CAMAGÜEY.- Camagüey’s baseball players José Ramón Rodríguez and Luis González Azcuy contributed to the crowning of the Cuban team in the 5th Caribbean Baseball Cup, thus ending a nine-year drought without titles in the international arena.

Since the gold medal at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, the first-class national teams have been accumulating disappointments to the delight of fans accustomed to see them lift cups all over the world, but this group is changing things. After its excellent performance in the last World Classic, the team led by the Pinar del Rio’s Armando Jhonson has just added an unknown title to the prestigious Cuban showcase.

In two previous participations, the team from the Greater of the Antilles had fallen in the finals against lower-class rivals on the roster, but with better play and more dedication. However, the third time was the charm for our team, who last Sunday beat Curacao three runs to one in the final, thus completing a perfect step in four outings on the field.

Precisely one of those victories, against the Curacao team itself in the qualifying phase, went to the service record of José Ramón, who did not allow runs in that start. There were four immaculate innings, with only one hit, three strikeouts and no walks; to reaffirm itself as one of the main triumph cards for future competitions.

González Azcuy, for his part, only had three visits to the plate in the final duel in which he did not give hits, but he hit hard and fulfilled his mission as right patrolman by far. His performance has made good impressions on the coaching staff, to the point of being included on the roster for the Pan American Games. In this way, in the coming weeks the pitcher from Santa Cruz and the outfielder from Céspedes will have the opportunity to return Cuba to the top of continental baseball.

Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez