2017 Central American Games

The 2017 Central American Games were held in December in Managua. The baseball portion began on December 12 at Estadio Nacional Dennis Martínez and Estadio Stanley Cayasso. Nicaragua won their 7th Central American Games Gold in baseball in ten tries.

Games[edit]

Panama 11, Costa Rica 1. Harold Arauz allowed 3 hits in six innings and Manuel Campos closed it out in a 8-inning mercy rule win. José Díaz shut out Panama for three but reliever Oliver Peña took the defeat. Anthony Amaya was 4 for 5 with two RBI to lead a 16-hit attack, Gerald Chin drove in four and Edgar Muñoz was 3 for 4 with two RBI.
Nicaragua 8, El Salvador 2. Wilton López allowed two runs in five for the win, then Roniel Raudes threw three no-hit innings and Jorge Bucardo finished it up for the hosts in front of nearly 10,000 fans. Darrell Campbell rapped three hits and Elmer Reyes homered for Nicaragua. Nelson Alfaro took the loss.
Guatemala 10, Honduras 3. Fabián Vizcaíno homers, scores three and drives in two for Guatemala, while Fernando Ozuna is 3 for 4 with two runs and a RBI to back Guillermo Valdez, who gets the win. Lombardo Padilla scores twice in a losing cause, while the losing hurler is Kevin Reyes.

Nicaragua 10, Guatemala 8. The hosts nearly suffer a stunning upset. They fall behind, 3-0, then take a 8-3 lead before Guatemala ties it up after 7. In the 8th, Cheslor Cuthbert drives in the winning run and Guatemala's 6th error lets in an unearned one as well. Gabriel Montenegro hit a couple doubles for Guatemala. Pedro Torres got the win and Armando Ruiz the save while Hans Werner took the loss.
Panama 10, Honduras 0. Panama got another mercy rule (this time in 7 innings) win as Honduras was held to two hits in five by former major leaguer Davis Romero. Abraham Atencio Jr. and Anfernee Benítez completed the whitewash. Eduardo Thomas Jr. goes 3 for 5 and Panama draws 14 walks. David Garcia took the loss.
El Salvador 7, Costa Rica 2. Juan Colato goes 4 for 5 to lead El Salvador to their first win, while Marcelo Parker picks up the victory and Jhonny Bautista the save. Rubén Rojas is the losing hurler.

Panama 7, El Salvador 5. After two straight routs, Panama faces a challenge but perseveres. A bench-clearing brawl in the 9th inning following a controversial call at home leads to ten Panamanians being ejected, leading the team to play pitchers in the outfield. Ibrahim McKenzie scores three runs for Panama while Adolfo Reina drives in three. Omar Guzmán strikes out six in two innings of one-hit ball for the win. Bernardo Moreno takes the loss while Manuel Campos has two hits for El Salvador. Jairo Aparicio nearly gets an upset win, allowing two runs in seven and leaving with a 5-2 lead.
Nicaragua 16, Honduras 0. The hosts finally have a dominating win. Cheslor Cuthbert hits a grand slam, while Leonardo Crawford fans 8 in five innings, allowing two hits, for the mercy rule win. Renato Morales, Rafael Estrada and Iván Marín, the 7-9 hitters, each score three runs for Nicaragua. Kevin Reyes and Roberto Velasquez get the lone hits for Honduras while Luis Salinas takes the defeat.
Guatemala 13, Costa Rica 10. Guatemala, after nearly beating the hosts, needs extra innings to top Costa Rica, which was outscored 18-3 in their first two games. Costa Rica's Byron Palma was the first foreign player to homer in Dennis Martinez Stadium (one of 3 hits) while teammate Jorge Delgado Jr. drives in three. For the victors, Andrés Aguilar goes 4 for 5 and Marco Lemus drives in three. Hans Werner takes the win, Cristian López the loss.

Nicaragua 2, Panama 1.Gustavo Martinez (0 R in 6 IP) outdueled Abraham Atencio Jr. (1 R in 7 IP) in a match-up of previously unbeaten teams. Jorge Bucardo took over for Martinez and added two shutout frames for the crowd of about 15,000. In the 9th, Panama got a run off Armando Ruiz with three straight hits but Wilber Bucardo got Ibrahim McKenzie to hit into a game-ending double play with two men aboard. Ofilio Castro drives in Ismael Munguía with each of the Nicaraguan runs to lock up a spot in the Gold Medal game.
El Salvador 5, Guatemala 1. In a likely preview of the Bronze Medal game, El Salvador tops Guatemala. William Ponce allows one run in eight and Jhonny Bautista closes it out while a balanced offense does its job against Guillermo Valdez.
Honduras 6, Costa Rica 5. In a match of previously winless teams, Honduras edges Costa Rica in 12 innings. Luis Matamoros gets the win and Cristian López the loss. Lombardo Padilla has three hits for the victors while Byron Palma drives in a couple for Costa Rica.

Panama 12, Guatemala 8. Omar Guzmán gets the win to lock up a spot in the Gold Medal game while Edgar Muñoz (4 for 4, 2 R, 3 RBI) and Gerald Chin (2 R, 3 RBI) lead the offense. Juan Berger takes the loss.
Nicaragua 13, Costa Rica 4. Costa Rica finishes winless but gives the unbeaten Nicaraguans a challenge for five innings as José Díaz holds the hosts scoreless and Junior Téllez gives up a RBI double to Elpidio Serrano and a triple to Byron Palma. Díaz tires in the 6th and Nicaragua loads the bases; Rubén Rojas comes in and allows a grand slam to Janior Montes. Nicaragua does not look back after that. In an interesting encounter of brothers in an international game, Pedro Torres of Nicaragua fans Costa Rica's Iván Torres. Renato Morales scores three times and raps three hits.
El Salvador 4, Honduras 3. Nelson Alfaro gets the win and Felix Rodas the save as El Salvador finishes the round-robin at 3-2. Mario Velasco drives in a pair for El Salvador while Fred Morris scores two for Honduras. Roberto Velasquez takes the defeat.

Gold Medal Game: Nicaragua 3, Panama 1. In front of a capacity crowd of 15,000, the hosts take the Gold, edging Panama once again. Edgar Muñoz starts the game by hitting into an error by Iván Marín and Eduardo Thomas Jr. and Gerald Chin singled off Wilton López for a 1-0 Panamanian lead, but they got no more against López and Roniel Raudes (1 H, 0 BB in 4 IP, 6 K). Panama's ex-major leaguer, Davis Romero, silenced Nicaragua for three but Elmer Reyes hit a two-run homer in the 4th and Cheslor Cuthbert drove in another in the 6th for insurance.
Bronze Medal Game: Guatemala's Fabián Vizcaíno homers off El Salvador's Marcelo Parker to open the game. In the bottom of the first, Alejandro Amezquita gives up two walks and a hit but no runs. After Parker shuts out Guatemala in the top of the second, the rains start. The game is canceled and both teams are awarded Bronze Medals.