The first of the four preparation duels between the teams of Cuba and Nicaragua facing the VI World Baseball Classic (WBC) ended in a draw.
The match, which began with the symbolic launch of the American and former star of the Major Leagues Ken Griffith Jr. finished with a 2-2 draw on the scoreboard at the Roberto Clemente stadium, in the Nicaraguan city of Masaya.
Although the Cubans opened fire early, with four hits and a couple of runs in the same first inning, their bats cooled down in the rest of the game while the locals were able to negotiate the tie.
TIE AT START OF INTERNATIONAL SERIES
Omar Mendoza and Juan Diego Montes were in charge of producing the runs with which Nicaragua erased a 2-2 deficit to finally tie against Cuba 2-0 this Thursday in Masaya#OneTeamOneNation pic.twitter.com/Aq8avtNqNS
— Nicaragua National Team (@selebeisbolnic) February 20, 2026
The match
Just in the first inning, outfielder Roel Santos hit a shot to the right field against the deliveries of the experienced right-hander Erasmo Ramírez and then anchored in the third base after another hit by Yoelkis Guibert, according to the review of Latin Press (PL).
First baseman Ariel Martínez drove the first score with a ground ball into the infield, and the other run of the inning went to the score Alfredo Despaigne thanks to your hit line to the gardens.
However, the Cuban hitters could do little else in the rest of the game, in which they missed several opportunities to score more scores and accumulated a whopping 11 strikeouts, the publication notes.
For their part, the Nicaraguans managed to close the gap with a clean-base home run by Omar Mendoza in the second inning, and two innings later they tied the score thanks to a simple drive by Juan Diego Montes.
From then on, the Cuban strategist Germán Mesa began to move his bullpenand relievers Yunieski García, Geonel Gutiérrez, Frank Herrera and Brander Guevara were in charge of maintaining equality on the board.
Germán Mesa on Cuba in the Classic: “Who can stop us from winning?”
Frustrated runners
Throughout the game the island’s batters hit nine hitsand the most outstanding was Santos, who added two in four opportunities.
On the other hand, the hosts had five hits and had the same number of strikeouts.
At the end of the match, the Cuban helmsman considered that his players had fulfilled their assigned roles, but he complained about the number of runners left on base. “We prepared ourselves tactically to bring those races and it was not possible,” he emphasized, quoted by P.L..
Mesa confirmed left-hander from Villa Clara Darío Sarduy as the starter for the second match of the series, which will take place at the Rigoberto López Pérez Stadium, in the city of León.
Cuba will begin its time in the WBC at the beginning of March in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, where it will animate group A along with the host cast and those from Panama, Colombia and Canada.
Nicaragua, for its part, was placed in key D, based in the American city of Miami, where Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Israel and the Netherlands will also play.
