With a 4-2 series win over the Caneros de Los Mochis, the Tomateros de Culiacan punched their ticket to the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico championship series against the Charros de Jalisco.
The best-of-seven series, which will begin on Tuesday in Culiacan, will decide which club will represent the LAMP at the 2025 Caribbean Series, which is being hosted by the LAMP’s Aguilas de Mexicali from January 31 to February 7.
For the Tomateros, it’s their 20th trip to the LAMP championship series and a chance to win their 14th LAMP title. Most recently, Culiacan won back-to-back LAMP titles in 2019-20 and 2020-21. Culiacan won the first half of the regular season with a 25-10 record, and cruised to the finish line, earning the top seed in the playoffs over the Naranjeros de Hermosillo by virtue of their record.
In the playoffs, the Tomateros eliminated the Venados de Mazatlan 4-1 in the first round and knocked off Los Mochis to reach the finals. Jalisco beat Mexicali 4-1 in the first round and Hermosillo 4-1 in the second round to reach the finals.
This will be the second time the Charros and the Tomateros have met in the LAMP championship series, known in Spanish as the Serie de Mexico, which is being played in honor of Navojoa native Fernando Valenzuela, the 1981 National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award winner who passed away in 2024. In 2014-15, the Tomateros beat Jalisco 4-1 under manager Benji Gil to take the league title.
But Gil now manages Jalisco, and led them to a brilliant second-half finish, going 20-13 in the second place, good enough to earn the third overall seed.
The Charros are led by the hot bats of Jack Mayfield, the former Los Angeles Angel who has a .385 average in the playoffs, Julian Ornelas, who has 10 runs scored and 10 RBIs in the playoffs, and Japhet Amador, who is 12-for-34 with 13 RBIs in the postseason.
Former Major League outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. has batted .359 for Culiacan in the playoffs thus far, and power hitters Esteban Quiroz and Joey Meneses, who each hit 13 homers in the regular season, are the keys to the Tomatero offense.
In Sunday’s reinforcement draft, the Tomateros added right-handed pitcher Odrisamer Despaigne and Darel Torres, while the Charros added right-handed pitchers Omar Araujo and Guadalupe Chavez.
All LAMP games are streamed live on the league’s YouTube page with a subscription.
LAMP Championship Series Schedule
All times Eastern Standard Time
All games streamed live on YouTube with a subscription
January 21
8:30 p.m. – Game 1 – Jalisco at Culiacan
January 22
8:30 p.m. – Game 2 – Jalisco at Culiacan
January 24
8:30 p.m. – Game 3 – Culiacan at Jalisco
January 25
7 p.m. – Game 4 – Culiacan at Jalisco
January 26
6 p.m. – Game 5 – Culiacan at Jalisco (If Necessary)
January 28
8:30 p.m. – Game 6 – Culiacan at Jalisco (If Necessary)
January 29
8:30 p.m. – Game 7 – Culiacan at Jalisco (If Necessary)
WBN Mexico: https://worldbaseball.com/league/mexico/
