The Bolivarian Games tournament wrapped up on Friday with Colombia beating Perú 6-5 in extra innings in a thrilling gold medal game with two runs in the bottom half of the 8th with Guillermo Quintana’s walk-off RBI single being the decisive hit.
Colombia reached the gold medal game in undefeated fashion and the matchup with Perú was a surprising one with Perú being one of the underdogs in the tournament despite hosting the tournament. Colombia jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second in Fabián Pertuz’s sacrifice fly. Perú struck right back in the top of the third to tie it on Colombian pitcher Luis Escobar’s throwing error. Perú second baseman José Salas followed with a two run bloop single to give Perú a 3-1 lead. Center fielder Giancarlo Kanashiro delivered a two out RBI single later in the inning to give Perú a 4-1 lead.
A throwing error from Perú pitcher Giancarlo Vega allowed Tito Polo to score from second in the bottom of the third for Colombia. A pair of RBI singles from Dario Borrero and Tito Polo in the 4th allowed Colombia to tie it up at 4.
The game remained tied until extra innings in the 8th until Joaquin Velez drove in the go-ahead run for Perú on a sacrifice fly for a 5-4 lead. Colombia answered in the bottom half of the frame, tying things up on a wild pitch. That set the stage for Guillermo Quintana. His RBI single to right center gave Colombia the 6-5 win to secure the gold medal at the 2025 Bolivarian Games. The 2023 Pan American gold medalists took home the gold at the 2025 Bolivarian Games and finished the event undefeated.
This tournament served as a warmup for Colombia as they prepare for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The roster had nine players from Colombia’s roster that played at World Baseball Classic qualifiers this past March as well as multiple minor leaguers who weren’t on the qualifier roster that have a good shot at making the final WBC roster in infielder Dayán Frías and reliever Rubén Galindo.
This tournament also was notable for the performance from Perú. The hosts were the cinderella story of the tournament. They went 4-2 with their only losses coming against Colombia. Significant underdogs in a game against Curaçao, Perú scored 3 in the 7th to tie it to force extras and after each team scored in the eighth, Perú finally broke through in the 11th and held on for the 5-4 win. They did so with just one hit all game.
After wins against El Salvador and Ecuador, Perú finished group play with a gold medal game berth on the line with Venezuela. After holding a 1-0 lead into the seventh before Venezuela tied it. In the bottom of the 8th, Alonso Tenya was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give Perú a stunning 2-1 win over Venezuela.
It clinched them their first ever gold medal game appearance in a tournament with professional players and their second ever top 2 finish in an international tournament and first since the 1957 South American Championship.
In the final, Perú pushed Colombia to the limit and were the first team in the tournament to take a lead on the Colombians. It was an especially impressive showing considering Colombia was filled with current and former minor leaguers and top players from their winter league. Perú in comparison, is almost entirely players who were born and raised in Perú and play their domestic baseball in the amateur league in Perú. Beating Venezuela, Curaçao and nearly beating Colombia that all have players with tons of experience playing minor league baseball in some capacity, would have been once unthinkable for a nation like Perú not long ago.
Curaçao and Venezuela took home a share of the bronze to complete the medalists in the event for the Bolivarian Games.
