ARECIBO TAKES FIRST PLACE HEADING INTO PUERTO RICO PLAYOFFS

The Arecibo Lobos have won the Puerto Rico Baseball League regular season championship. The Lobos finished at 25-14, four games ahead of 21-20 Carolina. Caguas was a half-game behind the Gigantes at 20-20, while Mayaguez snuck into the playoffs despite an 18-24 record because defending champion Ponce ended the winter at 15-27. The playoffs were slated to begin January 16 with Arecibo meeting Mayaguez and Carolina battling Caguas.

Arecibo will be led in the postseason by outfielder Michel Abreu and pitcher Lavale Speigner. Abreu led Puerto Rico batters with 12 homers and 42 RBIs, while Speigner topped league hurlers with seven wins and a 2.03 ERA. Carolina’s Armando Rios won the batting title with a .367 average. Caguas pitcher Orlando Roman was first on the table with 42 strikeouts.

A special draft of players on the Ponce roster among the four playoff teams was scheduled for Friday. Pitcher Juan Padilla, who went 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA for the Leones this season, was expected to draw the most interest.