Cuba wins double victory in Pan American Softball Championship

Havana, November 16 (JIT) - The Cuban team defeated on Tuesday its rivals from Canada and Guatemala in the X Pan American Softball Championship for Women.

In the first of the games the Cubans gave no chances to the Olympic bronze medalists and third in the world ranking of this discipline.

The stellar Yilian Tornés limited the powerful North American offense to six hits and two runs and also handed out six strikeouts.

The game started off close with one run for each side in the first episode. The same happened in the second and parity was maintained until the fourth, when the Cubans took the definitive advantage.

A spectacular home run with the bases loaded by the West Indian second baseman Leannelis Sayas left her rivals frozen in the field, who could not recover from the blow.

In the end, the Cubans produced five runs in that inning, which left the scoreboard 7x2 in favor of Jorge Lamas' students.

In the second inning, our girls also came out on top against the Guatemalan team with a 12x2 score.

The locals came out ahead and managed to exploit the starter Anisley Lopez. Yamelkis Guevara relieved her and gave 11 strikeouts and allowed only one run.

The overflowing batting of the Cubans counted on Lisaidis Samón's home run that tipped the scales and contributed to the knockout.

Thus, the stage was set for the Caribbean women's closing game against Peru on Wednesday. Mexico and Canada will also face each other, in what could determine Cuba's place among the top two of the group, which would place them in an advantageous position for the complex double System Page.

The elimination phase will begin on Thursday. If the Cubans are definitely in second place in the group, which they now occupy with four wins and one loss, they could walk a more comfortable route to reach one of the first four places in the tournament.

If these circumstances occur, then the qualification to next year's world championship and tickets to the next Central Caribbean and Pan American Games would be a reality.