1970 Amateur World Series

The 1970 Amateur World Series was held in Cartagena, Colombia from November 18 through December 4, 1970. It was the first Amateur World Series in over 30 years to feature a European team and was the first to include two European teams. While both won a game, the newcomers clearly struggled; within 35 years, both will have made it to the Medal round.

Cuba took Gold at 12-1; their only loss came to the USA in the round-robin and they topped the USA 3-1 and 5-3 in the finals. They were managed by Servio Borges. Félix Isasi (.396) and Wilfredo Sánchez (.413) tied for the lead with 12 runs in the tournament while Isasi led in RBI (15). Emilio Salgado (2-0, 0.00), Manuel Hurtado (2-0, 0.00), José Antonio Huelga (1-0, 0.00), Gaspar Legón (3-0, 0.43), Oscar Romero (2-0, 0.50) and Santiago Mederos (2-1, 1.59) formed an excellent pitching staff. Huelga won the first round in the finals, beating Burt Hooton 3-1 in 11 innings.

United States was led by Burt Hooton, who beat Cuba in the round-robin for Cuba's lone loss, then took them to 11 innings in game one of the finals before falling. Hooton led the tourney with 44 strikeouts and also had the best ERA (0.00) (it is unclear if this is only for the round-robin or for the whole tourney). Overall, the USA was 10-3, with two of the losses coming to Cuba in the finals as the Americans took Silver.

Puerto Rico claimed Bronze at 9-2. Ramon Ortiz hit the most home runs (3) in the competition.

Colombia placed 4th with a 8-3 record. Abel Leal hit .477 to lead all players; he also led in hits (21) and tied for the most runs (12) while winning MVP honors. Alcibíades Jaramillo led in innings (32 2/3 IP). Luis Gaviria tied for the most doubles (5) while Orlando Ramirez had the most steals (8).

Venezuela was 5th at 7-4. Luis Hernandez tied for the most doubles (5).

Dominican Republic was 6th, going 6-5. Wilson Perez tied for the most runs (12). They were managed by Rafael Luis López.

Nicaragua finished 7th at 4-7.

Netherlands Antilles was 8th at 3-8. Hamilton Richardson was named as an All-Star outfielder.

Italy and Canada tied for 9th with 1-9 records. Italy was led by C Giorgio Castelli (.359/.385/.564, 6 of their 13 RBI, on a team with a composite batting line of .185/.258/.225), P Alfredo Lauri (1.35 ERA) and P Giuseppe Silva (1-1, 3.18).