The Leones de Leon won their ninth Liga de Besibol Profesional Nacional in Nicaragua championship while coming back in a 3-1 deficit for the 2024-25 winter league season on January 15 and beat the Tren del Norte in seven games at home at Estadio Rigoberto López Pérez in Leon, Nicaragua 2-1 in the bottom of the 10th inning with infielder Saul Orozco drawing a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded on a 2-2 count, scoring catcher Alberto Mineo.
Leones de Leon southpaw Cole Cook won the LBPN best-of-seven championship series MVP and threw 12 innings, posting a 1-0 record with a 0.75 ERA in three appearances and one start, allowing 11 hits, one earned run, four walks, and 10 strikeouts.
The Leones de Leon won LBPN championships in 1956-57, 1957-58, 1959-60, 2004-05, 2009-10, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2021-22 before their Game Seven matchup.
Leones de Leon starting pitcher Luis Pena threw six innings, allowing three hits, no earned runs, and three strikeouts while dialing 63 strikes for 84 pitches.
Tren del Norte starting pitcher Naswell Paulino threw 3.2 innings, allowing no hits, no earned runs, three walks, and three strikeouts. Paulino had 62 pitches with 33 strikes on Wednesday night.
The first run of the game did not come until the bottom of the fifth inning when Leones de Leon utility player Renato Morales went yard over the right field fence for a solo home run to help his team go up 1-0.
In the top of the ninth inning, the Tren del Norte tied the game up at one apiece when catcher Eduardo De Oleo grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, scoring designated hitter Maikel Serrano to even the board at 1-1.
During the bottom of the 10th inning, Mineo led off the inning with a walk on a full count to have the winning run reach base.
The next batter, Morales, placed a sacrifice bunt up the first base line and was tagged out by Tren del Norte first baseman Oscar Campos for the first out of the inning, with Mineo advancing to second base.
Shortly after, Leones de Leon designated hitter Dwight Britton was intentionally walked by Tren del Norte relief pitcher Hector Garcia to make it first and second with one out.
Tren del Norte manager Luis Rodriguez went to his bullpen and called on relief pitcher Erasamo Garcia to try to get out of the jam.
Erasamo Garcia would get utility player Caleb McNeely to fly out to Tren del Norte right fielder Sabriel Polanco for the second out of the inning for the first batter that he faced.
A few moments later, Erasamo Garcia walked second baseman Alec Craig on a 3-1 count to move Mineo to third base and Britton to second base with two outs.
Orozco came up with the bases loaded and dialing to execute the organization’s ninth championship as he drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded, scoring Mineo for the winning run as the Leones de Leon beat the Tren del Norte 2-1 in Game Seven.
🦁⚾ ¡Los Leones de León se coronan como CAMPEONES de la Liga de Béisbol Profesional Nacional Edición XX 2024-2025! 🏆🎉. #deportes #noticias #nicaragua
Más información 🌐👉 https://t.co/V6b1PD2yjW pic.twitter.com/RnNkygZmPP
— Canal 4 Nicaragua (@Canal4Ni) January 16, 2025
The Leones de Leon pitching staff threw 10 innings, allowing six hits, no earned runs, one walk, and four strikeouts.
The Tren del Norte pitching staff flamed 9.2 innings, allowing two hits, two earned runs, six walks, and eight strikeouts.
The Leones de Leon, in Game Six on January 14, came back from a 4-0 deficit and scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Tren del Norte thanks to Caleb McNeely drilling a game-winning two-run double down the right field line, scoring Alberto Mineo and Isaac Mondragon to win 5-4 at Estadio Rigoberto López Pérez.
The Leones de Leon ended as the No.1 seed in the 2024-25 LBPN Round Robin, with a record of 9-3, and the Tren del Norte finished in second place, with a record of 7-5.
The Indios del Boer finished third in the league’s Round Robin with a record of 6-6, and the Tigres de Chinandega finished last with a record of 2-10.
Luis Sumoza was the manager of the Indios del Boer, Luis Rodriguez was the manager of the Tren del Norte, Sandor Guido was the manager of the Leones de Leon, and Lenin Picota was the manager of the Tigres de Chinandega.
The Tren del Norte played their home games at Estadio Rufo Marin in Esteli, Nicaragua; the Gigantes de Rivas played their home games at Estadio Yamil Rios in Rivas, Nicaragua; the Leones de Leon played their home games at Estadio Rigoberto López in Leon, Nicaragua, the Indios del Boer played at Estadio Roberto Clemente in Masaya, Nicaragua, and the Tigres de Chinandega played Estadio Efrain Tijerino in Chinandega, Nicaragua for the 2024-25 LPBN regular season.
The Gigantes de Rivas, under manager Joel Fuentes, did not qualify for the Round Robin due to finishing in last place with their record to end the year at 11-21 after they won the best-of-seven 2023-24 LBPN championship series in six games over the Tren del Norte under former manager German Mesa.
Leones de Leon won the 2024-25 LBPN regular season title with their record at 19-12. Indios del Boer came in second at 17-14, Tren del Norte was 17-15, and the Tigres de Chinandega snuck into the Round Robin as the fourth seed at 15-17.
All the 2024-25 LBPN regular season stats and listed 2024-25 LBPN Round Robin schedule will be on https://www.lbpn.com.ni/es.
Run Down For Nicaragua in SDLA:
The Serie De Las Americas is labeling the event from the formerly-named tournament, called the Latin-American Series, held from 2013-19.
The Latin American Series featured champions from club teams in the winter leagues: the Argentine Baseball League in 2019, Liga Profesional De Béisbol Colombia from 2013-119, the Curaçao National Championship AA League in 2018, the Liga Invernal Veracruzana in Mexico from 2013-19, the Veracruz State League in Mexico from 2017-18, the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Nacional in Nicaragua from 2013-19, and the Panama Probeis league from 2013- 19.
The 2013 and 2019 Latin American Series were held at Estadio Universitario Beto Ávila in Veracruz, Mexico; the 2013 and 2017 tournaments were at Estadio 18 de Junio in Monteria, Colombia; the 2016 and 2018 events were at Estadio Nacional Soberania in Managua, Nicaragua, and in 2015 it was at Estadio Rod Carew in Panama, City Panama.
2013-19 Latin American Series Champions:
LPBC – Liga Profesional De Béisbol Colombia
LBPN – Liga de Beisbol Profesional Nacional
LIV – Liga Invernal Veracruzana
Year Venue Champion League Team
2013 Veracruz, Mexico Mexico LIV Brujos de Los Tuxtlas
2014 Monteria, Colombia Colombia LBPC Tigres de Cartagena
2015 Panama City, Panama Colombia LBPC Leones de Monteria
2016 Managua, Nicaragua Nicaragua LBPN Gigantes de Rivas
2017 Monteria, Colombia Nicaragua LBPN Tigres de Chinandega
2018 Managua, Nicaragua Nicaragua LBPN Tigres de Chinandega
2019 Veracruz, Mexico Nicaragua LBPN Leones de León
Nicaragua played in the 2024 Caribbean Series at loanDepot Park after their 2023-24 regular season but did not send the winner of their 2023-24 LBPN to the event and went winless in Miami.
The 2024-25 LBPN regular season champion, Leones de Leon will play in the 2025 Serie de Las Americas event hosted by the Asociación De Beisbol De Las Américas committee in January against the winners of the professional leagues with the 2024-25 Liga de Beisbol Profesional Colombia season, the 2024 Liga Argentina de Béisbol winner Club Daom, the 2025 Curacao Professional Baseball league winner, the 2024-25 Panama Probeis champion, Aguilas Metropolitanas and the 2024 Serie Nacional regular season winner in Cuba, the Lenadores de Las Tunas.
The SDLA Tournament will be held from January 24 to 30, 2025, and will be held in three venues in Nicaragua.
The 2025 SDLA Tournament will be streamed live on https://youtube.com/@vivanicaragua13?si=TEhAaz06ROQ6dv2.
The SDLA semifinals will take place on January 29 and the championship game on January 30 with the schedule listed below.
The SDLA event will be held at the Estadio Nacional Soberania in Managua, the Estadio Roberto Clemente in Masaya, and the Estadio Rigoberto Perez in Leon, Nicaragua.
2025 Serie de Las Americas Tournament Schedule
All times Eastern Standard Time
January 24
2 p.m. – Panama vs. Argentina – Estadio Nacional Soberania, Managua
6 p.m. – Colombia vs. Curacao – Estadio Rigoberto Lopez Perez, Leon
8 p.m. – Cuba vs. Nicaragua – Estadio Nacional Soberania, Managua
January 25
2 p.m. – Argentina vs. Colombia – Estadio Nacional Soberania, Managua
6 p.m. – Panama vs. Cuba – Estadio Roberto Clemente, Mayasa
8 p.m. – Nicaragua vs. Curacao – Estadio Nacional Soberania, Managua
January 26
2 p.m. – Colombia vs. Panama – Estadio Nacional Soberania, Managua
6 p.m. – Nicaragua vs. Argentina – Estadio Rigoberto Lopez Perez, Leon
8 p.m. – Cuba vs. Curacao – Estadio Nacional Soberania, Managua
January 27
2 p.m. – Argentina vs. Curacao – Estadio Nacional Soberania, Managua
6 p.m. – Panama vs. Nicaragua – Estadio Roberto Clemente, Mayasa
8 p.m. – Colombia vs. Cuba – Estadio Nacional Soberania, Managua
January 28
2 p.m. – Cuba vs. Argentina – Estadio Nacional Soberania, Managua
6 p.m. – Nicaragua vs. Colombia – Estadio Roberto Clemente, Mayasa
8 p.m. – Curacao vs. Panama – Estadio Nacional Soberania, Managua
January 29
6 p.m. – Semifinal Game A: Second Place vs. Third Place – Estadio Roberto Clemente, Mayasa
6 p.m. – Semifinal Game B: First Place vs. Fourth Place – Estadio Nacional Soberania, Managua
January 30
6 p.m. – Championship Game – Estadio Nacional Soberania, Managua
