The Cuban U18 national team, having secured a spot in the World Cup, suffered a 3-1 defeat against the host nation at the Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City. This defeat occurred in the semifinals of the Pan American tournament, which started in the city on August 2 and will end today, Sunday.
The crucial match went to extra innings, and was ultimately decided by a hit from Franklin Hernández, the cleanup hitter for Panama. A Tie-Break was required after both teams were tied at one run each following seven innings. Franklin's single with the bases loaded drove in two runners, sealing the final 3-1 score.
Cristian Rego (1-1), who had been flawless in the tournament as a reliever for the island team, had a contentious performance, pitching 6 1/3 innings in relief of left-handed starter Cristian Rojas. Rego ended up with the loss after giving up five hits, with three strikeouts and one walk.
Rojas started the game for Cuba and after a first inning where he faced the minimum of hitters despite a walk, things got very complicated in the second inning. Rojas loaded the bases with a walk and two hits, while a sacrifice fly by the seventh hitter and shortstop, Michael Nieto, produced the first run of the game. Rojas remained in the game, but after the second out, another walk to the ninth in the order led to his substitution.
To be honest, reliever Rego was at his best - as he had been throughout the tournament and despite his 16 years of age - and only the decision playing the Tie-Break and the continued lack of offense by the Cuban team, put him on the losing side. In the third inning, Rego gave up a double to Abel Valdéz with one out, but then proceeded to retire eight batters in a row until Valdéz singled starting the sixth inning. The most challenging moment came in the seventh inning, when Panama had two outs and Victor Jiménez and Luis E. Rivera hit back-to-back singles, but Rego managed to escape the inning by inducing Joey Wood to ground out to him.
During the second inning, the Cuban team managed to equalize the game against Panamanian pitcher Dylan He. Leo Sevilla got on base due to an error by the second baseman, stole second, and then moved to third base on Yordan Manduley's ground ball. He eventually scored when Cuban catcher Yaidier Díaz, the team's eighth hitter, executed a perfect squeeze play. An additional defensive error by Panama allowed Osniel Castillo to reach base. Subsequently, the Panamanian team opted to replace their starting pitcher with right-hander Anthony Ortega (2-0), a move that appeared to be the best strategic decision of the game.
From that moment on, Ortega dominated Cuba's offense, managing to retire eleven batters in a row until the sixth inning, when Raidel Sánchez broke the streak with a single to center field. Despite this, the single had not impact in the inning, as Ortega went on to strike out Darián Rojas, a top performer in RBIs for Cuba, and Sánchez was caught trying to steal second base for the third out.
After the seven regulated innings, the game reached the Tie-Break decision. In Cuba's final offensive opportunity, trailing 3-1, Castillo's unsuccessful sacrifice attempt with runners on second and first resulted in the first out. Ortega then struck out Jonathan Moreno for the second out, and finished his outstanding display by retiring Alexei Febles on a ground ball to third base.
Ortega delivered an outstanding performance throwing 6 1/3 scoreless innings, with 71 pitches, 47 of them for strikes. He allowed just one hit, issued no walks, and struck out three batters. This solid display continued his impressive run in the tournament, as he has now pitched 14 2/3 innings with only one earned run, 9 strikeouts, and no walks. With this performance, the Panamanian right-hander improved his record to 2-0 in the Pan American tournament.
Certainly, Cuba once again showcased its offensive deficiencies in this match, which have been a recurring aspect of the team's showing in the competition. A big issue has been the team's inability to capitalize on opportunities with runners on base. A case in point is their offensive line of .192/.368/.234 in the tournament, with both the batting average and slugging percentage ranking as the lowest among all the teams that advanced to the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Cuba's pitching has excelled in the tournament, conceding just 6 earned runs in 55 innings (0.76 ERA). Prior to this match, Cuban pitchers led in wins and saves, while also boasting one of the lowest walk rates per innings pitched. Additionally, they shared with Team USA the fewest extra-base hits allowed.
Having secured their spot in the world championship, Cuba will play on Sunday against Puerto Rico for the third-place, following Puerto Rico's 6-3 defeat to Team USA in the other semifinal match.
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