HAVANA,(ACN)The grand final of the 56th Cuban Baseball Championship will begin today at 7:15 pm at Jose Ramon Cepero stadium, in the city of Ciego de Avila, between the host squad and Granma, who will face each other for the first time in a final playoff.

For the third consecutive time Ciego de Avila, current champions, will fight for the crown of the national pastime after defeating 4-2 Villa Clara, who finished fourth.

Meanwhile, Granma, which most outstanding performance was the bronze medal they won in the 1988-89 season also coached by Carlos Martí, reach this decisive stage after beating 4-3 Matanzas in the semi-final play-off.

The latter, which in this series set a record of wins -70- for a 90-game contest, ranked third for the fourth time in six seasons, they were runners up the two other tournaments.

In the semifinal, Ciego de Ávila batted 67 hits in 209 at-bats, for a team average of .321; while Granma totaled 64 hits in 232 AB for a BA of .276.

Today´s starting pitchers should be Ciego de Avila´s Vladimir Garcia, who earned 14 wins and 6 losses, and Yoelkis Cruz (10-9).