Semifinalists of the Under-23 Baseball Series announced

Havana, August 22 (JIT) -- The teams of Villa Clara, Pinar del Río and Las Tunas completed on Sunday the quartet of semifinalists of the VII National Under-23 Baseball Series, just on the last day of the preliminary phase.

In group B, the Azucareros needed a victory against Matanzas in the doubleheader scheduled for this date, and they got it early with a tight score of 3x2.

Leonardo Montero hit a home run and supported the orange team in the important smile, scored by Dairon Daniel Casanova. In the second hour, the Cocodrilos won 1x0.

The Vegueros, in section A, had no better option to qualify than to beat the Leones de La Habana, their closest pursuers. They did it with a 2x1 scoreboard at their Capitán San Luis stadium. The victory was deserved by Leodán Manuel Reyes Lugo, who worked a complete game with only two hits allowed.

The Leñadores did their homework in key C against the Toros de Camagüey, with a 5x1 victory, but the Espirituanos also won against Ciego de Avila (3x2) and finished with a 9-6 balance. The Eastern side won the bilateral confrontation (3-2).

In the remaining challenges of the day, Cienfuegos and Mayabeque divided honors (4x1 and 1x5), La Isla overcame Artemisa 5x2 and 1x0; Guantanamo 6x2 to Holguin and Granma 3x1 to Santiago de Cuba.

The Indomitos were the first to qualify for the semifinals of the event, since Saturday, when they were already unreachable in segment D.

On Tuesday, the semifinals will start with Pinar del Rio versus Villa Clara and Las Tunas versus Santiago, with two initial games at the home of the first mentioned. The remaining three clashes, as required, will take place in the territories of Villa Clara and Indomito.

The non-classification of Sancti Spíritus, reigning champion of the competition, confirms that there will be another king in just a few days.