Luis Daniel Rodríguez. Photo: taken from his Facebook account

Youth pitcher Luis Daniel halts the Wasps

The young Luis Daniel Rodríguez (1-0) delivered a high-quality winning relief, and Holguin defeated Santiago de Cuba 3-2 at the Major General Calixto García Stadium, marking the start of the quarterfinal matchups in the VIII National Under-23 Baseball Series.

Rodríguez made an authoritative strike when, in the third inning, he forced Yordi Perera, a signee with the minors of U.S. baseball, to hit into a double play at third base; the scoreboard at that moment showed a tie at two and the visitors were threatening with bases loaded and one out.

He faced another tense situation in the seventh and final inning when lead-off hitter Yordanis Lamoth opened with a single, Liván Moreno bunted for a sacrifice, intentionally walked Raidel Sánchez, and then retired the cleanup hitter Harold Vázquez on a fly out to right field and Euclides Pérez by strikeout.

The summary: the young man, who will turn 17 years old on the next ninth of August, pitched against the powerful untamed lineup for 4 2/3 innings in which he did not allow any runs, gave up a lone single, struck out five, and issued four walks, two of them intentional.

For the Holguin Cubs, left-hander Norge Luis Cobas started, giving up two earned runs and six hits in 2 1/3 innings of work, in which he struck out four batters and allowed one walk.

In the game, the Holguin team connected six hits and made one defensive error, while the Santiago Wasps had seven hits and committed two errors.

The loss went to Samuel Vera (1-1), a worthy opponent who pitched all six innings. In the other game of Group D, at the Mártires de Barbados Stadium in Bayamo, the Granma Alazanes defeated the Guantanamo Indians 3-1 with a win for left-hander Leandro Bellas (2-0), loss for Jonny Téllez (1-2), and the fourth save for Yurisén Blanco.

Now the standings in this bracket are as follows: Granma and Holguin (6-4), Santiago (5-5), and Guantanamo (3-7). This Wednesday at 10:00 am, the second games of these sub-series will take place.

Translated by Aliani Rojas Fernandez

Noire Aguilera Montaña
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