Guillermo Santana for Quisqueyanos was the start of Game 1. The starting pitcher gave up four hits and three runs (one earned) over eight and one-third innings, striking out six and walking seven. (Photo by Lenrick Pinto.)
POND ISLAND—The Quisqueyanos Baseball Team rushed out to a 2-1 lead over the 721 Elite in the Pelican League 7-game series at the Little League Stadium on Pond Island. Quisqueyanos won consecutive matches on Friday and Saturday nights, while 721 Elite won on Sunday night to cap a weekend of exciting baseball action at the stadium. In the opening match, Quisqueyanos squeezed past their archrival 4-3. Guillermo Santana started on the bump for Quisqueyanos. The starting pitcher gave up four hits and three runs (one earned) over eight and one-third innings, striking out six and walking seven. Frank Cepeda led things off on the bump for 721 Elite. The starting pitcher surrendered seven hits and four runs (three earned) over nine innings, striking out eight and walking one. Alexander Alvarez appeared in relief for Quisqueyanos. The winners jumped out to lead in the top of the fourth inning after Rene Mota doubled, scoring one run, and Marc Ramirez homered to centre field, scoring two runs.
In the second match, 721 Elite fought tooth and nail to get back in the series but lost narrowly again. At the end of the game, the score was 18-17 in favour Quisqueyanos. Alexander Alvarez was the star of the game, as the biggest blow in the inning was a single by Alvarez on a 0-2 count that drove in two runs. He tripled in the first, scoring two, singled in the eighth, scoring two, and walked in the eighth, scoring one. He drove in four runs on two hits to be the leading scorer for his team. Quisqueyanos amassed 10 hits in the game. Alex Richinsin, Alvarez, Yohenny Ortiz, and Richardson each collected two hits each for their team.
721 Elite lost a grip of the match in the bottom of the eighth inning when they scored 10 runs on three hits to take the 18-17 lead. The 721 Elite were never allowed back in the game as the batting team held their nerves right to the end.
On Sunday night, 721 Elite finally got into the series with a clinical come-from-behind 14-8 win. Quisqueyanos led by seven runs at one point in the game, but 721 Elite charged back successfully to collect the much-needed win.
721 Elite flipped the game on its head in the bottom of the seventh, scoring eight runs on three hits to take a 13-7 lead. The biggest blow in the inning was a grand slam to left field by Lenrick Pinto that drove in four.
Andy James was another outstanding player for 721 Elite. The right-handed pitcher allowed two hits and one run over five innings, striking out two and walking one. The series continues over the coming weekend on August 18-20, with both teams seeking to get to four matches as fast as possible.
