The Caribbean Cup continued with action on its second day of knockout stage play, and there were some huge moments that will factor into the standings. Here is how everything went down from Nassau on Oct. 24.
Dominican Republic 8 – Cuba 2
In the first game of the day, Randy Bravo drove in the first run with an RBI single in the top of the first inning to give the Dominican Republic an early 1-0 lead. Cuba responded quickly with an RBI single to score a runner from second via the bat of Jean Baldoquin in the bottom of the second to make it 1-1. Baldoquín was the Cuban player incorrectly ejected from the game yesterday due to officials declaring his bat illegal.
In that same inning, Yulieski Remon hit a big bases-clearing triple to give Cuba a 4-1 lead.
Remon drove in four runs on the day. Franklin Hernandez came in at this point for the Dominican Republic to relieve starter Rafael Garcia, but he couldn’t find much success either.
The Dominican offense cut the deficit to two in the top of the third, but Cuba came right back firing. Cuba scored another four runs in the bottom of the third to make the score 8-2. Cuban starter Albert Valladares was solid, and he pitched 5 IP, allowing two runs and eventually getting the win. The score was still 8-2 in the sixth inning as the DR was not able to quell the momentum of the team wearing red and white. Rafael Perdomo Eizmend came in to close out the game for Cuba in the top of the seventh inning and recorded the final out by causing Jhon Javier Pacheco for the DR to fly out to center. Cuba moves to 2-0 in knockout play, while the Dominican Republic falls to 0-2.
U.S. Virgin Islands 4 – Curaçao 3
In the second game of the day, Curaçao was up 1-0 for most of the time thanks to a Mairo Martinus RBI in the bottom of the second inning. Jordan Lucas was the starter for Curaçao and hummed through his first five innings of work. However, the Virgin Islands broke through in the top of the sixth and started to get to Lucas.
A big double by Zayd Brannigan in the top of the sixth provided a huge scoring opportunity for the Virgin Islands. Isranel Wilson was able to capitalize and drive him home with a single to tie the game 1-1.
In the top of the seventh, trying to give his team the lead, Michael Rivera Rios of the Virgin Islands was able to put a ball in play via a bunt and not only moved the runner onto the third base but advanced to second base as well. This meant there were runners on first and second.
J’Rudjeanon Iscencia came in relief for Mike Groen of Curaçao to try and get out of the inning with his team still tied. Two batters later, Dwayne Maduro walked in a run to give his team their first lead of the game, 2-1.
Nigel Calmes relieved Iscnecia and recorded one out. However, that one out was on a sac fly that allowed Rios to score for the Virgin Islands to make the score 3-1. Then, a Calmes wild pitch allowed Cerilio Soleano to score, digging Curaçao even further in a hole now down 4-1.
Calmes was pulled, meaning Marlison Brunken came in for Curaçao as the fourth pitcher manager Hainley Statia used in this half-inning for his squad. He finally got Curaçao out of the inning and turned it over to the offense for their last chance in the bottom of the seventh.
In the bottom, manager Rafael Jackson elected to let Alex Jacobs try for a complete game attempt. Curaçao refused to go away as Raysheandall Michel hit a single with one out in the seventh to give Curaçao life. Then, Dodgers prospect Mairo Martinus once again came up big with a huge triple in the right-center gap, perfectly splitting the center and right fielder to score Michel. He then scored on a wild pitch from Jacobs to make it 4-3. Still, Statia refused to pull Jacobs. The risky decision paid off as Jacobs punched out the final batter to cement a massive 4-3 upset win for the Virgin Islands in the tournament versus one of the Caribbean Cup favorites in Curaçao.
Alex Jacobs with the complete game and the US Virgin Islands pulls off the upset over Curaçao 4-3 in the Caribbean Baseball Cup pic.twitter.com/ltkeIjdqIP
— Jeff Duda (@INTLBaseball24) October 24, 2024
St. Maarten vs. Bahamas
A special opportunity called for a special performance, and Daniel Vos more than answered the call. On a day when St Maarten enjoyed its biggest professional baseball win as a country, they witnessed an all-timer of a performance from their right-handed starter. The six-foot-six Vos twirled a seven-inning complete game shutout, allowing just five hits.
If that wasn’t enough, St Maarten’s offense was brilliant, too. Using an Alex Maderna RBI double to extend their lead to 6-0 in just the third inning.
The bullpen wasn’t needed to continue his efforts, with Vos working a scoreless seventh to seal the win — easily the most consequential in St Maarten history.
When the game ended, much of the hometown Bahamian-supporting crowd had already filed out.
By then, a resounding statement had been long ago delivered.
St. Maarten will look ahead to its future games, a wrinkle guaranteed by their strong play today.
But for a day at least, they could enjoy a victory. And perhaps the start of something more.
The entire tournament will be available to watch on r1live.com. Fans can also follow the entire Caribbean Cup on World Baseball Network.
