(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Roger Bernadina & Jiandido Tromp account for first win Leones in Nicaraguan Final
Nederlands
 RIVAS (Nicaragua) -
Dutch National Team-players Roger Bernadina and Jiandido Tromp had a major contribution in the first win of Leones de León in the best-of-seven Championship Final of the Liga de Beisbol Profesional Nacional (LBPN) in Nicaragua.
On Tuesday-evening (January 25), Leones won 2-0 in ten innings.
In the weekend, opponent and reigning champion Gigantes de Rivas won the first two games, 5-1 and 4-2.
Game 4 will be played on Wednesday-evening.
In the third game of the Series on Tuesday in Rivas, the score was 0-0 after nine complete innings.
Leones then struck with two runs in the top of the tenth inning.
The team was outhit 8-7 and left eleven runners behind in this game.
Gigantes stranded ten runners.
Leones got into scoring position for the first time in the top of the second inning, but stranded two runners.
The team came close to the first run in the fourth.
With two outs, Leones got its first runner on third base, but this time, runners were left behind on second and third base.
The home-playing Gigantes got a chance to open the score in the bottom of the first inning.
The first two batters reached base, but with runners at the corners, the inning ended with a strikeout.
In the fourth, Gigantes had runners on first and second base with one out, but they also stranded.
In the sixth, the home-team got the bases loaded with one out.
This time, a force play at the plate and a flyout ended the at bat.
In the top of the eighth, it was Leones that came close to a run.
Jiandido Tromp led off with a walk, then moved on a sacrifice bunt and reached third base when Roger Bernadina reached on an error.
Hereafter, a walked loaded the bases and was followed by a pitching change.
Next batter Adrian Moreno flied out and when Tromp tried to score, he was thrown out at the plate in an inning-ending double play.
Leones left a runner behind on second base in the top of the ninth.
Gigantes didn't get into scoring position in the eighth and ninth.
In the top of the tenth inning, Leones struck with two runs, thanks to the input by Tromp and Bernadina.
Off of closer Carlos Contreras, Tromp led off with a single, then Alay Lago also singled.
Hereafter, it was Bernadina who delivered the third consecutive single, which enabled Tromp to score the first run.
With one out, Adrian Moreno singled to bring in Lago and make it a 2-0 score.
Contreras then closed with two strikeouts, but his team now faced a deficit.
In the bottom of the tenth inning, Leones-closer Junior Tellez gave up an one-out double to Chris Roberson.
But hereafter, a grounder and flyout ended the game.
(January 25)
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