Havana, October 8 (RHC)- The gold medal match between undefeated Cuba and challenger Curacao will conclude this Sunday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the 5th Caribbean Baseball Cup.

The team from the largest Antillean Island concluded the preliminary phase with a 3-0 record, after defeating the U.S. Virgin Islands (11-1), Curacao (4-0) and Puerto Rico (4-2), in that order.

The Curaçaoans took second place in the standings (2-1), after defeating the Puerto Ricans (3-0) and the Virgin Islands (16-2).

Both finalists starred in the stellar duel of the third edition of the tournament, won by Curaçao with a 4-3 score, and the following year the Cubans were again in silver after losing in the final game against Puerto Rico by 4-9.

In third and fourth place in the standings were the hosts (1-2) and the Virgin Islands (0-3), who will also play today for the bronze metal.

At the end of the qualifying phase, Cuba led the attack with the best offensive line (AVE/OBP/SLU/ops), with averages of 312/440/494/934.

The Cubans also topped the pitching with an effectiveness of 1.05 and only struck out one opponent every two innings.

According to the report of Carlos del Pino, statistician of the Caribbean Baseball Confederation (Cocabe), the defense of both finalists played impeccably in their three games.

The V Caribbean Cup had contemplated two rounds by the round robin system, cross semifinal and final, but this week's rainfall in the region forced the organizers to make adjustments in the schedule, which was left with only one qualifying round and the medal games. (Source: Prensa Latina)