoming UAAP season.
Top recruit Bernardo Siaotong, 22, will bring to bring to the team young experience that has caught the attention of other UAAP schools, not to mention some top US collegiate squads. “But I turned them down because I think I need to be in UST,” he said.
A former Bellaire High School outfielder who never left a baseball season without swatting at least three homeruns, Siaotong is expected to be the “go-to-guy” for the UST Golden Sox, who was denied of a back-to-back championship last season.
By coming to the Philippines in 2009 and playing for UST, the most accomplished school in UAAP history, he also seeks to rekindle his passion for the sport.
“I was on a hiatus for a year. I never played baseball because I lost the grit to play,” said Siaotong, who ranked 100 in the national level in the US. “But I realized I was unhappy without baseball so I decided to come here and choose UST because that’s where my parents wanted me to go. My mother is religious, and my father wanted me to study medicine.”
Upset with what he called a “corrupt” system of baseball in Texas, Siaotong grabbed the opportunity to show his A-Game in his parents’ hometown.
“It’s like you could never play without money or influence. I thought I didn’t stand a chance in playing for a division of one school because of that,” said Siaotong, a Nutrition and Dietetics major.
Siaotong first tried his luck with the Bellaire Cardinals before his freshman year, but only to be fielded as a speed player with a .500 batting average in his second year.
“I really had no idea about baseball when I tried out,” he said.
A groin injury during his sophomore year proved to be a blessing in disguise as he was allowed to shift to being a power-hitter.
From then on, he began making a number of homeruns per game, and the rest is history.
First Fil-Am to suit up
Golden Sox assistant coach Sherwin Canlas is banking on Siaotong to add power to the roster, which lost leadoff batter Julian Teves and clean-up hitter and former team captain Kasulhay Argel to graduation.
“We lost key players in Teves and Argel, but we know he (Siaotong) can fill the void, knowing that aside from being a strong player, he also trains hard. And that is very impressive because he really wants to become greater for the team,” Canlas said.
