The Caribbean Cup championship was decided late Monday night, as Curaçao outlasted the U.S. Virgin Islands in extra innings to win the gold medal 2-1. Arjun Huerta scored the winning run off of a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the eighth inning to give his team the victory. This is Curaçao’s second Caribbean Cup in the history of the tournament and first since 2021.
The two starting pitchers for the game were Virgin Islands’ ace Alex Jacobs and Curaçao righty Misja Harcksen. They both turned in solid performances on the mound, but the Virgin Islands would strike first. Conroy Samuel brought in Dwayne Maduro from third with a single in the top of the first inning to put USVI up 1-0.
Curaçao had trouble getting to Jacobs, as they only managed five hits the entire game. However, they would score an unorthodox run with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Mairoshendrick Martinus was on second and attempted to steal third base, forcing Alex Jacobs to throw over. The throw was off the mark and went out of play, allowing Martinus to score with ease and tie the game at one run apiece.
USVI manager Rafael Jackson elected to stay with Jacobs nonetheless, and he was able to get out of the inning. Both teams had opportunities to score, but neither was able to get on the board. Alex Jacobs and Misja Harcksen both threw seven innings and allowed one run each.
That left the game tied after seven innings, meaning the championship game would go to extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, Cerilio Soleano came in to relieve Harcksen. He faced two batters and got his team out of the inning still tied. In the bottom of the eighth, Curaçao had an opportunity to win the game with the bases loaded and no outs. Ericson Leonora stepped up to the plate and, on a 1-1 count, sent an Alex Jacobs pitch chopping up the middle. The shortstop fielded it, and he fired home, but it was not in time to catch Arjun Huerta at the plate.
Huerta scored the game-winning run as Curaçao won the gold medal in a 2-1 extra-inning bout.
Video of Curaçao’s walk off to give them gold at the Caribbean Baseball Cup. Really fun tournament and hope to see more teams involved next year. Also, both these teams need to be in WBCQ. Seeing how much this tournament meant to USVI, can only imagine how WBCQ would be for them pic.twitter.com/F63aX55Ct0
— Jeff Duda (@INTLBaseball24) October 29, 2024
Curaçao was crowned the 2024 Caribbean Cup champion and earned the gold medal by going 5-1 in their six games.
