Cuba in U-23 baseball World Cup
Havana, September 28 (RHC)-- The Cuban baseball team competing in the U-23 World Cup III is looking for its fourth win in a row on Tuesday when it faces the Dominican Republic, following its victory against the Czech Republic on Monday.
Nykel Cruz will be in charge of opening for the Cuban squad, as confirmed by manager Eriel Sanchez to Cuban radio's World Cup envoy, colleague Guillermo Rodriguez.
So far Cuba has three wins and one loss and is in second place in its group, behind host Mexico (4-1). They are followed by Chinese Taipei (3-2), Dominican Republic (2-2), and Czech Republic and Germany (1-4).
Against the Czechs, the Cubans hit 8 hits, the highest number of the four presentations they have had at the Yaquis stadium and starter José Eduardo Santos walked the entire route, which allowed the Cuban high command not to use up the pitchers they have in the bullpen.
Eriel highlighted the attitude of the players, after they did not leave a good image in the debut against the local Mexicans. "We had a complicated start against a great team like Mexico, we could not produce offensively and the relievers and defense were not good either. The team has shown willingness and the boys are eager to achieve a good result".
The Athens Olympic champion said that they tried to squeeze the most out of starter Jose Santos to have the pitching as fresh as possible for Tuesday's game against the Dominican Republic. "He complied with what we asked of him which was to walk as much as he could so we wouldn't have to use more pitchers and that's why he threw us more than 100 pitches."
One of the leaders of this team Geisel Cepeda was able to hit again and hit a double in two official at-bats, towed one, scored another and received a pair of bases on balls. "I was anxious for the connections to come out of my side, I was able to help my team and this is thanks to the preparation we made from Cuba".
Loidel Chapellí has delivered as a first baseman. "Everyone is doing their job, we are not producing as we expected, but that's baseball, the main thing is that we are winning games. I see my teammates with a lot of spirit and this is always important."
In the remaining games of the most recent date in the Cuba key, Taipei of China beat Dominican Republic 5-0 and Mexico 3-1 against Germany.
In the other group, Panama defeated Venezuela 3-2, Nicaragua defeated the Netherlands 6-1 and Colombia defeated South Korea 5-4.
In this group, Venezuela and Colombia (4-1) lead the table, followed by Panama 3-2, Nicaragua (2-3) and South Korea and the Netherlands (1-4).
