(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo courtesy of Federación Venezolana de Sofbol)
     Venezuela wins softball-tournament Bolivarian Games
Nederlands
 SANTA MARTA, Magdalena (Colombia) -
Venezuela has won the women softball-tournament of the 18th Juegos Bolivarianos (Bolivarian Games).
On Thursday (November 16), Venezuela won 3-0 against host Colombia to capture the Gold Medal.
The Bolivarian Games, where 34 sports are played, are held in Santa Marta, which is the oldest city of Colombia and the second oldest in South America.
It was founded July 29, 1525 by Spanish conquistador Rodrigo de Bastidas as the first Spanish settlement in Colombia.
The Bolivarian Games are a multi-sport event held in honor of Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), the Venezuelan military and political leader who played a leading role in the establishment of Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú and Panamá as sovereign states, independent of Spanish rule.
The event is open to athletes from these six countries.
In 2010, Chile became the seventh member of the Organización Deportiva Bolivariana, which organizes the event every four years.
Chile first participated in 2013, as did non-members Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Paraguay.
All eleven countries also participate in this years edtion, which ends on November 25.
The first Bolivarian Games were organized in 1938 in Bogotá (Colombia) to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the city.
Hereafter, five more editions followed through 1970.
Since 1973, the event is held every four years.
Both baseball and softball have been played frequently at the Games.
Baseball is part of the program for the fourteenth time, softball for the ninth time.
Four years ago, in Trujillo (Perú), the softball-tournament was won by the Dominican Republic.
The baseball-tournament ends on November 23.
Four years ago, Venezuela lost the softball-final only 1-0 against the Dominican Republic.
In 2009, when the Games were held in Sucre (Bolivia), Venezuela won its last Gold Medal and then also faced Colombia in the FInal, winning 6-1.
At the Estadio de Sóftbol at the Parque Deportivo Bolivariano, Venezuela and Panamá started the tournament strong.
Venezuela shutout Bolivia 10-0 on Day 1, then won 7-0 against Perú and 3-0 against Colombia the next day.
Panamá opened with a 7-0 win against Perú, then shutout Bolivia 8-0 on Day 2.
On the final day of the preliminary round, Venezuela added another convincing win, beating Panamá 13-3.
With that Venezuela finished unbeaten in first place.
Day 3 began with a big 16-3 win for Perú against Bolivia.
This meant elimination for Bolivia, which had lost all four games, while Perú ended up in fourth place to reach the Play-Offs.
The preliminary round ended with Colombia winning 7-0 against Panamá.
With that, Colombia ended up in second place and Panamá in third.
...The players of Venezuela celebrate winning the...
...Gold Medal at the Bolivarian Games...
(© Photo courtesy of Federación Venezolana de Sofbol) |
The two Play-Off games on Wednesday were suspenseful.
First, Panamá won 7-6 against Perú to advance to the Semi-Final (or backdoor).
Panamá led 4-1 after two innings, but Perú then came back and led 6-4 after four innings.
Moments later, Panamá came alongside and scored what would be the winning run in the sixth at bat.
Hereafter, another thriller followed at the softball-stadium, which again was well-filled.
Venezuela opened the score in the second inning on a single by Jocelin Díaz Garaban.
In the fifth inning, host Colombia failed to do some scoring.
With one out, the team had the bases loaded off of pitcher Anyibell Ramírez Sivira, who struckout the next batter, then a force out ended the inning.
But in the top of the seventh inning, Colombia did score and took a 2-1 lead.
Runners Erika Vargas Diaz and Kerlyn Gusman Arevalo then scored on a 2-out triple by Danisha Livingston Henry.
However, in the bottom of the seventh inning, Venezuela came alongside, thanks to a double by veteran player Yuruby Alicart Ramírez, which forced extra innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, Venezuela won on a walk-off single by Cristina Rodríguez Meseres to become the first finalist.
On Thursday, Colombia shutout Panamá 5-0 to become the second finalist.
In the Final, Venezuela remained unbeaten, winning 3-0 against Colombia.
Anyibell Ramírez Sivira threw a strong game for Venezuela.
The team scored two runs in the third inning.
Ingrid Escobar Osorio, who had reached on a error, then scored the first run on a single by Yuruby Alicart Ramírez, who then scored herself on a single by Ana Corcorrosa Reyes.
In the sixth inning, Venezuela made it a 3-0 score thanks to a homerun by Yaicey Sojo Pacheco.
On the world ranking list of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, Venezuela is in 16th place, while Colombia is 33rd.
(November 22)
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