After The Bahamas took a 2-1 lead over Puerto Rico in the second inning, the visitors shut them out the rest of the way to win 14-2, as the 4th Annual COCABE (Caribbean Baseball Confederation) Caribbean Baseball Cup continued at the Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium last night.
The Bahamas finishes the opening round with a 1-3 win/loss record and locked up the fourth position in the standings. The team has advanced to the semifinals, set for Saturday. Friday is a rest day.
Puerto Rico got on the scoreboard first in the top of the first inning. They ended the night pouring in seven runs in the top of the ninth to take the convincing 14-2 victory.
In the second inning, The Bahamas’ left fielder Kristin Munroe hit a double to left field as the ball bounced off the wall. He then got to third base on a wild pitch to second baseman Adari Grant. Munroe came home when Grant singled to left field to pick up the run batted in (RBI). Grant stole second base, then shortstop Cherif Neymour singled to center field. Grant came home to give Neymour the RBI. The Bahamas led 2-1 at the end of the second inning.
Puerto Rico tied it up at two runs apiece in the top of the third inning, as centerfielder Miguel Garcia came home on Reynaldo Navarro’s sacrifice fly. After The Bahamas came up empty in the bottom of the third inning, catcher Ivan Navarro grounded out but first baseman Jose Ortiz scored the tie-breaking run as Puerto Rico led 3-2 after four innings.
Two more runs by Puerto Rico in the top of the sixth inning enabled them to take a 5-2 lead. Crossing home plate were designated hitter Kevin Luciano and Ortiz.
After three wild pitches by Mateo Ferguson and two runs conceded in the top of the eighth inning, The Bahamas’ manager pulled him and put D’Vaughn Knowles on the mound. It was 7-2 at the end of the eighth inning.
Grant finished the game 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored for The Bahamas. Puerto Rico’s second baseman Luis Mateo finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
The winning pitcher was Puerto Rico’s lefty Pinto Roldan. The losing pitcher was Bahamian Robin Haven.
Puerto Rico had eight hits while The Bahamas had seven hits, but they were not able to turn them into more than two runs.
Earlier in the day, Cuba gave up seven runs after three innings against the defending champions, Curacao. They shut them out the rest of the way to win 8-7.
The top two teams from the week-long tournament will qualify to compete at next year’s Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in San Salvador, El Salvador. If Cuba is among the top two, the top three will qualify for the CAC Games, as Cuba has previously qualified.
Puerto Rico ends at the top of the table with a 3-1 win/loss record. They hold the tiebreaker over Cuba, which has an identical record. Curacao finishes third with a 2-2 record. The Bahamas finishes fourth on tiebreaker rules. They and the US Virgin Islands both finished 1-3 in the opening round.
The Bahamas will return to action on Saturday night in the semifinals when they take on Puerto Rico at 7 p.m. The early game will pit Cuba against Curacao and that will take place at 2 p.m. The winners will advance to the gold medal game while the losers will play for bronze. The third-place game will take place on Sunday at 2 p.m. The championship game is also on Sunday, set for 5 p.m.