AREQUIPA, Peru – The Cuban team that will participate in the third edition of the Premier 12 obtained its second victory this Saturday in the preparation matches held in South Korea by defeating the LG Twins 2-1.
A report of the state Prensa Latina points out that, after losing on the first day against the NC Dinos and beating the Chinese team of Jiangsu Huge Horses the day before, the Cubans relied on the good work of five pitchers to defeat a team that won in the 2023 campaign in the South Korean League.
The Caribbean team opened the scoring in the fifth inning thanks to an unstoppable RBI by Yoelquis Guibert and their rivals equalized in the eighth inning when they combined a pair of singles with a pass ball from substitute catcher Andy Cosme.
At the bottom of that inning Erisbel served to score the go-ahead run.
Maikel Taylor, although he accepted a point from his opponents, took the credit by getting five outs and Frank Luis Medina scored the save after hanging up the ring in the last chapter.
Likewise, Darío Sarduy stood out in the field with a work of three immaculate sections, Leodan Reyes two and Geonel Gutiérrez, who retired four hitterstwo of them by way of strikeout.
The Cubans hit seven hits, including two by Guillermo Avilés, a double by Cristian Rodríguez and singles by Cosme and Lázaro Armenteros.
During this week, the confrontations with local teams will continue as part of the Ulsan-KBO 2024 Autumn League and on November 1 and 2, Cuba has agreed on two duels with the South Korean national team that will participate in the event, where the 12 best countries will be ranked in the world.
The Premier 12, a tournament which replaced the Baseball World Cups of the old IBAF and which includes the 12 best in the ranking of the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC), will be played from November 10 to 24 in Japan , Taiwan and Mexico.
Cuba is included in group B, which is played in Japan and Taiwan, and also includes South Korea, Australia and the Dominican Republic.
It is the third participation of the Cubans in these tournaments where they have never managed to place themselves in the top four.