(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Robert Bos)
        WildCats Curaçao loses lead vs. Venezuela on Day 6 Caribbean Series
Nederlands
  CARACAS / MACUTO, La Guaira State (Venezuela) -
Curaçao-champion WildCats KJ74 lost 8-6 to host Leones de Caracas on Tuesday-evening (February 7), Day 6 of he 65th edition of the Serie del Caribe (Caribbean Baseball Series) in Venezuela.
WildCats appeared to be en route to a victory, as the team led 6-2 after the sixth inning, but failed to hold onto the lead.
The Venezuelan champion rallied for three runs in both the seventh and eighth inning.
Despite the loss, WildCats still has as chance to reach the top-4 and thus the Semi-Finals.
Day 6 of the annual event began with a 4-3 win for Indios de Mayagüez (Puerto Rico) against Agricultores from Cuba, which therefore was eliminated.
The Cubans initially led 3-0 (all scored in the second inning), but Puerto Rico scored twice in the fifth, then two more with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, thanks to an error and walk-off single by Emmanuel Rivera.
In the afternoon, round-robin leader Cañeros de Los Mochis (Mexico) nipped Federales de Chiriquí (Panama) 2-1 to become the first team to secure a spot in the Semi-Finals.
With the score at 1-1, Mexico scored the deciding run in the fifth at bat on an error.
In the evening, Vaqueros de Montería (Colombia) recorded an unexpected big 11-1 victory against Tigres del Licey (Dominican Republic).
The Colombian team broke a scoreless tie with a 4-run rally in the sixth, then added five more in the next at bat.
After Tuesday's games, Colombia and Venezuela follow the Mexican leader in a tie for second place.
The Dominican and Puerto Rican champions then share fourth place.
Thereafter, WildCats is tied with the Panamanian team with a 2-4 record, but the Curaçao-team is in sixth place based on the Team Quality Balance.
On Wednesday, WildCats closes the round-robin against the team from the Dominican Republic.
A win, combined with other results, could create a 4-way tie and then the final ranking would be decided based on the TQB.
At Estadi Jorge Luis García Carneiro in Macuto, WildCats had a strong start.
The team trailed early, got a run back, then rallied for five runs in the second inning.
But thereafter, the Curaçao-champion was kept scoreless in the remainder of the game, while the Venezuelan opponent turned the game around from the seventh inning on.
Leones del Caracas took an early lead in the top of the first inning off of starter Cody Mincey.
He gave up a lead-off double to Ali Jesus Castillo, who advanced on a grounder.
Danny Vásquez then walked and stole second base.
With two outs, both scored when Oswaldo Arcia delivered a single into centerfield.
A that led to an early lead for the champion of the professional Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional.
WildCats got one run back in its first at bat off of starter David Eliud Ramos.
With one out, Andrelton Simmons singled and he moved to third base on a 2-out single by Sharlon Schoop.
Moments later, Simmons scored on a single by Wladimir Balentien, but two runners were left behind.
After Cody Mincey had retired the side in the top of the second inning, WildCats struck with a 5-run rally on six consecutive basehits in the bottom of the second.
The Curaçao-team got the bases loaded quickly, as Dudley Leonora, Juremi Profar and Darren Seferina all started with a single.
Seferina's single ended up in front of home-plate and loaded the bases.
Back-to-back doubles followed.
First, Ray-Patrick Didder doubled into leftfield to bring in the first two runners and put Curaçao ahead, 3-2.
Thereafter, Andrelton Simmons also doubled and that scored Seferina.
Next batter Jonathan Schoop singled to record the sixth consecutive basehit and bring in Didder, increading the lead to 5-2.
A pitching change followed.
Ricardo Antonio Pinto took over and he got a double play-grounder from Sharlon Schoop, but that also enabled Simmons to score the next run.
A grounder by Wladimir Balentien ended the productive at bat, but WildCats now led 6-2.
However, the team was unable to add more runs in the remainder of the game and would end up empty-handed.
...Juan Carlos Sulbaran closed the game for...
...WildCats, but couldn't avoid a loss...
...On the photo, he pitches for Curaçao Neptunus...
...in the Dutch big league in the 2022 season...
(© Photo: Robert Bos) |
After having given up the two runs in the first inning, Curaçao-starter Cody Mincey encountered no problems in the next five at bats.
He gave up four basehits, but Venezuela was unable to get into scoring position.
In the meantime, Curaçao also was kept scoreless.
The team was retired in order in the third and fifth inning.
Runners were left behind on first and second base in the fourth.
And in the sixth, off of new pitcher Miguel Angel Socolovich, another runner stranded on second base.
But in the top of the seventh inning, Leones del Caracas came back into the game.
Trailing 6-2, the team rallied for three runs.
After hitting the lead-off hitter with a pitch, Mincey gave up a single, then an RBI-single to Orlando Jesus Arcia.
Wendell Floranus was then inserted as new pitcher, but he got the bases loaded when he began with a walk.
The three runners advanced on a grounder by Wilfredo José Tovar, which led to the next run.
With first base open, a force play was set up via an intentional walk, but a normal walk for next batter Isaias Tejeda then accounted for the third run in the inning.
With the bases still loaded and only one out, another pitching change followed.
Edgar Ernesto Garcia took over and he got a double play-grounder, but the team from Caracas had narrowed the deficit to only 6-5.
The game clearly turned around in the seventh inning.
Now only trailing 6-5, Arnaldo José Hernandez took over the Venezuelan pitching in the bottom of the seventh and struckout Jonathan Schoop, Sharlon Schoop and Wladimir Balentien.
In the top of the eighth inning, Venezuela again rallied for three runs to re-take the lead.
This time, the runs were all scored with two outs!
With one out, Edgar Ernesto Garcia walked a batter and with two outs, he got the bases loaded when he also walked the next two batters.
A wild pitch then enabled lead runner José Gregorio Rondón to score the tying run.
Hereafter, the bases got loaded again when Garcia issued another walk.
Juan Carlos Sulbaran then took over the Curaçao-pitching, but he was greeted with a 2-run double by Danny Vásquez.
And that gave Venezuela an 8-6 lead!
Sulbaran closed with a strikeout, but the game had turned around.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, new pitcher Ricardo José Rodríguez also retired the side.
Curaçao then got one final chance to do something back in the bottom of the ninth inning.
New pitcher Anthony Vizcaya got two baserunners with one out when Ray-Patrick Didder reached on an error and Andrelton Simmons singled.
The game then ended when Jonathan Schoop grounded into a double play.
Curaçao outhit Venezuela 12-11.
Three of the basehits were collected by Andrelton Simmons, who also scored twice.
Juremi Profar and Darren Seferina both had two basehits and scored once.
Ray-Patrick Didder batted in three runs.
(February 8)
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