Thursday, January 20, 2011

SANTIAGO WINS SECOND STRAIGHT LIGA NOROESTE PENNANT

The Santiago Tabaqueros snuck past the Acaponeta Cachorros, 8-7, at home on Monday night to clinch their second consecutive Mexican Northwest League championship by copping the title series in five games. The Tabaqueros have won three pennants since 2002.

Emmanuel Rangel broke up a 7-7 ties with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning and Santiago reliever Luis Zamora followed on for the win for Santiago, tossing a scoreless ninth inning, giving up one hit with a strikeout. The Tabaqueros (or “Tobacco Growers”) are a farm team for Monclova and Tabasco of the Mexican League while Acaponeta had no less than four LMB parent clubs providing players this winter.

The Mexican Northwest League is a six-team developmental league affiliated with twelve Liga clubs centered primarily in the state of Nayarit south of Mazatlan and north of Acapulco on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. It is considered a "Class A" circuit in Mexico. The Liga Noroeste has had several incarnations over the years, with the current edition opening for the 2000-01 season (although the 2003-04 campaign was suspended following damage to the region from Hurricane Kenna).

Santiago is a city of about 17,000 residents where the Tabaqueros play home games at 3,000-seat Estadio Revolucion.

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