Little League Baseball

Havana, Aug 21 (ACN) The Santa Clara Bombers, representing Cuba, lost 6-4 to the Mexican team and said goodbye to the Little League World Series, held in the U.S. city of Williamsport.

Two home runs by Antonio Guerrero and Ulises Ortiz, when the Cubans barely needed one out to win, gave the Aztecs the victory on the grass of the Volunteer Stadium.

In the same first inning, the Cubans opened the scoreboard by combining a pair of tickets with a single by Leonardo Junco that took starter Sergio Gonzalez off the mound and an uncontrolled pitch by reliever Francisco Aguilar.

One inning later they rang the register again on a delayed double steal and in the fourth act they added two more, one of them driven in by Marlon Herrera's rocket on a delivery from reliever Antonio Guerrero.

After Deivy Hernández did a great job as pitcher for four and two-thirds innings, where he allowed one run and struck out five batters, the Mexicans made the comeback.

Denis Zamora, acting as the closer, withstood the two home runs that left the hard-hitting santaclareños lying on the grass.

After defeating the Czech Republic 4-1 in their first game and losing to China Taipei 10-2 in the second, Everaldo Pedroso's disciples will have to return home after this result, due to the double elimination system prevailing in the tournament.

Cuba received the automatic bid offered by the organizers on a rotating basis to attend this event, just like last year when it was represented by the Alazanes de Bayamo, but for 2025 it will have to seek its place in the Caribbean region.