Havana, December 1 (RHC-ACN)-- Cuba lost 7-10 to the Dominican Republic in the final hexagonal of the Pan American U23 Baseball Championship taking place in Panama, and no longer has opportunity to get one of the four tickets this contest grants to next year´s World Cup.

The Dominicans batted nine hits against three Cuban pitchers, including homeruns by 1B Dariel Gomez and 2B Marcos Almora, who was his team´s best batter by hitting 2 for 3 with three RBIs.

Cuban pitchers had a disastrous performance when amounting five wild pitches, in addition to three walks and two HPs.

The losing side, with just five hits, lost 2-10 in the ninth frame, in which they had a late reaction when batting six hits, including a homer by 1B Lional Kindelan and managed to score five runs.

Cuba´s best hitters were SS Yorbert Sanchez, C Ariel Martinez and 3B Ricardo Ramos with two hits each.
The win went to Johan Martinez while Yosimar Cousin took the loss.

Venezuela, undefeated in four games, already won its berth to the 2018 WC, while Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama and the DR, all with balance of 2-2, are fighting for the three other tickets in contention.