Sancti Spíritus celebrates

Havana, May 26 (JIT) - The Gallos de Sancti Spíritus and the Leñadores de Las Tunas struck first in the quarterfinal phase of the &1 National Baseball Series, which began Wednesday precisely at the home of the winners.

At the José Antonio Huelga stadium in the capital of the Spíritus, Eriel Sánchez's students defeated the Vegueros de Pinar del Río 5x1 with a 5x1 slate, credit to Yoen Socarrás (10-3) and defeat to Vladimir Baños (8-4).

The leaders of the regular phase batted 10 hits and committed two errors in a game that went smoothly due to Socarrás' dominance in eight innings and Yanieski Duardo's good "stopper" in the ninth.

Madero in hand were Fréderich Cepeda (4-2) and Carlos Gómez (4-2), while Juan Carlos Arencibia (5-2) and Jorge Rojas (3-2) were outstanding for the greenbacks.

To the east, the Tuneros defeated the Cocodrilos de Matanzas (5x4), reigning runners-up, in a game with 17 hits and no errors.

The palms went to Pablo Civil's designated pitcher, Yudier Rodríguez León (6-4), who worked the entire route with seven hits, four clean runs, two strikeouts and two tickets. Offensive support for his work came mainly from Andrés de la Cruz (4-2), Danel Castro (4-3) and Yosvani Alarcón (2 CI).

On the Matanzas side, Yadil Mujica (3-2), Jefferson Delgado (3-2) and Javier Camero (4-1, 2 CI) stood out with the lumber. Dariel Góngora (8-6) took the setback.

These teams will face each other again this Thursday, when Granma versus Industriales and Mayabeque versus Ciego de Avila will also start the series.