2014 Central American and Caribbean Games

The 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games were held in November 2014 in Veracruz, Veracruz, the 22nd edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games. The baseball schedule ran from November 15 to November 21. Teams were  Cuba,  Dominican Republic,  Guatemala,  Mexico,  Nicaragua,  Panama,  Puerto Rico and  Venezuela. See here for roster information.

Results

November 15

•  Cuba 4,  Puerto Rico 0. Norge Luis Ruiz does a splendid job, allowing one hit and two walks in eight shutout innings, while Hector Mendoza finishes it up with a 1-2-3 9th. 3B Andy González gets the lone hit (a 4th-inning single) for Puerto Rico, while Luis Cintron takes the loss despite a strong outing (1 R in 5 IP). DH Frederich Cepeda homers.
•  Nicaragua 10,  Dominican Republic 1. The defending champs start on an abysmal note, making five errors (4 by SS Justino Cuevas) in an upset loss to Nicaragua. 2B Ofilio Castro and C Luany Sánchez both have two runs and a RBI while 3B Darrel Campbell has two RBI. Wilton López gets the win over Jairo Heredia.
•  Mexico 6,  Guatemala 1. Sergio Mora and two relievers combine on a two-hitter, with a solo homer by CF Manuel Hernandez supplying the Guatemalan offense. RF Jonathan Del Campo has 3 hits for Mexico and CF Jose Figueroa scores twice. Gustavo Rehwoldt takes the defeat.

November 16

•  Venezuela 2,  Nicaragua 0. Jhonny Caraballo and Josmar Carreño combined on the shutout, Carreño notching a three-inning save. 2B Rodolfo Cardona had a run and a RBI. Carlos Teller took the loss despite one run in 6 1/3 IP.
•  Puerto Rico 14,  Guatemala 3. Puerto Rico bounces back from their rough debut as SS Francisco Lindor scores three and drives in two and LF Angel Rosario drives in 3. Miguel Martinez gets the win and José Ramazzini takes the loss.
•  Dominican Republic 8,  Panama 2. The Dominicans also have a bounce-back game as DH Juan Crousset drives in 3; 1B Willy Aybar draws 3 walks. Edison Alvarez (2 R in 6 IP) won over Alberto Acosta (5 R in 3 2/3 IP).

November 17

•  Nicaragua 7,  Panama 5. Nicaragua finished pool play at 2-1 with a win over Panama. 2B/3B Ofilio Castro drove in 3 and RF Ramón Flores was 3 for 5 with two runs and two RBI. J.C. Ramirez got the win while Berman Espinoza notched a save. In a losing cause, RF Javier Dominguez had 2 runs and two RBI while 1B Carlos Quiroz had 3 hits. Abdiel Velasquez was the losing hurler.
•  Dominican Republic 12,  Venezuela 2. The Dominican Republic had a second straight romp (though it was only 1-0 after 7), with three hits apiece from 3B Pedro Feliz and 1B Willy Aybar, 3 RBI each from Aybar, DH Juan Crousset and 2B Victor Mercedes and 3 runs from Mercedes. Juan De Leon allowed only one hit and fanned 8 in 7 shutout innings. Rafael Rivas homered off Wilgeny Perez for a rare Venezuelan bright spot. Juan Colmenarez took the loss while reliever Carlos Mory was shelled for 7 runs in one inning.
•  Cuba 10,  Mexico 1. The hosts get crushed as 2B Yulieski Gourriel drives in 5 and DH Frederich Cepeda drives in 3; Gourriel, Despaigne and CF/RF Alexei Bell each wrap 3 hits. SS Dainer Moreira went 4 for 4 with 3 runs from the leadoff slot. Freddy Asiel Alvarez gets the win. 7 Mexican hurlers combine to allow 17 hits, with starter Jesus Rodriguez (5 R in 1 1/3 IP) taking the defeat.

November 18

•  Venezuela 4,  Panama 3. Panama led 3-1 after 7 1/2 as Luis Machuca was pitching well and CF Luis Castillo drove in two. Venezuela rallied off Machuca in the 8th and Luis González took the loss in the 9th. OF Hebert Lara drove in two for Venezuela while Delio Martinez got the win with one unearned run in 3 2/3 IP.
•  Cuba 10,  Guatemala 0. In a 7-inning mercy rule rout, Yosvani Torres and five relievers combined to shut out Guatemala. RF Yadiel Hernández drove in four and DH Frederich Cepeda had two runs and two RBI. Jean Rossil took the loss with 4 runs in 3 innings.
•  Puerto Rico 6,  Mexico 4. Mexico led 4-3 into the 8th but the hosts blew it and Puerto Rico rallied to win. DH Joiset Feliciano had 3 hits, 2 runs and two RBI. Puerto Rican SP Max Morales lasted only 2 1/3 IP (6 H, 2 BB, 3 R) but six relievers did the job, with Miguel Martinez getting the win and Roy Geiger the save. Oscar Felix took the loss, while LF Eliseo Aldazaba had 3 walks and a hit for Mexico.

November 19

•  Venezuela 4,  Guatemala 2. Winless Guatemala came close to an upset win, leading most of the game. In the top of the first, LF Juan Aguilar reached against Alexis Fumero and CF Manuel Hernández homered. In the bottom of the first, Venezuela got back one run as 3B Wilmer Alvarado drove in LF Hebert Lara. Fumero would leave after 2 1/3 and Josmar Carreño provided good relief (6 2/3 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 8 K). Guatemala'a Guillermo Valdez contained Venezuela through 6 and led 2-1 into the bottom of the 7th but Alvarado then homered. 2B Rafael Rivas walked, RF Douglas Landaeta tripled him home and SS Rodolfo Cardona singled in Landaeta for another insurance run and the final margin. Hernández finished 2 for 2 for Guatemala.
•  Mexico 3,  Panama 1. The hosts avoided falling to the 7th/8th place game despite a strong pitching effort from Abdiel Velasquez (2 H in 7 IP). In the bottom of the third, 3B Sergio Gastélum reached base and DH Luis Suárez homered for the big blow. In the top of the 8th, Panamanian Victor Vazquez homered off Juan Menchaca to close it to 2-1, but Mexico scored again in the bottom of the 8th when LF Eliseo Aldazaba took Alberto Acosta deep. Jorge Pacheco (4 2/3 IP), Edwin Fierro (2 1/3 IP, W) and Luis Rodriguez (1 1/3 IP, Sv) allowed no runs, with only Menchaca giving up one.

November 20

• 7th/8th place game:  Panama 5,  Guatemala 0. DH Javier Dominguez has 3 hits and 3 RBI and RF Concepción Rodríguez and 1B Carlos Quiroz each had two hirs and two runs for Panama. Samuel Ruiz tossed 7 shutout innings (5 H, 0 BB) and Luis González (4 K, 2 H, 0 BB) adds two more. Jorge Rehwoldt takes the loss, while CF Manuel Hernández, C Fabián Vizcaino and 3B Luis Revolorio each had two hits.
•  Cuba 6,  Dominican Republic 3. Cuba (which missed 2010 due to visa problems) knocked out the defending champs. Norge Luis Ruiz went 8 1/3 IP for the win. Cuba was down 2-1 going into the bottom of the 5th but C Yosvani Alarcón, the #9 hitter, smacked a two-run homer off Wilson Eusebio. 1B Alexander Malleta added a two-run dinger of his own, off Adrian Rosario in the 8th. Malleta finished 2 for 2 with two walks and two runs.
•  Nicaragua 2,  Puerto Rico 1. Wilton López (Nicaragua) and Luis Cintron (Puerto Rico) engaged in a fine pitching duel, with both tossing shutout ball for six. In the top of the 7th, Puerto Rico got to López on a hit by DH Joiset Feliciano and a RBI double by CF Aldo Méndez. J.C. Ramirez relieved López and would toss three shutout innings (1 H, 0 BB, 5 K). In the bottom of the 7th, Cintron allowed a single to 1B Sandor Guido and RF Ramón Flores reached. With two outs, Jose Soler relieved Cintron but allowed a game-tying hit to CF Dwight Britton. In the bottom of the 10th, facing Roy Geiger, SS Ronald Garth tripled and came home on another Britton hit as Nicaragua clinched their best finish in an international competition since at least the 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games.

November 21

• 5th/6th place game:  Mexico 6,  Venezuela 4. The hosts salvaged some pride by winning their finale, with all the runs coming by the end of the 4th. Jesús Rodriguez got the win with 2 1/3 shutout innings and Mario Mendoza Jr. the save as the relievers tossed 5 2/3 IP without a run after Sergio Mora was knocked out. CF José Figueroa had a run and two RBI and RF Jonathan Del Campo scored twice. Jorge Guzman took the loss.
• Bronze Medal Game:  Dominican Republic 8,  Puerto Rico 1. The defending champions got a medal at least with an easy win. Rafael Garcia did not allow a run until the bottom of the 7th, by which team the Dominicans had scored 8 off Jean Ortega, Rawell Rivera and Luis Ramos. CF Víctor Méndez drove in 3 and LF Henry Mateo added two runs and a RBI.
• Gold Medal Game:  Cuba 9,  Nicaragua 3. Cuba won their 15th Gold in the 22 editions of the Games. RF Yadiel Hernández drove in 3, 2B Yulieski Gourriel had two hits, two walks and two runs, 1B Alexander Malleta scored twice and 3B Luis Yander La O scored two runs as well. Freddy Asiel Alvarez got the win. 7 Nicaraguan hurlers combined to allow 14 hits and 7 walks; Carlos Teller took the loss.