Bittersweet taste for Morgaetxebarria | The mail

He finished “at ease” because of the match he played, although he could not put the finishing touch on it. Aimar Morgaetxebarria made his professional debut yesterday (Baiko) with a defeat at the fronton in Amorebieta, his home town. Accompanied by Urrutikoetxea, he fell against Jaka and Elizegi in a match in which the Gipuzkoans had the situation under control from the equator.

The bodyguard had a walk from the members of the Lagun Onak ball club when he jumped onto the field and some bertsos that extolled his figure. The stands were full and on the walls of the fronton you could read several banners of encouragement. Everything was round at the beginning, although the game was something else. In professional baseball nobody gives anything away. Morgaetxebarria knew it, but yesterday he was able to verify it in person. The jump from amateurs is great and it takes time to take the pulse of the new rivals.

His goal was to give a good level and he achieved it at times. “It is true that in some of my nerves I have made a mistake, but I have been able to show how I am as a pelota player,” he said. He started quite confident and letting go with both hands, although with the livelier ball of his rivals he was more uncomfortable. In the long frames he had an opponent who is going through a good moment and Elizegi immediately got his act together to make the difference. He commanded his plot, but the zornotzarra held up quite well. Although the Colorados managed to take a 3-0 lead in the light, Urrutikoetxea also claimed the leading role from him and helped his teammate. He moved the ball well and was able to balance the crash. The scoreboard indicated a hopeful tie at five for the Biscayans, who played in blue when they should have done so in red due to a mix-up by the company.

It was from then on that Lizartza and his partner began to make a difference. They knew where they had to charge the game to have the situation under control and the striker had the ball and holes to finish the goal. In the blink of an eye they opened a gap of five because Jaka’s volley did damage.

The one from Zaratamo and the one from Amorebieta resisted after the striker got a couple of good hooks, but they lacked some regularity to hunt down their opponents. A couple of errors condemned them to continue in the fight from behind, while the Gipuzkoans were becoming more solid on the pitch (13-7).

Sentence

The Blues resurfaced to tighten the clash again with several good actions by Urrutikoetxea and a great right hand by Morgaetxebarria that would have ended up on the rebound if Elizegi hadn’t unsuccessfully tried to return it from the air (15-12). But from then on the winners went straight to close the match. More solid and whole physically, they pulled the board to avoid any new scare and reached cardboard 22 with a good right hand from Ateasu’s bodyguard to box ten.

Yesterday was his debut. He now begins a new stage for Morgaetxebarria. He has two years to settle. “I am excited and I want to thank my whole family for the support they have given me because they have always been there,” he said.