When Jacob Rhinesmith connected him to the ball he knew loanDepot Park’s fences wouldn’t be enough to contain his bat. Epic, the Magellan Navigators became the first champions of the Giants hit in Miami.
At the beginning of the tenth inning and with the clash tied to two, Rhinesmith unloaded all his power with a man in circulation for the ninth Venezuelan to beat on Sunday night 4-3 the Criollos de Caguas celebrated as if it were a World Series.
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In front of a delusional and mostly wine nation audience, the Magellan triumph put an end to an event that left more positive than negative and was witnessed by more than 60,000 fans in three days, according to Marlins sources.
“We are very happy that the first year of the tournament has had so much participation,” said Caroline O. Connor, president of commercial operations of the Marlins.
We’ve had a lot of fun, a lot of new fans in the stadium and we’re really excited to connect people with the teams in their countries and bring communities together.
Like most of the clashes in this series, the one that defined the event remained tense for the most part and the slate reflected a two-run tie for the start of the eighth inning, while the crowd held their breath waiting for the peak moment.
The Criollos de Caguas opened the score in the second episode when Miguel Pabon fired a shrapnel through the right garden that towed the first for the Puerto Ricans, who would step on the plate again helped by an error by the Magellan before the Angelo Castellano on a fully front beat.
From then on the pitching of the Criollos would be in charge of adding several zeros, but the Venezuelans stayed lurking, and in the seventh chapter they would find their great opportunity by placing two men on bases before Carlos Rodriguez unloaded a double that pushed them both.
After that moment, the meeting closed again and the parade of relays of both sets increased before Rhinesmith hit his two-run quadrangular in the tenth inning.
However, Puerto Rico’s team discounted one at the bottom of that inning with an Ishmael Salgado single, but the Puerto Rican threat did not pass from there, sealing the wine championship.
More than 50 players who have passed through Major League clubs arrived in Miami to participate in the event, from a major star like Eugenio Suarez, a slugger like Dominican Miguel Sano, and a renowned coach in the style of Fernando Tatis.
As if that were not enough, several players came to the park of La Pequena Habana who in past times defended the colors of the Marlins such as Peter O.Brien, Alí Sanchez, Magneuris Sierra or Tomas Telis, among many other known from the local hobby.
The peak moment of the series, without a doubt, was the clash between the Magellan Navigators and the Lions of Caracas, which attracted to the park a hobby of more than 31,500 lovers of a classic that is repeated without tiredness in the Winter League of Venezuela.
Once again the fans came to respond to the call of their well-known teams, as he had previously done in the World Baseball Classic and, especially, in the Caribbean Series won by the Sharks of La Guaira.
