THE SUGAR BOWLS of Villa Clara today extended to five consecutive successes in the 61 National Baseball Series, by defeating the Vegueros de Pinar del Río 14×1.
Those led by the seasoned Pedro Jova fell on the pitches of starter Noel Reyna and with four runs in three and a third innings they took him off the mound.
With an attack of 18 hits and 14 touchdowns, Villa Clara completed the sweep against the locals, in what was their fifth win in a row and number 12 so far this season, against 11 losses.
After that success, the Azucareros went on to occupy sixth place in the tournament ahead of the Industriales de La Habana, who fell 5×0 against the Crocodiles of Matanzas, for the second time in three games.
The two victories of Matanzas allowed them to stay on top of the standings, now with 16 wins and six losses, followed by Hurricanes de Mayabeque, who prevented the sweep against the Piratas de la Isla de la Juventud by defeating them 6-1.
In other results of the day, Cazadores de Artemisa beat Elefantes de Cienfuegos 7×4, Waspas de Santiago de Cuba beat Gallos de Sancti Spíritus 13×7 and Tigres de Ciego de Ávila beat Guantánamo 5×1.
Toros de Camagüey defeated the reigning champion Alazanes de Granma 6×1 and Leñadores de Las Tunas beat Cachorros de Holguín with a final score of 11×1.
The table of positions shows Matanzas as the leader with 16 successes and six defeats. It is followed by Mayabeque (14-8), Santiago de Cuba (14-8) and Sancti Spíritus (12-9). Ciego de Ávila (13-10), Villa Clara (12-10), Industriales (12-10) and Artemisa (11-11) complete the postseason access positions.
Tied for ninth place are Camagüey and Las Tunas (11-12); with equal balance Isla de la Juventud and Granma (11-12) fight for the 11th rung, while Pinar del Río (10-13) and Guantánamo (8-15) leave Holguín and Cienfuegos in the basement, both with seven victories and 16 losses.
