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Havana, August 5 (JIT) - The teams of Pinar del Río and Villa Clara closed undefeated the first games of the VII National Under-23 Baseball Series, leading groups A and B, respectively.

The Vegueros defeated Isla de la Juventud 3x1 today at the Capitan San Luis Stadium, with credit to Gabriel Cantero and Leodan Manuel Reyes with a save. The loss went to Alberto Emiliano Echevarría.

Cantero pitched five complete innings with one hit and four runs, showing his dominance over the opposing batters.

Meanwhile, the sugar cane growers overcame the Cienfuegos team by the same margin of 3x1 at the 5 de Septiembre Park. Oscar Luis Aveillé scored the victory after throwing five chapters, holding only one run and three hits, and giving up five strikeouts. The loss went to Islay Sotolongo and the save to Jan Edwing Cabrera.

In another game of the day, Havana defeated Artemisa 11x4 at the 26 de Julio stadium with home runs. Christian Hidalgo, Frank David González, Frank Alejandro Díaz and Javier Antonio Tassis hit the ball for the blue team, while Jeison Fernández went the distance for Artemisa.

Mayabeque once again condemned Matanzas at its own home, the Victoria de Girón Park, with a 1x0 score. Alyanser Álvarez (5.0 ENT) and José Luis Matos (2.0) left the Cocodrilos with no runs and only two hits.

Sancti Spíritus defeated at home 12x3 a Las Tunas team capable of committing four errors in the game. Camagüey smiled by the minimum against Ciego de Ávila (3x2) with the second victory for the relief pitcher Alejandro León Ramos. Tigres' pitcher, Osvaldo Cardenas, worked a complete game but took the loss.       

Finally, in games with many runs, Santiago de Cuba beat Guantánamo 12x5, thus avoiding the sweep; and Holguín overcame Granma 11x10 in extra innings. In the latter game, Holguin players Dario Perez and Victor Paz knocked the ball out of the park.

The second sub-series of the championship will be played on Saturday and Sunday.