The confirmed dates for the 2024-25 Liga de Beisbol Roberto Clemente in Puerto Rico playoffs after the wildcard playoff game between the Criollos de Caguas and the Leones de Ponce on Monday afternoon.
The Indios de Mayaguez were the No.1 seed in the 2024-25 LBPRC regular season, going 24-16. The Cangrejeros de Santurce went 21-19, finishing in second place, and the Senadores de San Juan went 21-19, ending in third place.
The Gigantes de Carolina finished the 2024-25 LBPRC in last place at 16-24.
The Criollos de Caguas had to play a suspended game on January 6 that was played on January 5 at home and resume in the top of the second inning at Estadio Yldefonso Solá Morales in Caguas, Puerto Rico, against the Leones de Ponce to capture the fourth seed for the 2024-25 LBPRC semifinals.
⚠️ Pospuesto por lluvia el juego de hoy domingo
Reasignado para mañana lunes 4:21 pm en Caguas. Se continúa en la 2da entrada 1-0 a favor de los Criollos.#NoNosQuitamos pic.twitter.com/ervzZOjvCy
— Criollos de Caguas 2️⃣1️⃣🏆 (@CriollosCaguas) January 6, 2025
The Criollos de Caguas won 6-4 over the Leones de Ponce on January 6 at Estadio Yldefonso Solá Morales and clinched the No. 4 and final seed for the 2024-25 LBPRC postseason and will face the Indios de Mayaguez on January 7 at Estadio Isidoro Garcia in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
📅 ¡CALENDARIO DE LA POSTEMPORADA! ¡VAMOS A LLENAR EL CHOLO!
Mañana nos vemos en casita para el primer juego de los playoffs vs. el ganador entre los Criollos vs. Leones
-> Aseguren sus boletos en lo que esperamos por nuestro rival: https://t.co/3gRaEASHR1 pic.twitter.com/f89W6Hnz3g
— Indios de Mayagüez (@IndiosLBPRC) January 6, 2025
Criollos de Caguas starting pitcher Dereck Rodriguez pitched one inning, allowing two hits, one walk, and two strikeouts on January 5 before the game was stopped by rain.
Criollos de Caguas relief pitcher Hector Santiago recorded the win. He came into the game on Monday afternoon in the start of the top of the second and threw five innings, and struck out 11 batters while allowing no earned runs.
Leones de Ponce starting pitcher Fernando Cabrera took the loss while chucking one inning, allowing one earned run, three walks, and two strikeouts on Sunday.
Leones de Ponce relief pitcher Orlando Ortiz-Mayr threw 2.2 innings, allowing three hits, four earned runs, one walk, and one strikeout.
The Criollos de Caguas struck the board first in the bottom of the first inning, with first baseman PJ Higgins drawing a bases-loaded walk, scoring right fielder Nelson Velazquez to make it 1-0.
The Criollos de Caguas began the run tallying in the bottom of the fourth inning on Monday when Vimael Machin walked with the bases loaded, scoring Devin Mann to extend the lead to 2-0.
Next batter, Velazquez walked with the bases loaded, scoring Luis Vazquez to make it 3-0.
A few moments later, Criollos de Caguas designated hitter Kennys Vargas rocked a two-run single to center field, scoring Onix Vega and Machin to crack a 5-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Criollos de Caguas plated their sixth run of the game, with center fielder Ezequiel Pagan cranking a solo home run over the center field fence to make it 6-0.
¡Sopla Bairoa! La desaparece Ezequiel 🔥🔥#NoNosQuitamos pic.twitter.com/fWdsHZNZju
— Criollos de Caguas 2️⃣1️⃣🏆 (@CriollosCaguas) January 6, 2025
The Leones de Ponce cut the lead to four runs in the top of the eighth inning when right fielder Aldemar Burgos smacked a grand slam over the left field wall, scoring Josh Altmann, Roberto Perez, and Osvaldo Martinez to make it 6-4.
Criollos de Caguas relief pitcher Ricardo Velez came into the game in the top of the ninth inning en route to help the organization clinch the fourth seed for the 2024-25 LBPRC postseason and got Connor Owings to strike out swinging for the final out of the game to beat Leones de Ponce 6-4 on Monday afternoon to complete the save.
The Criollos de Caguas pitching staff threw nine innings, allowing seven hits, four earned runs, two walks, and 17 strikeouts.
The Leones de Ponce pitching staff chucked eight innings, allowing eight hits, six earned runs, eight walks, and three strikeouts.
The Leones de Ponce did not qualify for the 2024-25 LBPRC playoffs and ended the year in fifth place at 18-22. The Criollos de Caguas ended the 2024-25 LBPRC regular season in fourth place with their record at 20-20.
The No. 2 seed, Cangrejeros de Santurce, will play the No. 3 seed, Senadores de San Juan. All games will be played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Game One will be played on January 7 in the LBPRC best-of-seven semifinal series.
The Cangrejeros de Santurce’s Instagram page lists the home games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in the best-of-seven semifinal series.
The home games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in the best-of-seven semifinal series for the Senadores de San Juan are listed on their Instagram page.
Cangrejeros de Santurce Ruben Castro won the 2024-25 LBPRC regular season batting title, hitting .329 while cracking 45 hits and a .837 OPS.
Indios de Mayagüez Anthony Garcia is another player to watch for during the 2024-25 LBPRC postseason while batting .311, scoring 21 runs, racking five home runs, 20 RBI, and a .947 OPS in the regular season.
All information on the 2024-25 LBPRC regular season stat leaders is on the league’s website at https://www.ligapr.com/ and live in-game box scores are located on https://www.mlb.com/es/ligas-invernales/scores.
The 2024-25 LBPRC best-of-seven championship series will be right after the semifinal series before the 2025 Caribbean Series starts. No confirmed dates have yet been announced.
The 2024-25 LBPRC playoffs will be streamed on Youtube .
The winner of the 2024-25 LBPRC regular season will play in the 2025 Caribbean Series in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, at El Nido de los Águilas, home of the Aguilas de Mexicali in Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico.
