Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5281
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For 10 thousandths Ronny Rodriguez wins batting title
He was the most valuable of the League.


Ronny Rodriguez's name did not figure as a key piece of the Cibaean Eagles, when the team was being structured.

But it was enough to put him in the lineup to win the regular position and become an idol of the eagle fans.

Ronny has just won the batting crown.

The versatile player managed to finish with an average of 306, which rounded is the same of the sensational rookie Ramon Torres, of the Giants.

Rodriguez overcame Torres by a mere 10 tenths in the race for the best batter of the 2016/2017 season.

The average for Rodriguez is .3062, while Torres had .3057, in the tightest of batting titles disputed in Dominican League.

Rodríguez became the player who wins a batting title with the lowest average, the previous was Domingo Michel with an average of 310.

Ronny Rodriguez saw action in 44 of the Eagles' 50 games, consuming 160 at bats and conceding 49 hits, of which 10 were doubles, three-triples and three homers, to be a leader in extra-bases with 16, runs scored 24 and stolen bases three in three attempts.

Rodríguez also led in bases reached with 74, was the best in slugging with .463, third in OBP, and added OPS of .825, best of the Lidom

Torres, who played in 41 of his team's games, had 157 at bats in which he fired 48 hits, nine doubles, one triple, three homers, 16 RBIs, 26 runs and had three stolen bases in three Attempts.

Rodriguez took the Aguilas Man of the Year award selected by the Millenium Communications Awards program and the Most Valuable Player by Apollo Productions.

While Torres was selected as the Rookie of the Year by the country's sports report.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


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Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5282
Among the baseball players who will not see action in the next phase are the members of Estrellas: Junior Lake, Gustavo Núñez, Michael Martinez and Gabriel Guerrero.

Raul Valdés, Cristhian Adames, Teoscar Hernandez and coveted outfielder Abraham Almonte (Toros) decided not to play in the competition.

Teams like Aguilas were all in for the sights of Almonte, to generate more offense Manny Acta's team.
Teams are reinforced with 30 Round Robin players

In the first round, the Eagles chose reliever Preston Clairborne, of the Bulls; The Licey to veteran Evan McLane of the Stars; The Giants to slugger Jason Krizan of the Stars, and Brian Evans of the Bulls.

In the second round, the Licey selected catcher Austin Wynns of the Bulls; The Giants to Cory Riordan, of the Bulls; Chosen starter Taylor Davis of the Stars, and Eagles left-handed Chris O`Grady of the Stars.

In the third round, the Licey remained with Michael Dimock, of the Bulls; The Giants to Matt Zielinski, of the Bulls; The Eagles to Malcolm Culver of the Stars, and the Chosen to Dan Black.

In the fourth round, the Licey to Josh Turley, of the Stars; The Eagles to Jordan Smith of the Bulls; The Giants to Colt Hynes, of the Stars and the Chosen to Jake Goebbert, of the Bulls.

In the fifth, the Licey chose aZach Lutz, of the Stars, and the Chosen One Daniel Stumpf, of the Stars. The imported player Tim Torres, of the Stars, was not selected by any team.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO

Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5283
12/26/16

Code: Select all

Player	          Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	 AVG*
Alexis Pantoja	   SS	 3	0	1	 0	 0	 0	  1	 0	 0	.346
Yandy Diaz	       CF	 5	0	2	 0	 1	 0	  0	 0	 0	.368
Jesus Aguilar	    1B	 3	1	1	 1	 0	 0	  0	 1	 0	.321
2B: Aguilar (7, Pino).
3B: Diaz, Y (3, Pino).

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Team	             W	 L	 PCT	 GB
@-Lara	          36	24	.600	 -
@-Caribes	       32	27	.542	3.5
@-Zulia	         32	29	.525	4.5
Magallanes	      28	31	.475	7.5
Aragua	          28	31	.475	7.5
La Guaira	       28	32	.467	8.0
Margarita	       27	32	.458	8.5
Caracas	         27	32	.458	8.5

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	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	 H	E
Margarita (27-33)  0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0			4	10	1
Caribes (33-27)    2	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	X			5	 9	1

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	                 1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	H	E
Caracas (27-33)     0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0			1	9	1
Aragua (29-31)      2	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	X			5	9	2

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	                 1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	 H	E
Magallanes (28-32)  0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0			3	 9	0
La Guaira (29-32)   1	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	X			6	11	0
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO

Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5284
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Rubén Sosa wins MVP

SANTO DOMINGO. Rubén Sosa was chosen as the Most Valuable Player of the fall-winter baseball tournament in 2016-2017. Sosa received a total of 36 votes of the panel composed of communicators that cover the tournament. Sosa overcame the aguiluchos Ronny Rodriguez, who obtained 20 ballots, Juan Carlos Pérez (2) and Josh Judy (2).

[ Some confusion. I was mislead by this excerpt:
Reduced mental errors, the Eagles Cibaeñas played good baseball until they fell into a slump that threatened to disqualifythem by losing five in a row during the final stretch run of the season. Veterans were tested in the offense such as Juan Carlos Perez, Hector Luna, Zoilo Almonte and Rafael Ynoa. They joined forces with MVP Ronny Rodriguez and Jonathan Villar...... I'm thinking that Rodriguez was MVP for the Aguilas team]

Irregardless, Rodriguez won the batting crown and lead in all of the most important offensive catagories. His late season slump (batted .211 during his last 10 games probably hurt his cause. I think Rodriguez was screwed.

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NAME            POS     G	 AB	 R	 H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	 OBP	 SLG	   AVG    OPS
Ronny Rodriguez  2B	 44	160	24	49	10	 3	 3	 12	74	14   33	 2	 0	.362	.463	.30625	.824
Ramon Torres     SS    41	157	26	48	 9	 1	 4	 16	71	10	21	 2	 2	.351	.452	.30573	.803
Ruben Sosa       OF	 42	144	20	43	 3	 3	 0	 24	52	24	21	11	 9	.406	.361  	.299	.767
<
Ronny Rodriguez  2B	 44	160	24	49	10	 0	 3	   	74	       	  	 0	    	.463	.30625	.824
[ All the categories where Ronny Rodriquez bested Ruben Sosa. I'll say it again, I think Rodriguez got screwed! ]
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RONNY RODRIGUEZ IS MY CHOICE FOR LEAGUE MVP
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO

Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5286
12/26/16

VENEZUELA WINTER LEAGUE

Yandy Diaz (CF, Leones del Caracas): 2-for-5, 3B. Diaz is a hitting machine. After a brief two game slump where he went 0-for-6, he racked up his 19th multi-hit game in 38 games played in Venezuela. The minor injury scare he had on December 6th that saw him miss a week and a half of action hasn’t slowed him down as he owns a .412/.500/.588 slash line over his last 10 games. He is now hitting .368 with 2 HR, 17 RBI and .959 OPS in 38 games this offseason.

Jesus Aguilar (1B, Leones del Caracas): 1-for-3, R, 2B, BB. Aguilar now has a hit in eight of his last nine games and has reached base in all of those games. As he does seemingly every offseason, he is starting to heat up with a .414/.564/.862 slash line in his last 10 games and is having a good year in Venezuela where he is hitting .321 with 10 HR, 22 RBI and 1.047 OPS in 40 games. He’s a DFA candidate once the Indians officially sign and add Edwin Encarnacion to the 40-man roster (expected sometime after New Year’s), so it will be interesting to see if he is DFAed if he slips through waivers unclaimed. Chances are he will, but it only takes one team to see something in him and claim him.

PUERTO RICO WINTER LEAGUE

Alexis Pantoja (SS, Tiburones de Aguadilla): 1-for-3, RBI. The young infielder continues to get a lot of playing time of late in Puerto Rico and really looks to have settled in. He's now hitting .444 (16-for-36) in his last 10 games and is hitting .346 overall (27-for-78) in 27 games played. This winter ball experience is huge for Pantoja as he's playing to a higher competition than what he faced at Short-A Mahoning Valley this year, so it could help him get his bat on track and build some momentum an confidence going into next season.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO

Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5287
12/27/16

Code: Select all

Player	          Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	 AVG
Alexis Pantoja	   SS	 3	0	0	 0	 0	 0	  0	 0	 0	.333
Ronny Rodriguez	  1B	 4	0	3	 1	 0	 0	  0	 0	 0	.750
Yandy Diaz	       CF	 3	2	1	 0	 0	 0	  1	 2	 0	.367
Jesus Aguilar	    1B	 5	0	0	 0	 0	 0	  0	 0	 2	.309
2B: Rodriguez, Ro (1, Flande)
RBI: Diaz, Y (18)
LOB: Aguilar (7)
SB: Rodriguez, Ro (1, 3rd base off Arias, M/Wynns)
E: Rodriguez, Ro (1, throw)

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Team	      W	  L	 PCT	 GB
@-Lara	   36	 24	.600	  -
@-Caribes	33	 27	.550	3.0
@-Zulia	  32	 29	.525	4.5
Aragua	   29	 31	.483	7.0
La Guaira   29	 32	.475	7.5
Magallanes  28	 32	.467	8.0
Margarita   27	 33	.450	9.0
Caracas	  27	 33	.450	9.0

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	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	 H	E
Zulia (33-29)      0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5			6	 7	3
Caracas (27-34)    0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	1			4	11	1

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	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	 H	E
Margarita (28-33)  0	6	1	0	3	0	0	4	1		  15	14	0
Caribes (33-28)    0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1			3	 6	2

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	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	 H	E
Lara (37-24)       1	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	0			5	11	0
Aragua (29-32)     0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0			3	 9	2

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	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	 H	E
La Guaira (30-32)  2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			2	10	0
Magallanes (28-33) 0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0			1	 5	1

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Team	     W	L	 Pct.	 GB
Licey	    1	0	1.000	  -
Gigantes	 0	0	 .000	0.5
Escogido	 0	0	 .000   0.5
Aguilas	  0	1	 .000	1.0

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ROUND ROBIN
	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	 H	E
Aguilas (0-1)      0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0			1	 7	3
Licey (1-0)        2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	X			4	10	0
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO

Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5288
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The Tigers continue their domination over the Eagles 4-1 in the first game of the Round Robin

SANTO DOMINGO.- The Tigres del Licey beat the the Eagles Cibao by a score of 4-1 in the beginning of the Round Robin Dominican baseball 2016-2017.

Licey scored two runs in the first inning off the pitches of Aguilas' Roenis Elías. An infield hit by Anderson Hernandez caused the Aguilucha defense to make an error that cost them a run on the legs of Emilio Bonifacio; Then Diory Hernandez fired a single for the second Tiger run.

In the upper part of the 6th. Jhonathan Villar led off with a hit. A double by Ronny Rodriguez (3-4) brought home Villar for the only Aguilas run of the ball game.

At the close of that same inning, Hanley Ramirez doubled and was batted in by the imported receiver Austin Wynns to put the score 3-1; The Tigers scored again in the 7th on an rbi double by Diory Hernandez.

The winning pitcher was left-handed Yohan Flande (1-0, 1.69) and the defeat was carried by Roenis Elías (0-1, 3.60); Jairo Asencio saved the game.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO

Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5289
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Lions deliver the cake the Eagles ate it

Caracas Lions received at home a serious blow against Aguilas del Zulia in search of a victory that can help them move on to the playoffs LVBP. The Lions took a 3-0 lead but could not maintain the advantage and succumbed 6-4. After winning 6 in a row, the Lions have now dropped two in a row.

The Lions opened the scoring in the lower fifth inning, Yandy Diaz drove in Francisco Martinez with a fielder's choice, then the "the chicken" Henry Rodriguez batted in Wilfredo Tovar . The third run was the result of a mistake by Alex Romero in right field.

The Eagles did not give in and scored their first run at the top of the eighth inning, Jose Flores doubled and then Jonathan Herrera singled driving in the first Aguils run.

In the ninth inning, the Zulians took control of the game scoring five times to take a 6-3 lead.

The Lions rally attempt fell short in the bottom of the ninth inning. They would score a run thanks to a base hit by Yandy Diaz (1-3, 2W, 2R) and an infield out by Felix Perez. The Lions loaded the bases with two out. With the tying run on second base and the winning run of first, Ramon Cabrera struck out on four pitches to end the threat.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO

Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5291
12/27/16

Dominican Winter League

Ronny Rodriguez (2B, Aguilas Cibaenas): 3-4, 1 2B, 1 SB. Rodriguez was the lone hitter in Cibaenas' lineup who managed to string together multiple hits as they fell 4-1 to Licey on Tuesday in the first game of the Dominican Winter League playoffs. The Indians infielder got the tournament off to a good start, however, recording three hits including a double and a stolen base. Rodriguez finished the regular season batting .306 with three homers and 12 RBI's in 44 games.

Venezuelan Winter League

Yandy Diaz (CF, Leones del Caracas): 1-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB. A typical day at the office for Yandy Diaz either involves multiple hits or multiple walks (or both). On Tuesday, Diaz may have only logged one hit, but he still managed to draw a pair of walks as his average and on-base percentage over his last 10 games are an even .400 and .500, respectively. His regular playing time in center field is also ongoing, which continues to raise questions and speculation as to which position he'll play long term moving forward.

Jesus Aguilar (1B, Leones del Caracas): 0-5, 2 K. Aguilar had a rare quiet night going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts as Caracas fell 6-4 to Zulia. Even with this performance, however, Aguilar is still batting .400 over his last 10 games with four homers and eight RBI's. Overall, the Venezuelan slugger is batting .309 with 10 homers and 22 RBI's in 41 games in winter ball this year. He also has an equal number of walks and strikeouts at 27.

Puerto Rican League

Alexis Pantoja (SS, Tiburones de Aguadilla): 0-3. Pantoja has been on a hot streak as of late, but things cooled off momentarily on Tuesday as the young Tribe infielder went 0-for-3. Over his last 10 games, however, the 20-year-old has batted .429 with multi-hit efforts in half of those contests. Pantoja has now raised his offseason average to .333, but only has four extra-base hits in 28 games with six RBI's.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO

Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5292
12/28/16

Code: Select all


Tiburones de Aguadilla
Player	          Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	 AVG*
Alexis Pantoja	   SS	 2	0	0	 0	 0	 0	  0	 0	 0	.325
Yandy Diaz	       CF	 4	0	2	 0	 0	 0	  0	 0	 1	.371
Jesus Aguilar	    1B	 4	0	2	 1	 0	 0	  0	 0	 0	.314
Erik Gonzalez	    SS	 4	1	1	 1	 0	 0	  0	 1	 0	.250
Ronny Rodriguez  RF-LF	 4	1	1	 1	 0	 0	  0	 0	 0	.500
2B: Aguilar (8, Poveda); Gonzalez, E (1, Gomez, R);Rodriguez, Ro (2, Leroux)

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VENEZUELA
Team	      W	 L	 PCT 	 GB
@-Lara	   37	24	.607	   -
@-Caribes	33	28	.541	 4.0
@-Zulia	  33	29	.532	 4.5
La Guaira	30	32	.484	 7.5
Aragua	   29	32	.475	 8.0
Margarita   28	33	.459	 9.0
Magallanes  28	33	.459	 9.0
Caracas	  27	34	.443	10.0 (Eliminated)

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	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	 H	E
Zulia (33-30)      0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0			3	 6	2
Magallanes (29-33) 2	2	0	0	4	0	0	1	X			9	13	1

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	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	H	E
Margarita (29-33)  0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0			3	8	0
Caracas (27-35)    1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			1	6	3

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	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	 H	E
Caribes (33-29)    0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			0	 4	2
Aragua (30-32)     0	3	2	1	1	0	0	0	X			7	12	1

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	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			 R	 H	E
La Guaira (30-33)  0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0			 1	 2	0
Lara (38-24)       4	2	0	1	0	3	0	0	X			10	16	1

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
ROUND ROBIN
Team	     W	 L	 Pct.	  GB
Licey	    1	 0	1.000	  -
Gigantes	 0	 0	 .000    0.5
Aguilas	  1	 1	 .500	 0.5
Escogido	 0	 1	 .000    1.0

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	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	 H	E
Escogido (0-1)     4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			4	 9	0
Aguilas (1-1)      4	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	X			7	12	0

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PUERTO RICO
Team	       W	 L	 PCT 	 GB
@-Santurce   27	11	.711   	-
@-Mayaguez   25	12	.676	 1.5
@-Caguas     17	21	.447	10.0
@-Carolina   15	23	.395	12.0
Aguadilla	 10	27	.270	16.5

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	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	H	E
Mayaguez (25-13)   0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			0	4	0
Santurce (28-11)   0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1			1	7	0

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	                1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9			R	H	E
Aguadilla (11-27)  0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0			3	5	0
Carolina (15-24)   0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0			2	7	0
Last edited by joez on Thu Dec 29, 2016 1:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO

Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5293
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Zoilo Almonte

The Eagles coming from behind beat the Lions 7-4

SANTIAGO

Zoilo Almonte batted 4-4 and the relief corps stopped the hemorrhaging in the first inning and continued by hanging eight zeros on the Lions as the Cibao Eagles prevailed 7-4 last night at Cibao stadium.

With their triumph the Eagles put their mark at 1-1, while the Lions were left with 0-1.

The visitors scored four runs in the first inning, but the relief corps held them in check the rest of the game, while the home team scored in clusters of 4 and 3 runs in the first and third innings.

The win went to Roberto Gomez (1-0), the loss to David Holmberg (0-1) with the save to Josh Judy (1).

Jose Gomez (1), Edgar García (4), Juan Grullón (6), Samuel Deduno (6), Abad (8), and Judy (9) pitched in relief of Jose Luis Ureña and Fernando Gomez (1) who were both exploited in that same first entry, .

For the Lions Chris Leroux started and was relived by David Holmbeg in the same first entry after allowing four runs. Daniel Corcino (3), Edward Paredes (6), Enny Romero (7) and Austin Fleet (8) completed the game in relief.

The Aguilucha offense was led by Zoilo Almonte with four singles and two RBIs, Juan Carlos Pérez double, triple, and two RBIs, Ronny Rodriguez, Jose Julio Ruiz and Bryan Peña with doubles, Jonathan Villar and Francisco Peña a single.

For the Lions, standing out were Eury Perez with double and single, Jorge Polanco, two hits; Ronny Paulino and Erick Gonzalez a double each, Chesnys Jones, Jack Murphy, Tommy Pham and Rubén Sosa each with base hits.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO

Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5294
Image
Braves showed their fury and eliminated the Lions

The Margarita Braves eliminated the Leones del Caracas with a 3-1 win after taking advantage of timely hitting by their players and hold off the opponent with their bullpen to continue on with a chance to qualify .

Leones stumbled forward in the first inning. Henry Rodriguez lined a sacrifice fly to right field batting in Cesar Puello from third base to take the early 1-0 lead.

Margarita was quick to respond and in the third inning they turned the board taking the 2-1 lead.

The Bravos extended their lead in the fifth inning, when Jose Osuna fired a base hit to right batting in Valera.

Starter Omar Poveda slowed the bats of the Lions. In 5.0 innings, he allowed a run, gave up six hits and struck out six.

Manager Henry Blanco moved his pieces from the bullpen in the final innings of the game with four pitchers. Margarita remains with aspirations of classifing and eliminated the Leones del Caracas in the process.

Omar Poveda took the victory (1-2), Wilmer Font took the loss (3-6), Luis Ramirez got the save (15).
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“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO

Re: Winter/Fall/Latin/Asian/World Ball

5295
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YANDY DIAZ

12/28/16

VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE

Yandy Diaz (Leones del Caracas, CF): 2-4, K – Diaz and organization-mate Jesus Aguilar were the only two hitters for the Leones del Caracas to record multi-hit games on Wednesday. The team only had six hits overall, and Diaz’s two singles pushed his season average to .371 in 40 games.

Jesus Aguilar (Leones del Caracas, 1B): 2-4, 2B – Aguilar is now hitting .314 average through 42 games, but perhaps the most impressive part of Aguilar’s offseason has been his 27 walks and 27 strikeouts. Only having 27 K’s through 140 at-bats with the same number of walks is a great sign for someone who usually struggles with strikeouts.

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE

Erik Gonzalez (Leones del Escogido, SS): 1-4, R, 2B, BB - Gonzalez walked just once in his first 12 games of the offseason, but he has drawn six free passes in his last 10 games. He ended the Dominican Winter League regular season with a .273 average, three home runs, 12 RBI, six walks and 17 strikeouts.

Ronny Rodriguez (Aguilas Cibaenas, RF): 1-4, R, 2B - Rodriguez has been consistent all offseason. In the Dominican Winter League regular season, he hit three homers and had 12 RBI through 44 games, and 33 strikeouts through 160 at-bats wasn't a bad mark either. He only walked 14 times, but seven of them came in his last nine games (he also had seven over his first 36 games).

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

Alexis Pantoja (Tiburones de Aguadilla, SS): 0-2 – Pantoja has registered back-to-back hitless games after collecting 10 hits over his previous five games (18 at-bats). For the season, he’s hitting .325 in 29 games with six RBI and 12 strikeouts over 83 at-bats. He has walked just once, though, which is a major concern.

Gian Paul Gonzalez (Gigantes de Carolina, C): 0-3, BB, 2 K – This was Gonzalez’s first game action since Nov. 27. It was just his second game this offseason with more than one at-bat, and he’s played in six games overall. He still doesn’t have a hit in nine at-bats and has recorded two walks and two strikeouts.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller


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