Havana, January 18 (RHC)—For the first time in the history of Cuban National Baseball Championships the crown will be disputed between two teams from the Eastern provinces.

Las Tunas team became the challenger of current champ Granma Wednesday night, after resoundingly defeating Havana´s Industriales team by a 10 runs to zero knockout at the 7th inning.

Las Tunas had 12 hits, among the two home runs

Pitcher Luis Ángel Gómez had a performance of the highest quality. In a game that was probably the greatest challenge of his sports career, he subdued batters from the rival team, allowing just 5 hits in 7 innings and no runs.

Las Tunas scored two runs on the third inning, driven by a hit to the center field by fourth bat Yosvani Alarcón, another two in the fifth by errors of the shortstop Acebey and first base Malleta, and four more in the fifth by home runs by Alarcón and first base Rafael Viñales. All these runs defined the match at an early stage, played before a sold out crowd at the Julio Antonio Mella stadium.

Catcher Yosvani Alarcón, in a slump during the first six games of the semifinals, batted with energy in the decisive game and hit 4-4, including a home run and a double.

Las Tunas, with two sixth places as its best performances in the National Series, had two comeback victories in this semifinals, and will seek the crown against the current Granma champion, who eliminated the Matanzas squad in only five matches.

The finals are scheduled to begin Saturday at the Julio Antonio Mella Stadium in Las Tunas. It will be a 7 games match. The winner between Granma and Las Tunas will be the team that first reaches four victories.