(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Las Tunas wins again to advance to Cuban Semi-Final
Nederlands
 CAMAGÜEY (Cuba) -
Leñadores de Las Tunas won 10-2 on Thursday-afternoon (March 4) against Avispas de Santiago de Cuba in Game 4 of the best-of-five Quarter Final of the 60th edition of the Cuban Serie Nacional de Béisbol.
With the win, Las Tunas won the series 3-1 to advance to the Semi-Final.
Las Tunas recorded two shutouts (3-0, 7-0) in the previous two games.
Santiago de Cuba opened the series with a 7-4 win on January 26, but thereafter, this series was put on hold.
After tests had been done, there were several positive cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the team of Santiago de Cuba.
In some reports, a total of some 20 cases was mentioned, while there also were a few cases in the team of Las Tunas.
According to the health protocols and procedures, everyone involved was put in isolated quantaine and more tests were done.
The series resumed last Sunday in Camagüey, where this Quarter Final was played in its entirety at Estadio Cándido González.
Las Tunas now will face reigning champion Cocodrilos de Matanzas in the best-of-seven Semi-Final, which is scheduled to begin on Sunday.
Matanzas had reached the Semi-Final by completing a 3-0 sweep on Tuesday, February 16 against Elefantes de Cienfuegos.
Initially, this Semi-Final also was to be played in Camagüey.
However, on Thursday, it was announced that the series has been moved to Sancti Spíritus.
The reason to move the series is that there is somewhat of a raise of coronavirus cases in Camagüey.
To help the local government to concentrate more on this situation, the playing site was changed.
The winner of the Semi-Final then will meet Alazanes de Granma in the best-of-seven Championship Final.
On Saturday (February 27), Granma won 13-3 in eight innings against Vegueros de Pinar del Río to win the first Semi-Final, 4-2 and advance to the Final.
Las Tunas vs. Santiago de Cuba
Las Tunas led 2-0 after five innings, but Santiago de Cuba then came alongside in the top of the sixth.
Moments later, Las Tunas decided the game with a 6-run rally in its sixth at bat.
Las Tunas opened the score in the bottom of the second inning.
Rafael Viñales Alvarez led off with a double, then scored on a following single by Yordanis Alarcón Tardio.
The home-team doubled its lead in the fourth inning when Viñales homered with one out.
Santiago de Cuba got a chance to score the first run in the top of the first inning.
With one out, José Luis Gutiérrez Nápoles tripled off of starting pitcher Alejandro Meneses Abelleira, but he was left behind on third base.
Santiago de Cuba also stranded runners in scoring position in the second (2nd base) and third (3rd base) inning.
Trailing 2-0, the team came alongside in the top of the sixth.
The first run was scored when Yoelkis Guibert Steven and Edilse Silva La O led off with back-to-back doubles.
Silva then moved to third base on a line-out into rightfield.
After Dennis Ala Beltrán had walked, Silva scored the tying run on a 2-out double by pinch-hitter Yaicel Manuel Pérez González.
With runners on second and third base, Alberto Pablo Civil Hidalgo took over the pitching from starter Meneses and got an inning-ending flyout.
Las Tunas then rallied for six runs in the bottom of the sixth to re-take the lead and decide the game.
Lead-off hitter Danel Castro Moñagorry reached on an error and Yosvani Alarcón Tardio was hit by a pitch.
Castro then advanced to third base on a flyout and scored the go-ahead run on a single by Yordanis Alarcón Tardio, which led to a pitching change.
Yoandri Montero Luna replaced starter Carlos Font Mustelier, but he was greeted with an RBI-double by Andrés De La Cruz Matos.
With runners on second and third base, a force play was set up via an intentional walk for Denis Peña Rivero.
That brought in new pitcher Luis Fonseca Garcia.
He saw Alarcón score and with one out, he gave up a runscoring double to Yuniesky Larduert Domínguez.
Another pitching change followed, as Yosmel Garcés Herrera took over, but he gave up a 2-run single to Andrés Quiala Herrera.
That lifted the lead to 8-2, but also was followed by another change on the mound.
Uber Luis Mejías Rodríguez became the fifth pitcher in this inning.
He got an inning-ending flyout, but Las Tunas had taken a decisive lead.
Las Tunas added two more runs in the seventh when Yordanis Alarcón Tardio hit a 2-run homerun.
Santiago de Cuba was unable to add more runs.
In the eighth, Rudens Sánchez Celda led off with a single, but he was eliminated in a double play.
The team was then retired in order in the top of the ninth.
(March 4)
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