2010 Central American and Caribbean Games

The 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games were the 21st Central American and Caribbean Games. The baseball part of the Games was held from July 20 through July 28, 2010 in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. Participants were Puerto Rico, Panama, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Netherlands Antilles, Venezuela, Guatemala, Mexico and the Virgin Islands. Cuba withdrew due to visa problems. Weather would play havoc with the schedule, forcing many games to switch dates and some teams to play 3 games before another had played any. Also, originally no team was scheduled to play more than once in a day - this had to be changed. The Dominican Republic won its first Gold in 28 years, Mexico took its record sixth Silver Medal and Nicaragua got the Bronze.

See 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games (Rosters) for roster information.

Results

July 20

•  Puerto Rico 9,  Guatemala 0. Andrew Urena fanned 10 in a 7-inning shutout as Puerto Rico cruised to an expected win. Orlando Mercado Jr. drove home three runs and Chris Amador cracked a 2-run homer. Gustavo Rehwoldt took the loss.

July 21

•  Dominican Republic 10,  Nicaragua 1. Roberto Novoa allows one run in seven innings in an easy win over Julio Raudez. 1B Angel Fermin and SS Habelito Hernández each pick up three hits for the Dominican squad, which raps 16 hits overall.

•  Panama 1,  United States Virgin Islands 0. Alberto Acosta keeps up the run of fine pitching performances with a 13-whiff, 3-hit shutout for Panama to top Geronimo Newton, who nearly matches him. Jaime Jaen scores the only run of the game in the 6th.

•  Puerto Rico 3,  Venezuela 2. Puerto Rico ekes out a 10th-inning win on an error by Venezuelan reliever Edgar Martinez. LF Chris Amador bangs out three hits for the victors and R.J. Rodriguez gets the win. Mario Santiago and three relievers hold Venezuela to four hits.

July 22

•  Guatemala 7,  United States Virgin Islands 6. The Virgin Islands lost a closely-fought match with Guatemala in the best hope for a win for either team. The Virgin Islands led 5-2 going into the bottom of the 9th but Franklin Leonard surrendered three runs to tie it. The Islanders got one in the 11th only to allow two in the bottom of the 11th by Richard White and Kenny Jackson for a tough defeat. 1B Michael Flemming and 3B Eric Perez each drove in two for the Virgin Islands, which outhit Guatemala 11-5. Unfortunately, Virgin Islands pitchers walked 15 (three Guatemalans each drawing three) and hit three batters, with both Timothy Brewer and Leonard walking six (Leonard doing so in 2 2/3 IP). Erick Acosta got the win in relief, allowing three runs in 6 1/3 innings.

•  Puerto Rico 6,  Panama 0. 3,000 fans turned out to see a third straight win for the hosts. Efrain Nieves allowed one hit in five innings and three relievers wrapped up the shutout. Jorge Jimenez hits a first-inning grand slam off former major leaguer Davis Romero and Puerto Rico does not look back.

July 23

•  Venezuela 20,  Guatemala 0. Carlos Mori and two relievers combine on a 2-hit shutout, while four Guatemalan hurlers allow 17 hits and 8 walks while the defense commits six errors in a lopsided game. C Franklin Tua Jr. falls a homer shy of the cycle and has 3 runs and 3 RBI while RF Selwyn Langaigne goes 1 for 3 with 3 walks and four runs. Venezuelan batters go 17 for 35.

•  Nicaragua 6,  Netherlands Antilles 0. Diego Sandino and Simon Pantophlet trade goose eggs for five innings in a fine pitchers' duel. Berman Espinoza completes Sandino's shutout work with four more blanks but Pantophlet's bullpen isn't as strong. Leandro Lopez are Kevin Kellij are burned for six runs in the 7th. Nicaraguan 3B Jimy Gonzalez and Antillian SS Johnny Gregorius both collect three hits.

July 24

•  Nicaragua 5,  Mexico 2. 16-year veteran Enrique Quintanilla is rocked for six hits and four runs in under two innings before getting yanked. That's all Mario Peña and Nicaragua needed for the win. 3B Jimy Gonzalez had four hits and RF Justo Rivas 3 RBI for Nicaragua.

•  Panama 15,  Guatemala 0. Guatemala is again held to two hits and no runs, this time by Elias Saenz and Jose Corrales. Panama gets 15 hits and 7 walks in their 7-inning mercy rule win. 1B Carlos Quiroz is the star, going 4 for 5 with four runs, five RBI, a double and two dingers.

•  Dominican Republic 8,  Netherlands Antilles 2. Alexis Gómez drives in 3, gets 3 hits and homers while Bernie Castro goes 3 for 3 with two steals and four runs from the leadoff slot. Duko Jansen, a former pitcher for the Dutch national team, takes the loss while Willy Lebrón gets the win.

•  Venezuela 2,  Panama 1. Venezuelan starter Marcos Carvajal allows just one run in 6 1/3 innings but leaves with a deficit as Julio Denis tosses eight goose eggs in a row for Panama. Panamanian veteran Gilberto Méndez blew it in the 9th, allowing Jonathan Sivira to score on a hit by Víctor Marapacuto. In the 10th, Tomás Pérez drew a walk from Roberto Ferguson. Selwyn Langaigne bunted Pérez over and a Ferguson error put him on third. Cleanup man Sivira then singled him in with the winner. After 15 runs earlier in the day, the Panamanian offense couldn't manufacture much here.

•  Venezuela 11,  United States Virgin Islands 0. Venezuela's second game of the day was much easier than their first. Four hurlers combined to hold the Virgin Islands to one hit, a single by RF Michael Flemming. 1B Luis Jiménez homered and drove in three while RF Selwyn Langaigne was 3 for 4 with two runs, a walk and a RBI.

July 25

•  Mexico 3,  Netherlands Antilles 2. The Antillians come their closest to a win, as CF Ardley Jansen drives in a first-inning run and scores in the 6th on a RBI by LF Lorvin Louisa to go up 2-0. College left-hander Jonathan Balentina, meanwhile, shuts out Mexico into the 7th, despite five walks. The bullpen blows it as 46-year-old Orsendo Clemencia gives up two runs in the 8th and 19-year-old Ruderly Manuel one in the 9th. C Humberto Sosa goes 3 for 3 with two walks, a run and a RBI for Mexico. Francisco Campos gets the win in relief.

•  Mexico 2,  Dominican Republic 1. Mexico has their second nail-biter win of the day. The former major leaguers in the Dominican lineup go a combined 1 for 16 in the team's first loss. 3B Jesus Castillo drives in RF Efren Espinoza in the 4th with the lone run off Dominican starter Victor Moreno in five innings. Two J. Penas then combine for three shutout innings of relief. In the meantime, Adrian Ramirez, Alfonso Sanchez and Cupertino Leon keep the Dominicans off the board through eight. In the 9th, Dario Veras allows four baserunners and a crucial second Mexican run, CF Ivan Araujo doubling home Espinoza. In the bottom of that inning, Francisco Villegas gives up the lone Dominican run as 1B Tony Batista plates 2B Bernie Castro.

•  Puerto Rico 6,  United States Virgin Islands 0. Six Puerto Rican pitchers combined on the shutout, with Andrew Urena getting his second win of the tournament. LF Raúl González goes 3 for 5 with two runs and a RBI, while Geronimo Newton turns in a decent effort (3 runs in 6) but falls to 0-2 as he again gets no run support.

July 26

•  Mexico 7,  Panama 0. Enrique Quintanilla bounces back from his bad start last time, teaming with Cupertino Leon and Francisco Villegas on a shutout of Panama to knock out the Panamanians. Panamanian starter Alberto Acosta allowed four runs in the first two innings. 1B Jorge Guzman went 3 for 5 with a walk, run and RBI for Mexico while RF Efren Espinoza was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI.

•  Nicaragua 2,  Venezuela 0. In a battle for a semifinal spot, Jesús Yépez of Venezuela and Julio Raudez of Nicaragua tossed shutout ball for six innings each. In the 7th, Nicaragua got to Yépez for a run, then they got one insurance score in the 9th against the bullpen. Meanwhile, Raudez and Diego Sandino teamed up on a 4-hit shutout to advance Nicaragua in an upset.

July 27

•  Mexico 1,  Puerto Rico 0. Puerto Rico, the lone unbeaten team, loses a crucial match, eliminating them from hopes of a Gold or Silver Medal at home. Carlos Elizalde, Cupertino Leon, Adrian Ramirez and Francisco Villegas combine on the 6-hit shutout. Meanwhile, Mario Santiago shut down Mexico on two hits and no runs through 7 before being relieved by R.J. Rodriguez. Puerto Rico's closer from the 2009 Baseball World Cup falters in the 9th. With one out in the 9th, CF Ivan Araujo walks, then C Humberto Sosa doubles him in the game's only run.

•  Dominican Republic 6,  Nicaragua 5. Former major leaguer Roberto Novoa allows two quick Dominican runs in the first, but Armando Hernández gives the runs back in the bottom of the second. Novoa's woes continue as he allows two more runs, one in the third and one in the fourth, before getting yanked by Denny Gonzalez. Nicaragua led 5-3 going into the bottom of the 6th but veteran Diego Sandino surrendered a 3-run homer to Dominican C Danilo Sánchez and there went the game. J. Pena, José Cabrera and Dario Veras tossed scoreless ball for the final four innings to send the Dominican Republic to the Gold Medal game.

July 28

• Gold Medal Game -  Dominican Republic 3,  Mexico 2. Mexican ace Francisco Campos started badly, allowing two runs in the first (RF Ricardo Nanita driving in 2B Bernie Castro and then being driven in by CF Victor Mendez). In the second, SS Habelito Hernandez drove in 3B Napoleon Calzado with an insurance run. Mexico allowed no more runs but the Dominicans needed no more to claim their first Gold Medal in 28 years and deny Mexico its first ever in the event. Juan Peña shut out Mexico until the 6th and José Cabrera allowed another run in the 8th before Dario Veras wrapped it up with 1 1/3 shutout innings for his second save.

• Bronze Medal Game -  Nicaragua 7,  Puerto Rico 6. Puerto Rico's heartbreak ends with a medal-less tourney after being the last team to take its first loss. They struck quickly, scoring twice off Mario Peña in the first. Efrain Nieves, meanwhile, allowed one run in five while whiffing seven and Puerto Rico led 2-1 halfway through. Reliever Andrew Urena, 2-0 coming in, promptly allowed two Nicaraguan runs in the 6th but Puerto Rico rallied for three in the 6th and 7th to take a solid 6-3 lead heading into the 9th. That inning was awful for them as Francisco Ortiz, Manuel Romero and R.J. Rodriguez combined to allow four Nicaraguan runs. Armando Hernandez and Julio Raudez shut out Puerto Rico in the bottom of the 9th to lock it up as 3,500 home fans walk away disappointed. 2B Mario Holmann reached three times for Nicaragua and his counterpart Irving Falu had 2 hits, a triple, 2 steals, 2 runs and 2 RBI in a losing effort.