1st Baseball Series of the Americas

Nicaragua, Jan 30 (RHC) The Nicaraguan national team defeated the Cuban Leñadores de Las Tunas 5-4 to send them off from the Series of the Americas and get the ticket to the final of the tournament.

The Antillean team, which reached this stage by the benefit of the competition system, after concluding the qualifying phase with a 2-3 record with two shutouts, could not take revenge against a team that defeated them in the opening game and that proved to be superior in the event.

After the home side scored a run in the very first episode on an error by the Cuban defense, the scoreboard was full of zeros until the fifth act, when the Leñadores, after failing seven times with men on the pads, got the equalizer on a single by Yoelquis Guibert.

When left-hander Cole Cook left the mound, catcher Yosvani Alarcón greeted reliever Fidencio Flores with a homer that made a momentary difference.

Dariel Góngora, who replaced starter Raymond Figueredo, who was out due to shoulder discomfort, had worked three immaculate innings, until Emmanuel Trujillo, owner of the triple batting crown in the regular phase, disappeared the ball to tie the game.

In the seventh inning, the Pinoleros tipped the scales of the game with a pair of runs scored by the defeated Góngora, pushed by a hit from the fourth batter Elián Miranda, against a delivery from the reliever Alberto Pablo Civil.

One inning later, Sandor Guido's team scored the last run of the game when they once again hit the rubber at the plate with a rocket hit by Brandon Leyton, which made the stands go crazy.

Rescuer Luis Peña was credited with the success by allowing no liberties in two chapters and two thirds, but when he left the Cubans ran riot with a pair of runs on Guibert's double, which were not enough for the comeback.

The Nicaraguans will face in the final the Metropolitan Eagles of Panama, winners 7-0 against the Goats of Curacao, in a challenge at the Soberania National Stadium in the capital.