The 62nd National Baseball Series closed its regular calendar this Saturday with Santiago de Cuba at the top of the standings, escorted by the Leñadores from Las Tunas. Although there are many games suspended and several places available for the postseason, the two eastern teams have already guaranteed their passage to the playoffs and will almost certainly also be in the next Elite League, which will be held at the end of the year with a new format.
After several days without playing due to the rains, the indomitable won five straight games against Cienfuegos and placed themselves at the top of the standings with 42 wins. With six games to go, the Wasps have everything in their favor to finish in first or second place in the general table, which would give them direct access to the second edition of the Elite League.
The same happens with the people from Las Tunas, who won three games in their last sub-series of the calendar against the Spiritus Roosters and reached 42 smiles. Abeysi Pantoja’s pupils, wild on offense, have five games pending and can reach 47.
The other team that secured their place in the postseason was Industriales, something unthinkable at the end of the first third of the championship. At that time, the Lions were heating up the basement and there was not much hope of a resurrection, but they got up and little by little they were climbing positions.
The blues finished the regular calendar with 40 wins and the possibility of reaching 41 if they beat Villa Clara in a postponed game. That figure is unattainable for most of the teams that are chasing them and have more games to go.
For their part, Artemisa, Matanzas and Sancti Spíritus almost have the ticket to the playoffs in their hands, although they must seal the job in the recovery of the suspended matches. Mayabeque still has options, but it cannot fail in the two remaining duels and must wait for the results of others, while Ciego de Ávila, with 11 postponed lawsuits, needs a high percentage of efficiency if it wants to sneak into the party of eight top.
Further behind in the table and with more remote options appear Isla de la Juventud, Villa Clara, Camagüey, Holguín, Pinar del Río and Granma, which need more than mathematical miracles.
According to the number of victories with which they finished today and the pending duels that each team has left, this is the maximum number of victories that each one can aspire to:
Santiago de Cuba (42 victories-6 pending-can reach 48)
Las Tunas (42 victories-5 pending-can reach 47)
Artemisa (39 victories-3 pending-can reach 42)
Matanzas (39 victories-3 pending-can reach 42)
Sancti Spíritus (39 victories-3 pending-can reach 42)
Industriales (40 victories-1 pending-can reach 41)
Mayabeque (37 victories-2 pending-can reach 39)
Ciego de Ávila (32 victories-11 pending-can reach 43)
Isla de la Juventud (34 victories-6 pending-can reach 40)
Villa Clara (36 victories-2 pending-can reach 38)
Camagüey (34 victories-6 pending-can reach 40)
Holguín (35 victories-3 pending-can reach 38)
Pinar del Río (34 victories-4 pending-can reach 38)
Granma (34 victories-3 pending-can reach 37)
Cienfuegos (25 victories-5 pending-can reach 30)
Guantánamo (23 victories-7 pending-can reach 30)
The postseason of the 62nd National Series will begin after the Central American and Caribbean Games, since the national squad is made up of the majority of players from the tournament. This detail will force the stop of the baseball classic, so it will be necessary to see what the status of each team is within a month.
