July 9, 2007 — Puerto Rico beat the Virgin Islands 7-3 Sunday to hand the host team of the 2007 Latin American Big League Baseball Tournament its second defeat in as many games.
The Puerto Ricans jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, then turned the game over to their pitching to bring home the victory in action at the D.C. Canegata baseball field. Two pitchers combined to limit the host to just one run on four hits.
The territory’s representatives had their chances in the first inning to score a few runs when they loaded the bases with no outs, but they were only able to plate one run. They would not threaten again. That one run came on a fielder’s choice.
Puerto Rico answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by Jorge Senabria, Antonio Jimenez and Alexis Marquez; a two-run triple by Jose Collozo; and a V.I. error to lead 5-1 after one inning.
Puerto Rico went on to add a run in the bottom of the second on an error and another in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Collozo to set the final score at 7-1.
Although not overpowering, Puerto Rico starting pitcher Samuel Rodriguez kept the V.I. hitters off balance through six innings with an assortment of off-speed pitches and a sneaky fastball. The hard-throwing Peter Remon relieved him in the top of the seventh. Remon wasted little time in striking out the side to end the game.
Puerto Rico now has a tournament record of 2-0, while the Virgin Islanders go to 0-2 after two days of competition.
Rodriguez picked up the win on the mound for Puerto Rico, while Roberto Soto got the loss for the host. Top hitters for Puerto Rico were Daniel Ortiz, 3-4; Jimenez, 2 for 3 with an RBI; Collozo, 2 for 3 with two RBIs; and Marquez, 2 for 4 with one RBI. For the Virgin Islands, Omari Eastman, Mark Franklin, Odingo Davila and Charles Bolling all went 1 for 3.
Panama 5, Curacao 3
In the day’s early game, the tournament’s defending champion, Panama, handed Curacao its second loss in as many games by a score of 5-3. The Panamanians used a five-run fourth inning to erase an early two-run deficit. It would be the only inning in which they would score, but it was more than enough to earn them their first win.
Lully DeLeon picked up the win in relief of starter Fernando Maltez, and closer Victor Vasquez struck out the side in the top of the seventh to pick up the save. Jonathan Balentina got the loss for Curacao. Top hitters for Panama were Julian Dominguez, 2 for 3 with two RBIs; and Jose Bravo and David Gutierrez, both 1 for 3. For Curacao, Sherrintly Da Costa Gomez went 3 for 4 and Angelo Bito went 1 for 4 with an RBI.
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