DR wins Caribbean series
ISLA MARGARITA, Venezuela.- The Leones del Escogido achieved their third and the Dominican Republic’s eighth Caribbean Series title on Sunday, by beating the Leones del Caracas 7-4.
Escogido returned to the Caribbean classic after an 18-year absence and won five out of its six challenges.
The title was decided in the last game after Puerto Rico beat Mexico by 8-2, which obliged the Dominicans to beat the hosts to prevent a tie breaker against the Puerto Rican team on Monday.
The Indios de Mayagüez from Puerto Rico came second with their 4-2 score, the best result for Puerto Rico since they finished in the same place and the same score in Carolina in 2007.
Puerto Rico has not won the series since 2000.
The Mexican team, Los Naranjeros de Hermosillo finished third with 2-4 and Caracas last with 1-5.
The crown returned to Dominican hands following last year’s victory by the Venezuelan Tigres de Aragua in Mexicali. The Dominican team has won 6 out of the last ten tournaments.
Escogido won its last Caribbean championship in Miami in 1990 and has not played in the series since 1992 when it was held in Hermosillo.
Venezuela, with nothing to play for after being eliminated in the fifth game, made 5 errors in the deciding game, in which it used all its substitute players.
In contrast, the Dominicans went on the offensive from the start in order to ensure the title.