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
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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.