Cuba walks it off against Panama, stays in medal race at U-23 Baseball World Cup
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<p>After two tough losses to open the Super
Round, Cuba’s chances at playing for a medal on Saturday rested on their final
Super Round game. Win, and hope remained alive.</p>
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<p>Mission accomplished.</p>
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<p>World No. 11 Cuba rallied from deficits three times, including a margin of 5-0 midway through their Friday game to stun No. 13 Panama with a <strong><a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="9-8 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://u23bwc.wbsc.org/en/2021/schedule-and-results/box-score/85479" target="_blank">9-8</a></strong> walk-off win in extra innings at Estadio Sonora. With the result, Cuba pulled even with Panama at 2-3 for fourth place on the Super Round table with two more games left to be played on Friday in Hermosillo.</p>
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<p>Halfway through Friday’s contest, Panama
looked to be cruising to a second win in three Super Round games thanks to five
runs scored on three big hits. Rhandall Sanchez staked his team to a 2-0 lead
with a two-run homer to left in the second. Erick Mordock drove a ground-rule
double to left to plate a run in the third, and in the fourth, Adrian Montero
singled up the middle to plate two more.</p>
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<p>Cuba not only trailed by five runs, it
had only tallied two hits before the fourth.</p>
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<p>In that fourth inning, the bats arrived.
Cuba sent 10 batters to the plate and stormed back to tie the game with five
runs. Rodoleisis Moreno delivered a bases-clearing double to get his team on
the board with three runs while Guillermo Garcia singled to left-center to
bring home a fourth tally and Loidel Chapelli came across with the tying run on
a two-out fielding error by Panama third baseman Enoc Watts.</p>
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<p>Panama pulled ahead in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Joshwan Wright, but with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Cuba levelled the score again on a Rangel Ramos sacrifice fly to force extra innings.</p>
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<p>In the eighth, Panama took advantage of
the international tiebreak rule to score a pair of runs Jason Patterson
singling home a run and Sanchez scoring on a fielder’s choice off the bat of
Adrian Montero.</p>
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<p>Undeterred facing an 8-6 deficit, Cuba mounted its final rally. With one out and the bases loaded, Ramos scored on a wild pitch charged to James Gonzalez, and the home team was underway. Moreno came across on a fielder’s choice as Garcia beat out a potential double play ball hit to second. With two gone, Yuddiel Gonzalez sent his team into jubilation by lacing a walk-off single to right-center to score Miguel Gonzalez.</p>
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<p>"I always try to stay positive when I step to the box," commented <strong>Gonzalez</strong> after the game. "This is what helped me get the hit."</p>
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<p>Cuba’s rally gave the team a 2-3 Super Round record while dropping Panama to 2-3. The sides now await the results of Friday’s afternoon contest between Venezuela (3-1) and Chinese Taipei (1-3) and the night game between Colombia (3-1) and Mexico (2-2) to determine Saturday’s bronze medal and World Championship Game matchups.</p>
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