VI Caribbean Cup | Curacao defeats Cuba 2-1 and advances to the final against the Virgin Islands. Cuba will play for bronze on Monday

Nkosi Diddier limited Cuba to just four hits in 4 2/3 innings, while Kevin Josefina drove in two decisive runs with a double in the third inning, as Curacao secured a close 2-1 victory over Cuba in the last game of the qualifying stage of the VI Caribbean Cup held at the Andre Rodgers Stadium in Nassau, eliminating them from any possibility of defending their 2023 title and advancing to the tournament final on Monday.

Box score

With its ticket to the final, Curacao will seek to claim its second title in these editions of the Caribbean Cup, after having triumphed in 2021, during the third version of the event.

The US Virgin Islands triumphed over St. Maarten with a score of 10-5 on the same day, resulting in them finishing with a record of 3-2, equal to Cuba's. Despite this, they secured a spot in the final by beating Cuba 6-5 last Friday.

Cuba is set to compete for the bronze medal this Monday at 3:00 pm local time, against an unknow opponent, as the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic will face off at 7:00 pm in the final Round Robin stage match.

Cuba's starting pitcher, José Ignacio Bermúdez, limited the Curacao team to just three hits during his 5 2/3 innings on the mound. However, he was unable to prevent two crucial hits in the third inning, along with his lone walk of the game, which ultimately led to their defeat. Kevin Josefina came through with a well-timed double, contributing with two runs that ended up being the determining factor in Curacao's win.

Facing right-handed starter Joharvi Martinus in the bottom of the third inning, Cuba reduced the deficit in half when Carlos de la Tejera hit an RBI single to bring Darian Palma home. However, this marked the end of Cuba's RBI efforts, as reliever Diddier kept them from scoring for the remaining 4 2/3 innings of the game.

In his tournament debut, Diddier recorded three strikeouts and did not allow any walks.

Bermúdez recorded four strikeouts and allowed only one walk for Cuba. He was replaced by Randy Martínez in the sixth inning, who then pitched flawlessly for the remaining 1 1/3 innings, including one strikeout.