Shortstop Sandy Menocal hit the most impressive home run of his career and Industriales today completed a sweep over Santiago de Cuba (9×8) in the 61st National Baseball Series, which dusts off the illusions of its baseball fans around the world.
On a full count and one out, in the bottom of the ninth inning, Menocal furiously hit a fastball from pitcher Luis Fonseca (1-1) and the ball traveled more than 325 feet to stop in the left-field stands at Estadio Latinoamericano. .
Without a drop of nervousness despite being behind on the scoreboard, the debutant with the Lions of manager Guillermo Carmona left the Avispas from Santiago on the field and closed a luxurious afternoon, compiling 5-3 with a trio of runs batted in, one scored and excellent actions in the defensive order.
The shot dreamed of by every baseball player lowered the curtains of the so-called super classic, which favored Carmona’s troops 3-0 and left Eriberto Rosales’ team crestfallen, unable to savor the honey of success as a visitor in the most important baseball park in the country. country.
The victory ended in the history of undefeated right-handed pitcher Elder Nodal (2-0, 1.0, 0C, 0H), while the setback ended in the biography of lefty Fonseca (2.2, 3C, 2CL, 4K, 3BB), who at 19 years old came close to glorifying his longest relief in the current campaign.
Although the clashes were not exempt from technical-tactical errors, the subseries had high tension and ratified the designs of these historic players in terms of balls and strikes in the Greater Antilles, which are momentarily still in the qualifying zone for the playoffs of the 61 National Baseball Series.
In the rest of the results, Pinar del Río beat Granma 10×3, Artemisa dominated Holguín 5×4, Guantánamo defeated Isla de la Juventud 7×2, Mayabeque defeated Camagüey 6×3, Matanzas defeated Las Tunas 8×1, Ciego de Ávila beat Cienfuegos 10×9 and Villa Clara stopped Sancti Spíritus 13×12 in extra innings.
Sancti Spíritus leads the general ranking with a balance of 29 conquests and 17 setbacks, ahead of Mayabeque (26-16), Ciego de Ávila (28-18), Granma (26-20), Las Tunas (24-19), Santiago (25-21), Industriales (24-21) and Matanzas (23-23), all in positions with access to the postseason.
Behind are Pinar del Río (23-23), Villa Clara (22-23), Isla de la Juventud (22-24), Holguín (22-24) and Camagüey (21-25), while Artemisa (18- 27), Guantánamo (17-29) and Cienfuegos (13-33) are out of the battle to stay alive towards the title.
