Similar to their performance on the opening day, Cuba (2-0) comfortably defeated Sint Maarten (0-2) with a score of 13-1 in four and a half innings, marking their second win in as many games in the II Caribbean Cup Under-15, which began yesterday at the Andre Rodgers Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas.
In the second match of the day, the Bahamas (1-0) will face the US Virgin Islands (0-1) during the qualification round, which ends this Friday and will establish the positions for Saturday's cross-over semifinal.
This time, Cuba utilized the combined pitching efforts of left-handed starter José L. Arias and right-handers Joseph Arias and Lekian Acosta to restrict Sint Maarten to two hits and their first run of the tournament over five innings.
José Luis started the game for Cuba, and after they secured a 6-0 lead in the third inning, he was replaced by reliever Joseph Arias. The Cuban manager is now evaluating potential scenarios with the revised schedule due to the Dominican Republic's exit from the tournament, considering the possibility of needing the Cuban starter in future games.
José Luis delivered another impressive performance for the Criollitos, pitching 2 1/3 innings with 34 pitches, 18 of which were strikes. He didn't allow a hit, issued one walk, and recorded five strikeouts.
He was quickly backed up by an offense that placed four runs in the first inning and another two in the second, all against Sint Marteen's right-handed starter, Rigadon Raap, and his first reliever, Jaytan Cordilla.
In the first inning, with two outs, Cristian Aguilera walked, stole second, and José Muñíz hit an RBI single to give Cuba the initial lead. Soon after, another steal, a walk, a wild pitch, and Antonio Nolazco's double down the left field line extended the lead to 3-0. Nolazco later scored the inning's fourth run after advancing to second on Sint Maarten's starter's second wild pitch and José Jiménez's RBI single to right.
In the following inning, the score increased to 6-0 against the first reliever, Cordilla, due to a walk, an RBI triple to left by Damián de Jesús Díaz, and another wild pitch by the reliever.
Sint Maarten had their first chance to score in the top of the third inning when the Cuban starting pitcher walked the seventh batter, Jahmai Pérez. After striking out the subsequent batter, Jaynard Hodge, the Cuban manager decided to remove him from the game. In this scenario, reliever Joseph Arias managed to escape the inning, but not before putting a runner in scoring position by walking the leadoff hitter, Jaytan Cordilla. He ended the inning by getting Rigadon Raap to fly out to right field.
Cuba capitalized on the bottom of the inning to put the game nearly out of reach for Sint Marteen. During this inning, Sint Maarten's pitching faltered, issuing five walks, four of them consecutively at the beginning of the inning, which led to a 7-0 score. A single by Nolazco, combined with a throwing error by the shortstop to first, extended the lead to 9-0. The inning's final two runs came from a double by Yohan Acosta, which drove in one, and a grounder to shortstop by Rafael Tarín, bringing in the second.
In the fourth inning Sint Marteen would pose his greatest threat so far in the game, when the first Cuban reliever faced problems with his control and gave away two walks that, combined with Sint Marteen's first hit in the game, this one by the fourth hitter Yaedon Martie to center, loaded the bases with just one out. However, Arias kept his cool and finished with strikeouts on Pérez and pinch hitter Jorvy Castillo, to keep the score the same.
After Cuba extended its lead to 13-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Sint Maarten finally got on the scoreboard in their last offensive opportunity during the fifth inning against Cuba's new reliever, right-hander Lekian Acosta. In that inning, Cordilla walked, stole a base, and Rigadon Raap singled through shortstop, putting runners on the corners. Martie then grounded out to third, allowing Cordilla to score and setting the final score at 13-1. Acosta issued another walk in the inning before getting Malik Hyman to ground out to third for the game's final out.
Cuba is now 2-0, and it is almost certain that an undefeated matchup will occur this Friday night when they face the host team, the Bahamas. The Bahamas still have to face the US Virgin Islands in tonight's game, but they demonstrated superiority over Sint Maarten on Wednesday and are favored against their current opponents.
II Caribbean Cup U-15
Cuba' Results
Wednesday, Dec 4: Cuba 12, US Virgin Islands (5) Box score | Play-by-Play
Thursday, Dec 5: Cuba 13, St. Marteen 1 (5) Box score | Play-by-Play
Standings
Cuba 2-0 (1.000) - RS 25, RA 1
Bahamas 1-0 (1.000) - RS 33, RA 0
US Virgin Islands 0-1 (.000) - RS 0, RA 12
Sint Marteen 0-2 (.000) - RS 1, RA46
