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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen & Marco Stoovelaar)
    De Caster & Gigantes open Serie Latinoamericana with loss
Nederlands
 MANAGUA (Nicaragua) -
Gigantes de Rivas, the champion of Liga de Béisbol Profesional Nacional (Nicaragua) opened the fourth edition of the Serie Latinoamericana at home in Managua with a 6-3 loss to Nacionales de Panamá, the champion of Liga Profesional de Béisbol de Panamá in a 10-inning game.
Nacionales led early, but Gigantes came alongside, then lost in the tenth.
Netherlands National Team-player Yurendell de Caster was 1-for-3 with two walks and a run scored for Gigantes.
In the afternoon, Tobis de Acayucan, the champion of Liga Invernal Veracruzana de Béisbol Profesional (Mexico) won 9-3 vs. Caimanes Olímpica de Barranquilla, the champion of Liga Colombiana de Béisbol Profesional (Colombia).
In between the games, the tournament was officially opened with the four teams present and the playing of the four national anthems, which combined took 11 minutes.
Hereafter, former Major Leaguer Marvin Benard from Nicaragua threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The Serie Latinoamericana is held for the fourth year with the participation of the champions of the professional winter leagues of Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panamá.
For the event, the participating teams are allowed to add players from other teams within their league.
For instance, Gigantes added third baseman Ofilio Castro and short stop Iván Marín from Orientales de Granada, as its regular third baseman Anderson Feliz and short stop Omar Obregón had other commitments.
Feliz had played in the minor leagues for the New York Yankees through 2014 and now received an invitation of the Pittsburgh Pirates, while Obregón plays in the minors for the Atlanta Braves.
Also not available to play for the Gigantes is pitcher Carlos Téller.
...Dennis Martínez in...
...1998 with the Braves...
(© Ph: Marco Stoovelaar) |
This year, the event is organized in Nicaragua.
Most games will be played in Estadio Nacional Dennis Martínez in capital Managua, the home of Indios del Bóer.
Later in the tournament, two games are played at the sites of the two clubs that played in the Nicaraguan Final last week, in Rivas and Granada.
The stadium in Managua is named after former Major Leaguer Dennis Martínez.
In 1972, the pitcher participated with the Nicaragua National Team in the Haarlem Baseball Week, the big international tournament in Haarlem (Netherlands).
Shortly thereafter, he signed a professional contract and became the first Nicaraguan player to reach the Major League.
Martínez, nicknamed 'El Presidente', pitched in the Majors in 1976-1998 for Baltimore Orioles, Montrea Expos, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners and Atlanta Braves.
(January 26)
Related Articles:
 Caimanes capture title in professional Colombian league. (January 25, 2016)
Nacionales champion of professional league in Panamá. (January 25, 2016)
De Caster and Gigantes win Nicaraguan title; Vásquez MVP! (January 20, 2016)
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Game 1 - Colombia vs. Mexico
In the first game of the event, Tobis de Acayucan (Mexico) won 9-3 vs. Caimanes Olímpica de Barranquilla (Colombia), but led only 4-3 after eight complete innings.
Sharnol Adriana, former player of the Netherlands National Team and a professional player himself in 1991-2014, was initially one of the coaches of the Mexican champion when the season began.
The Mexican squad appeared to open the score quickly when it got runners on first and third base with one out in the top of the first inning.
With one out, Adan Velasquez walked and Karím Garcia singled to put runners at the corners.
But the inning ended when Cuban Joan Carlos Pedroso grounded into a double play.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Colombian team did open the score.
Lead-off hitter Efrain Contreras reached second base on an error, then scored on a single with one out by Adrian Sanchez.
In the second at bat, Mexico stranded two runners in scoring position.
With one out, Sergio Perez and José Castañeda were on base (both fielder's choice), but were left behind on second and third base.
...Sharnol Adriana hitting for the...
...Netherlands National Team during...
...the 2009 World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
The Colombian defense turned another double play in both the third and fourth inning, but also gave up two runs.
In the top of the fourth, Joan Carlos Pedroso led off with a walk and an infield-hit by Pedro Diaz was followed by a throwing error to put runners on second and third base.
Pedroso then scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by Sergio Perez and Diaz scored the go-ahead run on a single by José Castañeda.
The Mexicans added two runs in the top of the sixth inning and again it were Pedroso and Diaz, who scored the runs.
Some 15 years ago, the now 36-year old Pedroso participated a few times with the Cuban National Team in the two major international tournaments in the Netherlands, the Haarlem Baseball Week and the World Port Tournament Rotterdam.
In the sixth, Pedroso again led off with a walk, then Diaz followed with a double.
With one out, a pitching change followed, then Pedroso scored on a sacrifice fly by José Castañeda.
Next, a single by Daniel Sanchez was followed by an outfield-error, which enabled Diaz to score the next run.
After giving up the run in the first inning, Mexican starter Jasiel Acosta encountered no problems in the following at bats.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, he gave up a double to American Art Charles, then walked next batter Steven Brown.
That resulted in the departure of Acosta.
Hereafter, a force out followed.
With runners on first and third base, another pitching change was made.
Side-armer Hugo Castellanos took over, but was greeted with an RBI-double by Gerson Montias.
With runners on second and third base, a grounder ended the at bat.
Colombia narrowed the deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning when Ronald Ramirez led off with a double and went on to score on a sacrifice fly by Efrain Contreras after a pitching change.
In the eighth inning, Colombia tried to come alongside.
With the bases loaded and one out, a pitching change followed.
Batter Ronald Ramirez then hit the ball into short centerfield where it was caught by short stop Rufino Candelario.
Steven Brown, the runner on third base, took off trying to score, but was thrown out at the plate to end the at bat.
Hereafter, in the top of the ninth inning, Mexico put the game out of reach by scoring five runs off of two pitchers to lift the lead to 9-3.
In the inning, the first run was scored on a throwing error by the pitcher on a sacrifice bunt, the next one on a passed ball, then Alan Velasquez and Christian Sazueta followed with runscoring singles.
With the bases loaded, Sergio Perez also delivered an RBI-single to make it 9-3.
Hereafter, the inning ended when the Colombian squad turned its fifth double play of the game.
Both teams used a lot of pitchers.
Mexico used six, while Colombia used eight.
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Game 2 - Nicaragua vs. Panamá
In the evening, Nacionales de Panamá won 6-3 in ten innings vs. host Gigantes de Rivas.
The Panamanian squad took a quick lead, scoring three runs in the first inning off of starter Paul Estrada.
With one out, he gave up consecutive singles to Eduardo Thomas, Rubén Rivera and Javier Quiroz, resulting in the first two runs.
Thomas scored on the hit by Quiroz, but when that was followed by an outfield-error, Rivera also was able to score.
The error enable Quiroz to move to third base and he then scored when Javier Domínguez followed with a sacrifice fly.
Thomas is a pick-up player for the Panamanian team, as he plays for Águilas Metropolitanas, which last Friday lost the Championship-final in Panamá.
During that series, Thomas was named Most Valuale Player of the regular season.
After being retired in order by righthander Robert Palencia, Gigantes got one run back in the second at bat.
With one out, Yurendell de Caster singled, moved on a wild pitch and scored on a following single by Luis Allen Salazar.
The next two innings were very simular.
Nicaragua was retired in order in the third, Panamá in the fourth.
Nicaragua got a runner on base in the fourth, but he was eliminated in an inning-ending double play.
For Panamá, that same situation had happened in the third at bat.
In the top of the fifth inning, Panamá got the bases loaded, but didn't score.
After Nicaragua-starter Paul Estra had struckout the first two batters, he walked Rodrigo Orozco and gave up a single to Eduardo Thomas, which led to runners on second and third base.
Next batter Rubén Rivera was then walked intentionally, but Estrada closed the bat with a strikeout.
In the bottom of the fifth, Nicaragua got a scoring opportunity and scored once.
With one out, Dwight Britton singled.
He then advanced when third baseman Jorge Bishop made another defensive play on a hard grounder for the second out.
Hereafter, Iván Marín walked and Jimmy González followed with a single in leftfield.
That brought in Britton to narrow the deficit to 3-2.
However, when the ball jumped up in leftfield, Marín, who came from first base, was also waved home, but was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
...Yurendell de Caster...
...one basehit, two walks, one run...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
In the top of the 6th, Panamá left runners on second and third base.
Javier Domínguez led off with a single, then a throwing error followed on a sacrifice bunt by Jorge Bishop.
The two then moved on a sac-bunt by Rodrigo Vigil.
Hereafter, Paul Estrada followed with his seventh strikeout.
The righthander was then relieved by José Escalona, who then closed the inning with another strikeout.
In the bottom of the sixth, Gigantes came alongside.
With one out and Rubén Mateo (fielder's choice) on first base, Yurendell de Caster walked, which led to a pitching change.
Starter Palencia was replaced by Gilberto Méndez, but he was greeted with a runscoring single by Venezuelan Luis Allen Salazar, which made it a 3-3 score.
Nicaraguan reliever José Escalona also had a good outing in the seventh and eighth inning.
He retired the side in both inning, struckout three batters and was supported with a great running catch by leftfielder Wuillians Vásquez on a line drive.
Moments later, Vásquez led off the bottom of the eighth for Nicaragua.
The Venezualan struckout, but argued the third strike called by Colombian Home Plate Umpire Michael Tibabijo and was ejected.
With two outs, Yurendell de Caster walked, but was caught stealing.
As the tie wasn't broken, the game went into extra innings.
Panamá was silenced for eight innings after scoring three runs in the first at bat.
But in the top of the tenth inning, the team re-took the lead when it again scored three runs.
With one out Carlos Javier Quiroz homered off of José Sáenz, who had taken over the pitching in the previous at bat.
Hereafter, Javier Domínguez walked and scored on a triple by Jorge Bishop.
That led to a pitching change, as Gustavo Martínez took over.
He hit Rodrigo Vigil with a pitch, then gave up a runscoring single to Saúl González with two outs, which increased the lead to 6-3.
In the bottom of the 10th, Jimmy González (lead off) and Renato Morales (with one out) both singled, but Nicaragua was unable to turn erase the new deficit.
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