THUNDER STRUCK: CANEROS WIN MEX PAC PENNANT

Los Mochis RHP Nick Struck

    A superb performance by pitchers Nick Struck and Fabian Cota and a bases-loaded double by Most Valuable Player Yasmany Tomas on Saturday keyed a 5-0 Los Mochis win at home over Guasave to give the Caneros a 4-games-to-2 Mexican Pacific League championship series win, the fourth pennant since the city's entry into winterball in 1947 and the first since 2002-03. In winning the flag, the Caneros will represent Mexico at the 2023 Caribbean Series beginning Thursday in Venezuela.

    The 33-year-old Struck began the winterball season in the Dominican Republic before joining the Caneros in December for five starts, going 1-2 but turning in a sparkling 1.64 ERA. A two-time Cubs organizational All-Star as a farmhand, the Oregon native native is now 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA in five postseason starts after limiting the Algodoneros to a first-inning single by Jesse Castillo over seven innings of work, striking out four and throwing 61 strikes in 93 pitches. Cota, who represented Oaxaca in last summer's Mexican League All-Star Game, took over in the eighth and held Guasave scoreless on one hit over the last two frames to close out the title-winning game.

    Tomas gave the Caneros all the runs they'd need with a two-out, three-run double off Cottoneers starter Jeff Kinley in the bottom of the third to send the sellout crowd of 11,770 at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada into a paroxysm of joy one day after chaos erupted outside the ballpark when fans stampeded the team office to buy tickets for Game Six. Los Mochis added a pair of insurance runs in the fifth when Isaac Rodriguez scored on Rudy Amador's sacrifice fly and a Fernando Villegas single plated Roberto “Tito” Valenzuela. Kinley took the loss and was charged for all five Caneros runs on eight hits before being yanked following Valenzuela's one-out single in the fifth.

    Juan Uriarte was named MVP of the championship series after batting .410 (10-for-21) with a homer, six RBIs and three runs scored for first-year manager Jose Moreno's Caneros. Thousands of Los Mochis fans celebrated the team's championship after the game and a parade through the streets of downtown was scheduled for Monday at 3:00PM local time.

    The team will travel to Caracas, Venezuela in preparation for their first Caribbean Series game against Dominican champion Licey at noon Thursday in the first-ever game at Estadio La Rinconada, a new 36,500-ballpark being inaugurated during the Serie del Caribe. The facility will be hostile to right-handed power hitters, given its dimensions of 442 feet to the center field wall and 351 feet to left, although the right-field foul line is a more approachable 338 feet away from home plate. Estadio La Rinconada has taken ten years for construction, indicative of Venezuela's unsteady economy.

    Los Mochis held off Guasave in the series opener, 9-6, on Saturday, January 21 behind Uriarte's three hits and four RBIs (including a three-run homer); then won a Game Two thriller the following night by a 3-2 count as Amador launched a two-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Caneros a 2-games-to-0 lead before the two teams traveled to Guasave for three midweek games.

    The Algodoneros bounced back with a 10-0 home thrashing over Los Mochis at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon on Tuesday, January 24. Guasave starter Matt Poberyko dominated the visitors over six innings as the LMP strikeout king allowed just one Uriarte single and one walk while striking out nine, including Justin Dean for his final out in the sixth.

Los Mochis fans celebrating LMP title

    Conversely, the Cottoneers sent Pitcher of the Year Luis Miranda to the showers with one out in the third after the Caneros opener let in five runs on seven hits and two walks. Guasave scored in each of the first four innings to enter the fifth with a 5-0 advantage and continued pulling away thereafter. Jesse Castillo had a triple and homer, scoring twice and driving in two runs for the winners while Alejandro Ortiz singled and tripled in two at-bats to score two times and drive in two more counters.

    Los Mochis bounced back with a 4-1 Game Four win Wednesday, January 24 to take a 3-games-to-1 lead in the series. The Caneros took a 2-0 lead right out the gate in the top of the first on RBI singles from Valenzuela and Uriarte, but Guasave cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fourth when Joey Terdoslavich singled in Castillo. That would be all the scoring that night for the Algodoneros, however, as an RBI one-bagger by Amador in the top of the fifth gave Los Mochis their two-run lead back and Edgar Robles' solo homer to right off Cottoneers starter Geno Encino on a full count one inning later gave the Caneros their final margin of victory.

    Starting pitcher Darel Torres took the win for the visitors by tossing five innings of one-run ball and scattering three hits. Reliever Cota, who was awarded the Game One win out of the bullpen, followed Torres and contributed 3.1 frames of two-hit scoreless pitching. Encina was saddled with the loss after being touched for four runs (three earned) over 5.2 entradas before being pulled following Robles' roundtripper in the sixth.

    Game Five on Thursday, January 26 in Guasave began as a pitcher's duel between Los Mochis' Manny Barreda and Nico Tellache of the Algodoneros. The two teams traded zeros through four innings until a two-out Amador single up the middle off Tellache plated Valenzuela with the game's first run to give the Caneros a 1-0 lead. Guasave's Castillo erased that edge with one swing in the bottom of the sixth, launching a 2-1 Barreda over the right field wall for a solo homer to tie the tilt at one run apiece. The score remained knotted at 1-1 as Tellache was replaced after six innings by reliever Rafael Cordova and Barreda was lifted for 40-year-old veteran Tomas Solis two outs into the bottom of the seventh.

    Solis got the final out and after a scoreless top of the eighth for the Caneros, Los Mochis skipper Jose Moreno brought Daniel Duarte (who made his MLB debut for the Reds last summer) in from the bullpen. Duarte got the first two outs but his 1-1 delivery to Julian Ornelas was sent sailing over the right field wall for a homer to put Guasave up 2-1. Algodoneros closer Brandon Koch, who gave up two ninth-inning homers in their Game Two loss to the Caneros, came in and held the visitors scoreless on 13 pitches to end the game, cutting Los Mochis' series lead to 3-games-to-2 and bringing Guasave within a game of tying up the finals, which moved to Los Mochis for Saturday's Game Six.


FIELD NEARLY SET FOR 65th SERIE DEL CARIBE

Caracas' new Estadio La Rinconada

    The competition has almost been set for the start of this week's Caribbean Series as eight winterball national champions will converge on the greater Caracas, Venezuela region, where four games will be played for seven days at two ballparks, followed by two semifinal contests on Thursday, February 9 and the championship game Friday, February 10. Seven of the pennant-winners had been determined by the end of the weekend, with only the title series between Caracas and La Guaira for the host Venezuelan League title still in doubt. The Leones lead by a 3-games-to-2 margin.

    Curacao will send a team for the first time while Cuba is back after a two-year ban to join holdovers Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Panama, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Colombia's Barranquilla Caimanes won last year's title in Santo Domingo after teams from that nation had been winless over the two previous Caribbean Series, their first after entering the competition in 2020.

    The Caimanes topped Dominican champions Cibao, 4-1, in the title game as this season's Reliever of the Year in the Mexican Pacific League for Mazatlan, Elkin Alcala, earned the victory. Surprisingly, only one Colombia, player, first baseman Reynaldo Rodriguez (who spent this winter in Mexicali), was named to the CS Dream Team along with Barranquilla manager Jose Mosquera. The lone player from Mex Pac champion Jalisco to make the team was outfielder Felix Perez, who was a teammate of Alcala's in Mazatlan in 2022-23.

    Here is a list of the eight national champions who will be battling for Serie del Caribe supremacy this year:

COLOMBIA – Monteria Vaqueros (Won second LPB title since 2019 formation; went 0-5 in 2020 Caribbean Series in San Juan, including 5-4 loss to eventual champ Este Toros)
CUBA – Bayamo Agricultores (Combined team of Las Tunas and Granma players from Cuban National Series, now a summer league, won first Elite League championship)
CURACAO – Willemstad Wildcats KJ74 (Have won last three Curacao National Championship AA League pennants and 17 overall since 1975; Dutch League affiliate)
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Licey Tigres (Debuted in 1907; 23 LiDom pennants and 10 Caribbean Series; alumni include Bob Gibson, Mike Piazza and Pedro Martinez)
MEXICO – Los Mochis Caneros (First pennant in 20 years, seeking initial CS title; past Caneros include Aurelio Rodriguez, Jose Valverde and Andres Mora)
PANAMA – Chiriqui Federales (Went 16-4, beat Bocas Atlanticos in playoff to win flag; won twice at 2021 Serie del Caribe in Mazatlan despite canceled regular season)
PUERTO RICO – Mayaguez Indios (19 pennants, 2 Caribbean Series crowns; Denny McLain, Lance Parrish, Luke Easter and Dave McNally played for Mayaguez)
VENEZUELA – TBD (Caracas Leones beat LaGuaira Tiburones, 7-2, Saturday to take a 3-games-to-2 lead in LVBP championship series; Game 6 set for Monday in Caracas)

MEXICO FALLS TO NUMBER 5 IN WBSC RANKINGS

    The World Baseball and Softball Confederation has revealed the end-of-the-year World Rankings for men's baseball with Japan leading' the way (a position it has held since 2014) with 4,179 points to top a list of 81 baseball programs worldwide. Mexico fell one slot from fourth to fifth place after the United States jumped two places into third in the rankings, which measure National Team performances from U-12 to the top level in WBSC-sanctioned international competitions over a four-year period. The end-of-the-year rankings reflect the expiration of all points earned in 2018.

    Japan and Taiwan (3,819 points) retained the top two positions in the rankings while the United States became the baseball program which improved the most among the top 10 thanks to its title triumphs at the WBSC's U-12, U-15 and U-18 Baseball World Cups last year to move from fifth to third position with 3,449 points.

    South Korea and Mexico both dropped a position and rank now fourth and fifth, respectively, followed by Venezuela, the Netherlands and Cuba. The latter three programs each gained one place. With their 7th place ranking, the Netherlands lead the European programs. The Dominican Republic lost three positions and is now in ninth while Australia remained stable in rounding out the Top Ten.

    Positions from 11 to 20 are split between American and European programs. Puerto Rico is now at number 13, gaining three places to became the most improved of the baseball programs in the Top 20. Canada (14th) and Nicaragua (17th) both lost two positions. Seven of the nations with winter champions competing at next month's Caribbean Series in Venezuela finished among the top 13 in the rankings. The eighth participant, Curacao (playing in their first Serie del Caribe) ranks 33rd in the world, representing a leap of eleven slots from the last rankings released.

    Nicaragua has sought to send its winterball champion to the tournament for the past few years and is ranked 16 places higher than Curacao but has never been invited by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation, led since 1991 by Dominican commissioner Juan Francisco Puello. A communist government headed by Daniel Ortega has been cited as the reason for Nicaragua's exclusion by Puello, who has been more forgiving of Cuba and its own one-party communist rule since 1959 as initial Elite League champions Bayamo are expected to be in Caracas later this week.

LOS MOCHIS LEADS GUASAVE 2-0 IN LMP TITLE SET

Rodolfo Amador, Los Mochis Caneros

    The Los Mochis Caneros continued their surprising quest for a Mexican Pacific League pennant with a pair of weekend home wins over Guasave heading into three scheduled midweek games at the Algodoneros' Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon. The Caneros finished last in the LMP playoff points race in 2020-21 and 2021-22 prior to this winter, where they stand poised to win just their fourth title since their 1947 formation and first since the 2002-03 season. For their part, Guasave seeks the second pennant of that city's existence as an LMP franchise site beginning in 1965 (their first came in 1971-72).

    Saturday's Game One was a 9-6 slugfest during which the Caneros broke open a 1-1 contest with six runs in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by a three-run homer by DH Juan Uriarte off Guasave starter Nico Tellache, who'd pitched one-run ball through three frames but did not survive the Los Mochis onslaught in the fourth. Tellache absorbed both the beatdown AND the loss, giving up five runs on five hits and two walks in 3.1 entradas, striking out four.

    Manny Barreda only fared slightly better as the Caneros opener, tossing four innings of one-run ball himself (the one run coming on an Esteban Quiroz solo homer in the second) before being chased during a four-run Algodoneros fifth that saw Sebastian Elizalde take him deep for another three-run bomb on what proved to be the last pitch the veteran lefty would throw. Fabian Cota came in and registered the third out. The Caneros scored twice more in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 9-4 lead that was never threatened. Uriarte finished with a 3-for-4 night for four RBIs and two runs scored. Elizalde went 3-for-5 for the Cottoneers in a losing cause as Cota's one inning of relief work was enough to be awarded the win.

    Things were a little tighter for Sunday's Game Two as the Caneros scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 3-2 walkoff win over the visitors. Longballs factored in this one, starting with Joey Terdoslavich's line-drive roundtripper off Caneros starter Nick Struck in the top of the second to give Guasave a 1-0 lead. It would prove to be the only run Struck allowed in four innings and when he left after six inning, the game was tied at 1-1 thanks to a run-scoring Uriarte single in the bottom of the fourth that knotted the score. That was the only run Guasave starter Jeff Kinley gave up in seven innings as the former Marlins minor leaguer continued to show his move out of the bullpen after ten years as a reliever is working.

    The score remained at 1-1 until the top of the ninth, when the Algodoneros nudged ahead on an Alejandro Ortiz double off Carlos Vazquez scored Juan Carlos Gamboa from second. However, fate proved a cruel mistress to Guasave closer Brandon Koch, whose third pitch to leadoff batter Roberto Valenzuela was redirected over the wall in left-center for a homer that brought the Caneros back even at 2-2. Then, with two down and a 1-0 count on Rudy Amador, the veteran third sacker smoked a Koch offering for a line-drive circuit clout to left that ended the game and sent a second straight sellout crowd of 11,662 at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada home with smiles on their faces.

    Game Three is slated for Tuesday night at 8:30PM local time. Pitcher of the Year Luis Miranda will open on the mound for Los Mochis while Guasave will send Geno Encina to the hill. Miranda is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in four playoff starts for the Caneros while Encina has won one of three starts with a 3.60 ERA for the Algodoneros.

    The two teams reached the LMP title series with respective Game Six wins last Wednesday. Los Mochis topped Obregon, 5-2 at home behind the solid pitching of Miranda, who allowed one run on one hit with six strikeouts over six innings. The Yaquis opened the scoring in the top of the third when Dariel Alvarez launched a solo homer off Miranda, but the Caneros fought back to take the lead with a three-run fifth during which Wagner Lagrange singled in Uriarte with the go-ahead run and later scored on Isaac Rodriguez' safety.

    Obregon scored a single tally in the seventh when Yadir Drake scored from second on a Victor Mendoza one-bagger but Los Mochis put the contest away one inning later when reinforcement Valenzuela, the LMP batting leader, belted a two-run homer. Miranda got the win for the Caneros while Braulio Torres-Perez took the loss after letting in three runs over five innings.

    Strong pitching made all the difference in Wednesday's other Game Six, this time a 2-0 Guasave shutout in Hermosillo that closed out that series, 4 games to 2. Mex Pac strikeouts champion Matt Pobereyko tossed seven beautiful innings, allowing just two hits and no walks with five strikeouts to take the win home for the Algodoneros, who qualified for their first LMP championship series since 2011-12.

    Jesse Castillo socked a two-run homer to center in the top of the seventh off Hermosillo starter Elian Leyva as the Cottoneers pitching staff held the potent Naranjeros scoreless over the final 18 innings of the series. Leyva, a two-time Pitcher of the Year, absorbed the loss despite a strong start himself in which he took a shutout of his own into the seventh before Castillo broke the scoreless tie.

    At the conclusion of the Guasave-Hermosillo series, Naranjeros pitcher Wilmer Rios (who led the Mex Pac with nine wins) was removed from the reinforcement draft pool by signing a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds. Rios' Mexican League rights remain with the Monclova Acereros, for whom his nine wins last summer were tied for the LMB lead with Veracruz' Luis Marquez.

    In the subsequent third installment of the reinforcement draft, the Caneros picked first after some arcane proceedings and selected Obregon pitcher Manny Barreda, who himself had been picked by the Yaquis from Culiacan in the first reinforcement draft. Barreda had gone 2-1 with a 3.65 ERA in four starts for Obregon. In the second round, Los Mochis picked another Obregon starting pitcher in Torres-Perez, who we mistakenly identified as Brazilian last week. Torres-Perez, who pitched for Mazatlan during the regular season, actually hails from the tropical paradise of Auburn, Washington.

    Choosing second, Guasave fortified their infield by choosing Obregon's Juan Carlos Gamboa in the first round and Jasson Atondo from Hermosillo in the second. Neither have distinguished themselves during the current postseason (Atondo was batting just .216 at the conclusion of the semifinals while Gamboa's average was only .146), but Gamboa is a former Mets farmhand who was MVP of the 2014 Serie del Rey in Mexico City's last Mexican League title-winning season while Atondo is a former Mex Pac Rookie of the Year who can play several positions.


CANEROS' YASMANY TOMAS NAMED MEX PAC MVP

LMP MVP Yasmany Tomas

    After two consecutive last-place finishes in the playoff points standings, the Los Mochis Caneros are the surprise team in this winter's Mexican Pacific League championship series after finishing second in both the regular season combined standings and points race. One of the prime movers for that turnaround is Cuban-born outfielder Yasmany Tomas, who has been named the LMP's Most Valuable Player for 2022-23.

    Tomas finished tied for the league lead with 10 homers while topping the tables with 57 RBIs. He also hit for a .328 average (4th), a .383 OBP (6th), a .510 slugging percentage (3rd), an .893 OPS (4^th) and 27 extra-base hits (2nd). That regular season plate success hasn't yet carried over into the playoffs, where Tomas was batting .245 with just one homer and five ribbies over 13 games through Sunday, but Los Mochis wouldn't be where they are today without him.

    Nicknamed “El Tanque,” the 32-year-old Havana native spent five winters playing for his hometown Industriales between 2008 and 2014 in the Cuban National Series, batting a composite .290 with 39 homers and 151 RBIs over 272 games. He defected to Haiti after the 2013-14 season and after some legal maneuvering, the 6'2” 260-pounder was able to audition in the Dominican Republic for various MLB teams and eventually signed with Arizona to a six-year, $68.5 million contract. He made his MLB debut in 2015 and one year later clubbed 31 homers for the Diamondbacks, although he had the dubious distinction of finished in the National League's top five in errors committed by both left fielders and right fielders that year.

    Tomas appeared on his way to stardom but injuries in 2017 and a 2018 incident that resulted in speeding and reckless driving charges after he was clocked driving 105 mph in Tempe, Arizona led to a demotion to the minor and his eventual release in late 2019 despite two strong years for AAA Reno. He had only played 26 games for AAA Rochester in 2021 since prior to his arrival in Los Mochis last fall.

    Now primarily a first baseman, Tomas becomes the seventh player from the Caneros to win the Héctor Espino Trophy and the first since Brian Burgamy in the 2013-14 season. The ballot vote that prioritized members of all ten LMP team front offices, the specialized media and the fans gave 45 percent of the votes to Tomas so it wasn't really close among the six candidates to choose from.

    Other finalists included Monterrey's batting champion Roberto Valenzuela (21 percent), Hermosillo pitcher Wilmer Rios (16 percent), Caneros outfielder Justin Dean (11 percent), Obregon first baseman/DH Victor Mendoza (5 percent) and Los Mochis pitcher Luis Miranda (2 percent). While Miranda edged out Rios for Pitcher of the Year honors in the balloting for that award, Rios led Miranda by an 8-to-1 margin in MVP voting.


SULTANES TO REOPEN BASEBALL ACADEMY

El Carmen Baseball Academy

    After three years of inactivity, the former Mexican League Baseball Academy in El Carmen, Nuevo Leon will come back to life in 2023 with the support of the Monterrey Sultanes. Team's president Jose Maiz García made the anouncement, according to Septima Entrada writer Tomas Lopez. Interviewed on the Bateo Libre radio program, Maiz stated that an agreement has been reached with the Mexican League to once again develop players at the facilities.

    “Monterrey is going to continue training Mexican baseball players,” Maiz declared, “especially now that no other team in the league wanted to participate in El Carmen. Possibly we are just going to participate. It has already been arranged with the league. The other 17 teams did not want to take part in the El Carmen Academy. The Sultanes have already sent people to see the facilities and in about two or three months we will be working in El Carmen. Sultanes only.”

    Maiz, a member of Monterrey's Little League World Series champions along with future big league shortstop Hector Torres and Mexican League star Angel Macias, added that it may be called Academia Cerro de la Silla or Academy Cerro de Las Mitras.

    The academy was inaugurated in 1996 as the brainchild of then-LMB president Pedro Treto Cisneros, Mexico City Tigres owner Alejo Peralta and Mexico City Diablos Rojos president Roberto Mansur to develop prospects for future play in the Mexican League. In more than two decades of operation, thousands of young players called the dormitories home as such future MLB players as relievers Roberto Osuna and Joakim Soria plus infielder Ramiro Pena cut their teeth on the diamonds in El Carmen, as did eventual LMBers like shortstop Heber Gomez and first baseman Japhet Amador.

    The academy's expenses (which included housing, dining and education in addition to baseball development) were shared for years by all Liga teams at approximately US$500,000 each. LMB organizations would send teenage signees for some seasoning before bringing them up to the LMB if they were good enough, although the contracts of many were sold to Major League organizations while they were still at the facility.

    However, as many teams were struggling to pay the bills at home while others began building academies of their own (especially after MLB determined that teams cannot sell players to its organizations but academies can), support faded for the El Carmen operation and it was shut down in 2019. It has remained closed since.

LMP CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: LOS MOCHIS VS. GUASAVE

     The Mexican Pacific League championship series combatants have been determined. 

    The Los Mochis Caneros punched their ticket to the title set for the first time in seven years by defeating Obregon, 5-2, at home on Wednesday night to close out their semifinal series, 4 games to 2. Also Wednesday, the Guasave Algodoneros topped the Hermosillo Naranjeros, 2-0, at Estadio Sonora to reach the championship series after a semifinal appearance last winter and a first-round loss in 2020-21. 

    We'll have details on these games and the first two games of the LMP championship series from Los Mochis in Monday's edition of BASEBALL MEXICO.

CANEROS, GUASAVE WIN AWAY FROM LMP TITLE SERIES

Guasave RHP Geno Encina

    When it comes to listing traditional powers in the Mexican Pacific League, neither the Los Mochis Caneros nor the Guasave Algodoneros are placed high on that table. Now in their 61st LMP season but with a team history dating back to 1947, the Caneros have won but three titles (1968-69, 1983-84 and 2002-03) and entered the current season on the heels of two consecutive last-place finishes in the playoff points race.

    The Algodoneros entered the Mex Pac in 1965 but over 53 seasons (minus a five-year absence between 2014 and 2019 after the original version of the Cottoneers were sold and moved to Guadalajara), they have just a 1971-72 title to show. While they've been more competitive in recent years, the Algodoneros have rarely been considered a contender.

    That's partly why when the Mex Pac season opened in October, nobody would've predicted a Los Mochis-Guasave championship series this month. However, after Monday's games, it's a distinct possibility as both clubs stand one win away from semifinal triumphs heading into their respective Game Sixes on Wednesday night.

    Despite absorbing two straight road losses in Obregon, including a vicious 15-1 pounding in Obregon Sunday night that saw the Yaquis belt five homers after scoring just four runs over the first three games, Los Mochis still leads that series 3-games-to-2 heading back home to Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada on Wednesday. Victor Mendoza belted two roundtrippers Sunday while Sebastian Valle, Dariel Alvarez and Jose Figueroa each cracked homers for the Yaquis in their 15-1 laugher, with Figueroa's blast a pinch-hit grand slam off veteran reliever Fredy Quintero in the seventh.

    Monday's Game Five didn't feature nearly as much fireworks but Obregon still pulled out a 6-3 home win over the Caneros to continue keeping the series alive. Leadoff batter Allen Cordoba lined Los Mochis starter Nick Struck's first pitch of the game into the left field seats in the bottom of the first to give Obregon an early 1-0 lead. The Yaquis built their advantage to 4-0 in the fourth on consecutive two-out RBI singles by Juan Carlos Gamboa and Valle.

    Juan Uriarte's two-run homer for the Caneros off Manny Barreda in the top of the fifth cut the Yaquis' lead in half and a run-scoring single by Justin Dean in the sixth made it a 4-3 contest, but Yadir Drake stroked an RBI double and later scored on Maikel Serrano's groundout in the seventh to put Obregon up 6-3 and close the scoring. Barreda earned his second playoff win while Struck lost for the first time in three decisions.

    In the other LMP semi series, Guasave held a 4-2 lead over Hermosillo in the bottom of the seventh during Sunday's Game Four at home when play was halted by umpires due to fog. After the game resumed Monday, the Naranjeros loaded the bases twice in the top of the ninth inning with one out, but only scored one run on a Cardona sacrifice fly before reliever Felipe Arredondo recorded the last two outs by striking out Alejandro Mejia and inducing the dangerous Nick Torres to loft a fly ball to Elizalde in right with the sacks full to end Game Five to knot the series at two games apiece.

    Monday's Game Five nightcap was no less dramatic as what began as a pitching duel between Hermosillo's Tyler Alexander and Geno Encina of Guasave ended in a 1-0 Algodoneros win. In the bottom of the fourth, Alan Lopez singled and Jose Heberto Felix doubled with two out before Alexander (who was 4-11 for Detroit last season) was pulled with finger blisters. His replacement, Luis Marquez, bounced a 2-2 wild pitch to Julian Ornelas off the right foot of catcher Cesar Salazar into foul territory, allowing Lopez to scamper home from third with the lone run of the game. That was all Encina would need for his first playoff win, going six innings and allowing only a Salazar double in the second. Alexander took the loss for Hermosillo, which entered the postseason as the top seed among eight teams.

    Both Game Sixes on Wednesday will start at 9:30PM Eastern. In Los Mochis, the Caneros will send Pitcher of the Year Luis Miranda to the mound against Obregon's reinforcement from Mazatlan, Brazilian Braulio Torres-Perez, who finished third in POY voting. Hermosillo will host Game Six in the other semi as two-time POY Elian Leyva climbs the hill to face Guasave's Matt Pobereyko, a first-time starter after nine pro seasons as a reliever who led the LMP with 73 strikeouts en route to a 6-2 record and 2.05 ERA.

GUASAVE LEADS HERMOSILLO, 3 GAMES TO 2
Wed, 1/11: HERMOSILLO 8, Guasave 1 (Roel Santos went 3-for-4 with a run and 3 RBIs to support Tyler Alexander's 5.2 innings of pitching with 8 K's for the Naranjeros)
Thu, 1/12: Guasave 4, HERMOSILLO 3 (Esteban Quiroz homered twice for Guasave; a Sebastian Elizalde single in 8th scored Julian Ornelas with go-ahead run)
Sat, 1/14: Hermosillo 2, GUASAVE 1 (Wilmer Rios tossed 7 shutout innings, Irving Lopez and Jasson Atondo had RBI singles; Joey Terdoslavich homered late for Guasave)
Sun-Mon, 1/15-16: GUASAVE 4, Hermosillo 3 (Sebastian Elizalde homered and singled for Guasave in game that took two days to complete after fog suspended play Sunday)
Mon, 1/16: GUASAVE 1, Hermosillo 0 (Former Toronto minor leaguer Geno Encina allowed 1 hit over 6 shutout innings for Algodoneros, striking out 5 and walking 3)

LOS MOCHIS LEADS OBREGON, 3 GAMES TO 2
Wed, 1/11: LOS MOCHIS 2, Obregon 1 (Fabian Cota and Nick Struck combined for 7 IP of 1-run ball, Yasmany Tomas' RBI single in the sixth plated game-winning run)
Thu, 1/12: LOS MOCHIS 2, Obregon 1 (Tomas' grounder to SS Juan Carlos Gamboa was mishandled, Isaac Rodriguez scored walkoff run from third in 10^th)
Sat, 1/14: Los Mochis 3, OBREGON 2 (Fernando Villegas walked with bases loaded off Alberto Leyva to force in winning run in the 12th, one of 3 Leyva BBs allowed that frame)
Sun, 1/15: OBREGON 15, Los Mochis 1 (Victor Mendoza hit 2 HRs and had 4 RBIs, Jose Figueroa hit pinch grand slam in support of Arturo Lopez' 6 IP of 1-run ball)
Mon, 1/16: OBREGON 6, Los Mochis 3 (Yadir Drake was 3-for-4 with a double, 2 RBIs and a run while Allen Cordoba homered, doubled and scored twice for the Yaquis)


MIRANDA OUTDUELS RIOS FOR LMP PITCHER OF THE YEAR

Los Mochis RHP Luis Miranda

   Los Mochis right-handed pitcher Luis Miranda edged out Wilmer Rios of Hermosillo in voting among teams, media and fans for the Vicente "Huevo" Romo Trophy as the Mexican Pacific League's Pitcher of the Year for 2022-23. In the closest balloting among awards announced thus far, Miranda beat Rios by five percentage points from among six hurlers who received votes based on their respective performances during the regular season.

    The 28-year-old Miranda, a Hermosillo native who had briefly been a teammate of Rios' with the Naranjeros two previous winters, went 5-1 over 12 starts and was the Mex Pac's leader in effectiveness with a sparking 1.07 ERA. He was also the league's WHIP leader at 0.87 while also achieving 56 strikeouts in a total of 67 innings pitched. Miranda started off with a bang by pitching 36.1 innings before allowing an earned run at the beginning of the season.

    Despite having spent three years in Atlanta's minor league system and earlier pitching bits and pieces of three seasons with the Naranjeros and Guasave, Miranda was chosen Rookie of the Year in the 2020-2021 campaign as a member of the Algodoneros after going 8-2 with a 3.86 ERA in 11 starts. He's the Caneros' fifth Pitcher of the Year and the first to win the award since Yoanys Quiala in 2019-20.

    Miranda obtained 40 percent of the weighted vote by team front offices, media members and fans, leaving second place for Ríos at 35 percent. Third place went to Braulio Torres-Perez of Mazatlan (11%), followed by votes for Guasave's Matt Pobereyko (8%), Eduardo Vera of Mexicali (4%) and Pobereyko's Cottoneers moundmate Geno Encina (2%).

    Rios had a legitimate claim for POY honors after a winter during which he led the MLP with nine wins (nobody else had more than seven), finished third with a 1.86 ERA (Torres-Perez was second at 1.49), tossed one of the LMP's two complete game shutouts (Obregon's Arturo Lopez' no-hitter was the other), was second to Miranda with a 0.90 WHIP and allowed just 1.1 walks per nine innings to come in second to Kurt Heyer of Culiacan's 0.9.

    The only award remaining to be announced is the Hector Espino Trophy for Most Valuable Player. The six players nominated for that honor are Miranda, Rios, outfielders Yasmany Tomas and Justin Dean (both of Los Mochis) and infielders Victor Mendoza (Obregon) and batting champ Roberto Valenzuela (Monterrey).


PUEBLA HIRES HECTOR HURTADO AS SKIPPER FOR 2023

    The Puebla Pericos Board of Directors have announced the appointment of Héctor Hurtado as manager for the 2023 campaign. Hector Estrada and Miguel Angel Lopez also join the Pericos coaching staff along with holdovers Russel Vázquez, Gilberto Sotomayor, Eduardo Ríos, Jorge Luis Loredo, Ignacio Vargas, Marco Duarte and Humberto Rojas.

    A 51-year-old native of Navojoa, Hurtado spent 22 years as a catcher in the Mexican League before retiring after the 2011 season. Beginning in 1989, he donned the tools of ignorance for (drawing deep breath) Leon, Minatitlan (twice), Mexico City Tigres, Monterrey (twice), Campeche (twice), Union Laguna, Cancun, Monclova (twice), Dos Laredos, Tijuana, Puebla, Chihuahua (twice), Nuevo Laredo, Laguna and Quintana Roo. Over the 831 LMB games the baseball-reference website has stats for, Hurtado hit for a .253 average with 53 homers and 283 RBIs. Not being a speed merchant at 6'1” and 230 pounds, he was caught stealing all seven times his attempts were recorded.

    Hurtado was smiling during the formal announcement of his hiring and declared it to be the most important day of his career, thanked the entire Board for the opportunity. "I know that there were many important people considered for this position and they decided on me. I am very grateful. I have a lot of commitment to the fans and the Board."

    Pericos vice president Alfonso López was in charge of the press conference announcing the hiring of Hurtado as manager and said, “Héctor Hurtado is a graduate of the Pasteje Academy and a lover and strategist of the game, as he has shown us in the last two years. Since I've known him, he has shown a great responsibility towards our beautiful game.

    “I compare him, with all due respect, with a wise man of this game, Don Jorge Calvo. Hurtado develops baseball players, he has full knowledge of our organization from below. All the guys who are going to debut and have already debuted, he knows them perfectly. His commitment to the organization led us to think a lot about him to be the new manager.”

    Hurtado has directed the Pericos in the Mexican Winter League the last two years, obtaining great results by reaching the Serie del Principe both occasions and being crowned in the last edition.

    Previously, he managed the Reynosa Broncos (2016) and Quintana Roo Tigres (2018) in the Mexican League. As an active baseball player, he wore the flannel of the Pericos in the 2005 season. Hurtado will replace Willie Romero at the helm in Puebla.

    Romero was fired on December 15, exactly one year after his 2021 hiring. In his lone year as Pericos dugout boss, the Venezuelan led the team to a 48-39 record in 2022, good enough for third place in the LMB South and a playoff berth. However, the Parakeets were knocked out in the first postseason round by eventual Serie del Rey champion Yucatan and in a league where many owners have the highest (and often unrealistic) of expectations, a playoff series loss can undo everything accomplished during the regular season.

LMP: FIRST ROUND OVER, SEMIS OPEN WEDNESDAY

Obregon P Samuel Zazueta

    The first round of the 2022-23 Mexican Pacific League playoffs are history and the four remaining teams are slated to square off in the semifinals beginning Wednesday night.

    Los Mochis made short work of Navojoa by eliminating the Mayos, 4 games to 1 while it took six games for top seed Hermosillo to knock out Mazatlan in a series delayed by violence throughout Sinaloa after the arrest of the son of drug cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman last week. Obregon and Guasave were stretched the full seven games before defeating Mexicali and Monterrey, respectively, in their opening round series.

    Here is a game-by-game capsule of each LMP quarterfinal series. Home teams are in all caps:

LOS MOCHIS DEFEATED NAVOJOA, 4 GAMES TO 1
SUN 1/1: LOS MOCHIS 7, Navojoa 6 (Rudy Amador scored walk-off run on throwing error by Mayos P Edwyn Valle in bottom of 11th)
MON 1/2: LOS MOCHIS 7, Navojoa 1 (Bruce Maxwell had RBI double and scored as Nick Struck allowed 1 run in 6 innings)
WED 1/4: Los Mochis 5, NAVOJOA 2 (Maxwell's 2-run HR keyed 4-run ninth after Caneros trailed 2-1, wasting Octavio Acosta's 5IP/1R start for Mayos)
THU 1/5: NAVOJOA 3, Los Mochis 0 (Ruddy Acosta allowed 2 hits in 5 shutout innings as Olmo Rosario doubled and homered for Mayos)
FRI 1/6: Los Mochis 4, NAVOJOA 3 (Amador doubled in Isaac Rodriguez in top of 11th, Esteban Haro held Mayos scoreless on 10 pitches for save in Mochis clincher)

HERMOSILLO DEFEATED MAZATLAN, 4 GAMES TO 2
SUN 1/1: HERMOSILLO 2, Mazatlan 1 (Elian Leyva allowed 1 run on 9 scattered hits over 6 innings for Naranjeros)
MON 1/2: HERMOSILLO 3, Mazatlan 0 (Wilmer Rios pitched 7 shutout innings, Jose Cardona went 4-for-4 with 2 doubles)
WED 1/4: MAZATLAN 3, Hermosillo 2 (Christian Villanueva went 3-for-3 with 2 RBIs and Fabricio Macias tripled and scored twice for Venados)
FRI 1/6: MAZATLAN 2, Hermosillo 1 (Leo German scored go-ahead run from third on Cesar Vargas wild pitch in 5th after Thursday's postponement due to cartel street violence)
SAT 1/7: Hermosillo 4, MAZATLAN 3 (Nick Torres' 2-run HR in top of 11th gave Hermosillo 4-2 lead; Venados got run back before pinch-hitter Leonardo Reginatto flew out to end game)
SUN 1/8: HERMOSILLO 3, Mazatlan 1 (Wilmer Rios allowed 1 unearned run in 8.1 innings as Naranjeros scored 2 runs via 2 Mazatlan errors on same play in bottom of 6th)

OBREGON DEFEATED MEXICALI, 4 GAMES TO 3
SUN 1/1: OBREGON 9, Mexicali 4 (Niuman Romero hit solo HR in 7-run sixth inning as Yaquis overcame 4-1 deficit)
MON 1/2: OBREGON 4, Mexicali 3 (Allen Cordoba's single scored Victor Marquez with walkoff run in bottom of the 13th)
WED 1/4: MEXICALI 10, Obregon 6 (Anthony Giansanti and Xorge Carrillo combined for 4 RBIs as Aguilas chased Yaquis' P Mitch Lively for 7 runs on 6 hits in 1.2 innings)
THU 1/5: MEXICALI 2, Obregon 0 (Miguel Pena and two relievers combined for 3-hit shutout as Carrillo singled, doubled and scored twice for Mexicali)
FRI 1/6: Obregon 6, MEXICALI 5 (Carlos Sepulveda hit 2-run double and scored as Yaquis built 6-1 lead; Aguilas scored 4 in the 7th but Samuel Zazueta got save on 9 pitches)
SUN 1/8: Mexicali 4, OBREGON 2 (Niko Vasquez' 2-run single paced Aguilas' 3-run 6th, then Vasquez hit solo HR in 9th to clinch win for Mexicali)
MON 1/9: OBREGON 5, Mexicali 2 (Yadir Drake's 3-run double in bottom of 2nd helped Yaquis take 4-0 lead, Zazueta's 3 shutout innings of relief for save helped maintain it)

GUASAVE DEFEATED MONTERREY, 4 GAMES TO 3
SUN 1/1: GUASAVE 2, Monterrrey 1 (Joey Terdoslavich scored from first on Francisco Hernandez single in bottom of 10th)
MON 1/2: GUASAVE 2, Monterrey 1 (Solo HRs by Jesse Castillo and Terdoslavich in 2nd held up as Nico Tellache tossed 7.1 innings of 1-run ball)
WED 1 /4: Guasave 6, MONTERREY 1 (Julian Ornelas hit 3-run homer for Cottoneers to back Jeff Klnley's 6 innings of 1R/2H/4K pitching; Ricardo Serrano homered for Sultanes)
THU 1/5: MONTERREY 5, Guasave 4 (Bat champ Roberto Valenzuela had 3 singles, 2 RBIs and scored once as Sultanes held off elimination)
FRI 1/6: MONTERREY 6, Guasave 1 (Kennys Vargas' 2-run HR keyed 3-run Sultanes 3rd en route to 3-hit night; Frank Duncan tossed 6 shutout innings for win)
SUN 1/8: Monterrey 3, GUASAVE 0 (Six pitchers combined on 4-hitter for Sultanes as Valenzuela, Vargas and Gilberto Galaviz had RBI singles to force Game 7)
MON 1/9: GUASAVE 8 Monterrey 4 (Kinley got his second win with 6 shutout innings while Orlando Pina's 3-run HR off Kurt Heyer in 3rd gave Guasave a 6-0 lead that held)

    The conclusion of the first round on Monday led to a second reinforcement draft on Tuesday. Hermosillo drew the first pick, followed by Obregon, Los Mochis and Guasave for the two-round selection process of picking reinforcements from among the four teams vanquished in the first round. As with the first such draft, one reinforcement will be allowed to be placed on his new team's active roster for the semifinals while the other will be placed on the Reserve List for that series.

    With their two picks, the Naranjeros took two catchers: Gabriel Gutierrez (Mazatlan) and Xorge Carrillo (Mexicali). Obregon chose LHP Braulio Torres-Perez (Mazatlan) and LHP Marcelo Martinez (Mexicali). Los Mochis selected IFs Roberto Valenzuela (Monterrey) and Christian Villanueva (Mazatlan) and Guasave picked OF Sebastian Elizalde (Mexicali) and 1B Reynaldo Rodriguez (Mexicali). Thus far, Gutierrez, Valenzuela and Elizalde have been activated by their respective new teams while Obregon has not made their roster add choice.

    The Final Four is scheduled to open Wednesday night. Guasave will send Gino Encina to the mound in Hermosillo while the Naranjeros have chosen Tyler Alexander as their Game One starter. In Los Mochis, the Caneros have tabbed Nick Struck as their opener against Obregon and veteran Manny Barreda.


MEX PAC BEGINS NAMING 2022-23 AWARD WINNERS

    As the postseason enters into its second stage this week, the Mexican Pacific League has begun naming its individual award winners for the 2022-23 season as selected by front office and media members in all ten LMP cities as well as an online fan vote.

    The first winner named was Hermosillo's Juan Gabriel Castro as Manager of the Year. Castro led the Naranjeros to the highest points harvest with 19.0 while their 43-25 record in the regular role was the best in the LMP, closing with 16 consecutive victories in Estadio Sonora, where they won all home series in the second half. In his second season at the helm of the Orangemen, Castro lead his team to victory 11 out of 12 times in the Mex Pac's Clasico against Culiacan.

    Castro collected 42 percent of the vote to be named winner of the Benjamin “Cananea” Reyes Trophy. The second most-voted-for skipper was Jose Moreno of Los Mochis with 33 percent, 14 percent went to Luis Carlos Rivera of Obregon and 11 percent was for for Oscar Robles of Guasave. All four will be managing in the semifinals.

    Jalisco outfielder Fernando Villegas has been chosen Rookie of the Year after finishing third in the LMP in batting percentage at .337 and in on-base percentage with a .399 mark, second in slugging percentage at .519, second in on-base plus percentage at .918 and tied for fifth in extra-base hits with 23.

    The 24-year-old Villegas, who was classified as a rookie despite two seasons in the Pittsburgh organization and 48 games for the Charros over the previous three winters, is the first Jalisco player to win the Baldomero “Melo” Almada Trophy in the nine-year history of the franchise. He took 42 percent of the vote to finish first ahead of Hermosillo reliver Luis Marquez (29 percent), starter Juan Pablo Tellez of Mazatlan (19 percent), Obregon hurler Faustino Carrera (7 percent) and Yaquis reliever José Carlos Medina (3 percent).

    And Colombian Elkin Alcala of Mazatlan has been selected as reliever of the Year for 2022-23. The right-hander finished as leader in the saves department, with 20 salvados in 22 opportunities while posting a 1.57 ERA, pitching a total of 34.1 innings in 34 games with 31 strikeouts. Alcala emerged as the winner by closing with 36 percent of the votes.

    Second place went to left-hander Luis Márquez from Hermosillo with 34 percent, followed by Jake Sánchez of Mexicali (12 percent), Guasave's Brandon Koch (10 percent) and Samuel Zazueta from Obregon (8 percent). The Reliever of the Year Trophy is named after Salon de la Fama member Isidro Marquez, the all-time saves leader in both the Mexican League and Mexican Pacific League who still had to wait until 2020 to be elected for enshrinement in Monterrey nine years after retirement. Marquez took himself off the shelf last winter to pitch a combined 29 times at age 56 for Navojoa and Monterrey, going 2-0 with one save and a 2.78 ERA.

    Other award winners, including Pitcher of the Year and Most Valuable Player, will be announced by the LMP league office in Guadalajara as the postseason progresses.


VERACRUZ CUP SEMIS, FINAL SET FOR JAN. 14-15

Estadio Beto Avila, Veracruz

    After more than 300 young Veracruzanos competed on 16 teams, Estadio Beto Ávila (home of the Mexican League Veracruz Aguilas) will be the scene of the Semifinals and Finals of the Veracruz Cup Winter League on January 14 and 15. The first game of the Semifinal will match the Chahuapan Águilas, directed by Fredy Ruiz, against the Papantla Voladores, managed by Noe Mata. In the other confrontation, the Chacaltianguis Mangueros (manager Adelaido Rodríguez) take on the Alvarado Pescadores (manager Juan Palacios).

    The first semifinal game at Estadio Beto Avila is scheduled for Saturday, January 14 at 12:00 pm and the second at 4:00 pm. The game for third place will be on Sunday, January 15 at 12:00 pm followed by the Grand Final at 4:00 pm.

    The tournament was divided into four venues: Deportivo Colon in Xalapa, Campo Anáhuac in Papantla, Campo Raciel Hernández in Otatitlan and Estadio Gustavo Burjois Fernández in Tierra Blanca. Sixteen teams saw action in 72 regular-day games, with an average attendance of more than 2,000 spectators per venue. The teams that participated in Xalapa were the Xalapa Tomateros, Emiliano Zapata Limoneros, Xico Vikingos and the Chahuapan Aguilas. In Papantla, the Papantla Voladores, Tampico Alto Cachorros, Poza Rica Tecnológicos and Coatzintla Maiceros did battle. Chacaltianguis and Alvarado also emerged from similar four-team groups in Otatitlan and Tierra Blanca.

    Copa Veracruz president Vladimir Cruz Acosta says he's satisfied that 300 young players were physically activated from various municipalities of the state and supported by the LMB Veracruz Aguilas. Tournaments such as Copa Veracruz are intended to increase the competitive level of Veracruz prospects sought by the Aguilas and/or other profesional baseball organizations as well as young players who like to practice the game recreationally. Outside the traditional hotbed of northwest Mexico, Veracruz has been the most fertile state in the country for developing ballplayers for years.

LOS MOCHIS WINS SECOND HALF, PLAYOFFS UNDERWAY

Caneros celebrate playoff win

    It took a 1-0 win on the last day of the regular season and a little mathematics, but Los Mochis emerged as the champion for the second half of the Mexican Pacific League's 2022-23 season. Despite having an identical record as the Caneros over the final half, Hermosillo was awarded second place because in head-to-head competition, Los Mochis had a better record than the Naranjeros.

    The Caneros sealed the second half title by holding off archrival Guasave, 1-0, on Thursday night in front of 7,923 fans at the Algodoneros' Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon. The game was a scoreless tie going into the top of the fifth when Los Mochis' Alejandro Urias hit a one-out single, advanced to third on a Justin Dean single and then came in to score on an Ivan Izaguirre wild pitch to Rudy Amador. Omar Araujo pitched three innings of scoreless relief to earn the win as seven Caneros hurlers combined on the four-hit shutout. Izaquirre took the loss for Guasave, who likewise brought seven pitchers to the mound including starter Jesus Broca, who'd tossed three scoreless frames with four strikeouts. With the win, Los Mochis finished the second half with a 22-11 record.

    Hermosillo likewise ended the half at 22-11 after blanking visiting Mexicali, 2-0, while 16,065 spectators looked on at a packed Estadio Sonora. Although this one was another pitcher's duel, it was decided on one swing of the bat when Alejandr Mejia launched a two-run homer (only his second of the season) to score Angel Camacho in the bottom of the third of Aguilas starter Onelki Garcia, a former Dodgers and Royals pitcher who otherwise had an exemplary outing over five innings but fell to 0-3 with the loss. Although Naranjeros starter Jose Samayoa pitched two perfect innings, it was reliever Anibal Cervantes who got the win after tossing three scoreless entradas himself and allowing no hits and one walk.

    Even though the Caneros won the second half on a tiebreaker to collect the 10.0 playoff points that go with their first-place finish, don't feel too sorry for Hermosillo. The Orangemen did pick up 9.0 points of their own for finishing in the runners-up position and their season playoff points total of 19.0 (on an LMP-best 43-25 record) were enough to ensure the number one seed in the playoffs. Los Mochis finished with a 41-27 overall record and 17.0 points to snag the second seed. Tiebreakers were applied to three other ties in the final standings.

    Here is a look at the second-half standings and points, followed by the overall standings and points for the ten teams, both determined by points:

LMP SECOND HALF STANDINGS (POINTS)
Los Mochis 22-11 (10.0), Hermosillo 22-11 (9.0), Obregon 19-14 (8.0), Monterrey 16-17 (7.0), Guasave 16-17 (6.0), Mexicali 15-18 (5.5), Navojoa 15-18 (5.0), Jalisco 14-19 (4.5), Mazatlan 14-19 (4.0), Culiacan 12-21 (3.5).

LMP 2022-23 OVERALL STANDINGS (POINTS)
Hermosillo 43-25 (19.0), Los Mochis 41-27 (17.0), Obregon 38-30 (16.0), Guasave 36-32 (15.0), Monterrey 32-36 (11.5), Mexicali 31-37 (10.5), Navojoa 31-37 (10.5), Mazatlan 33-35 (10.0), Jalisco 29-39 (8.5), Culiacan 26-42 (7.0).

    With defending champion Jalisco and defending runners-up Culiacan both on the outside looking in, the four first round playoff series got underway Sunday night:
    #1 Hermosillo held off #8 Mazatlan, 2-1, as a Luis Alfonso Cruz double tied the score in the bottom of the seventh and a sacrifice fly by the next batter, Irving Lopez, pushed Angel Ramirez in with the go-ahead run.
    A throwing error by reliever Edwyn Valle in the top of the eleventh allowed Brayan Mendoza to score the game-winner from third as #2 Los Mochis snuck past #7 Navojoa, 2-1.
    #3 Obregon scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth as Carlos Sepulveda stroked a three-run double en route to a 9-4 win over #6 Mexicali.
    Francisco Hernandez singled in Joey Terdoslavich in the bottom of the tenth to hand #4 Guasave a 2-1 win over #5 Monterrey.
     All four series are set for their respective Game Twos on Monday at the home ballparks of the higher seeds.

    As expected, Monterrey's Roberto Valenzuela won the batting title with a .365 average, well in front of Justin Dean of Los Mochis (.343) and Jalisco's Francisco Villegas (.337). The home run derby ended in a three-way tie with 10 apiece for Yasmany Tomas (Los Mochis), Anthony Giansanti (Mexicali) and Jese Castillo (Guasave) as none of the trio went deep over the final two weeks of the regular season. Tomas won the RBI crown with 57, ahead of Victor Mendoza of Obregon's 50 and the 42 apiece for three players: Fernando Perez (Monterrey), Christian Villanueva (Jalisco) and Yadir Drake (Obregon). Jose Cardona of Hermosillo won the stolen base race with 29, three up on Mazatlan's Randy Romero (26) while Dean finished with 16 swipes for the Caneros.

    Wilmer Rios of Hermosillo won his final start of the regular season to finish with a 9-2 record and the wins title while three pitchers (Obregon's Faustino Carrera, Hermosillo's Elian Leyva and Mazatlan's Juan Tellez) recorded seven wins each. Luis Miranda of Los Mochis closed out his season-long dominance in the ERA race with a 1.07 mark, trailed by Mazatlan's Braulio Torres-Perez (1.49) and Rios' 1.84. The strikeout battle was entertaining and when the smoke cleared, Guasave's Matt Pobereyko (73) had beaten out Manny Barreda of Culiacan (71) for the title while Javier Solano of Jalisco (67) placed third. There was another close races for the saves leadership, with Mazatlan's Elkin Alcala (20) nudging Brandon Koch of Guasave (19) for the title while Monterrey's Joe Riley finished third with 15.


16 PLAYERS PICKED IN LMP REINFORCEMENT DRAFT

Manny Barreda, daughter after first MLB win

    At the conclusion of the Mexican Pacific League regular season, the first annual Reinforcement Draft was held via teleconference during which the eight LMP playoff qualifiers were allowed to select up to two players each off the rosters of the two non-postseason teams, Culiacan and Jalisco.

    While the teams still playing will add both players they chose to their respective rosters (LMP rights to those selected remain with the clubs they were picked from), only one can be added to an active roster at each stage of the postseason. A similar draft will be held each stage of the playoffs.

    The first Reinforcement Draft was carried out Friday among the presidents of the qualified teams and chaired by Mex Pac president Carlos Manrique and LMP sports director Christian Veliz. The picks were said to be taken in order of team positions in the general standings, although the draft order would suggest other considerations were taken, since overall leader Hermosillo had the sixth pick in the first round.

1 - OBREGON
    The Yaquis chose first and took Culiacan starting pitcher Manny Barreda, who was second in the LMP in strikeouts with 71, finishing with a 3-6 record and a 2.93 ERA. Barreda, who made his first MLB start with Baltimore in 2021 after 15 years in the minors, is a much better pitcher than his record would suggest and he'll solidy the Obregon rotation.
    The second pick of the Yaquis was Tomateros left-handed reliever Óliver Pérez, a cagey 41-year-old middleman with 20 years of MLB experience.

2 - MAZATLAN
    The Venados chose Jalisco infielder Christian Villanueva, who tied for third in RBIs with 42 to augment a .288 average with 6 home runs and a .794 OPS number. Villanueva hit 20 homers for San Diego as a rookie in 2019 and also spent two seasons in Japan. The 31-year-old will likely split between first base and designated hitter for Mazatlan.
    In the second round, the Deer took reliever Luis Iván Rodríguez, also of Jalisco. Like Villanueva, Rodriguez is a Guadalajara native. He can throw strikes as a setup man.

3 - MEXICALI
    The Aguilas reinforced their outfield with Culiacan's Sebastián Elizalde, the winner of the Héctor Espino Trophy as MVP for 2020-21. Elizalde had an off year (.264/1/25) for the Tomateros but he hit .385 for Monterrey in the LMB last summer and remains a dangerous man at the plate capable of getting hot.
    The second selection of the Eagles was Culiacan third baseman Emmanuel Ávila, who also had a down season (.244/2/7) but is a career .322 hitter in ten LMB summer seasons.

4 - LOS MOCHIS
    Further addressing their solid Mexican base, the Cañeros acquired Rookie of the Year candidate Fernando Villegas, who finished third in batting at .337 for Jalisco with five homers. Calling Villegas a “rookie” is a bit of a stretch, however, since he spent two years in the Pirates system and had played 48 games in three previous winters for the Charros.
    The second reinforcement is reliever Karch Kowalczyk, a five-year Dodgers minor leaguer who was 0-0 and 3.31 in 34 appearances for Jalisco.

5 - NAVOJOA
    The Mayos reinforced their bullpen with reliever Sasagi Sánchez, who turned in 7 holds and 5 saves for Culiacan this campaign with a 1.73 ERA while allowing just three walks in 26 innings. Sanchez only had five saves in nine years prior to the current LMP season but may serve as a closer for Navojoa's bullpen by committee
    The Mayos also took another reliever, David Gutiérrez, who was 0-2 with one save for the Tomateros but also had a 1.96 ERA after helping Yucatan win the LMB pennant in 2022.

6 - HERMOSILLO
    The leaders of both points and general standings opted for Jalisco lefty Tyler Alexander, who finished third in wins with six and had 49 strikeouts in 64 innings. However, the former Brewers farmhand had a 5.20 ERA for the Charros and will need to step it up in joining a rotation already featuring Wilmer Rios, Elian Leyva and Juan Pablo Oramas.
    Hermosillo took Jalisco reliever Jared Wilson as a second option. Wilson was just 1-5 for the Charros but had a solid 1.95 ERA with four saves in 22 appearances.

7 - GUASAVE
    The Algodoneros broke the trend for pitching and chose two outfielders, including Jalisco's Julián Ornelas in the first round. Ornelas hit .292, led the Charros with eight homers, was third on the team with 28 RBIs and held down center field. He's capable of playing all three outfield slots and can steal a base for you as well.
    Guasave's second pick was Jalisco gardener, José Juan Aguilar, a 32-year-old who's lost a step after 13 seasons but hit .296 as a part-timer, strikes out rarely and gets on base.

8 - MONTERREY
    The Gray Ghosts chose Culiacan starting pitcher Kurt Heyer with the eighth pick. A former Cardinals minor leaguer out of Arizona, Heyer was 2-4 with a 4.09 ERA for the Tomateros, allowing just six walks (but also six homers) in 61.2 innings pitched. Nothing spectacular but Monterrey needs pitching.
    Which is why the Sultanes also picked Jalisco's vet righty Javier Solano in the second round. Solano was 2-6 and 3.80 this winter but is 55-44 lifetime and knows how to win.


MEXICAN WBC TEAM ADDS FIVE MORE COACHES

Mexico coach Rigo Beltran

    While names of players have been trickling in regarding Mexico's entry in March's World Baseball Classic, the Naitonal Selection Commission has been busy filling out the coaching staff for manager Benji Gil. Late last month, team general manager Rodrigo Lopez announced the addition of five members to Gil's coaching staff, including a pair of fellow ex-MLBers as pitching coaches. The commission consists of Lopez along with representatives from both the Mexican Baseball Federation (FEMEBE) and the Mexican League.

    Rigo Beltran and Elmer Dessens will pair up in handling Gil's mound staff while brothers Ever and Bobby Magallanes will be joined by Jacob Cruz as batting coaches in Phoenix, where the Verdes Grande will play first-round games in Group C over five days beginning March 11 at the Arizona Diamondbacks' home stadium.

    Beltran was a lefty pitcher who spent all or part of five seasons in the majors between 1997 and 2004 with St. Louis, the New York Mets, Colorado and Montreal as well as a stint in Japan with Hiroshima and with the LMB's Saltillo Saraperos (for whom he was 13-4 in 2005). After retiring as an active player, the Tijuana-born Beltran has coached in Minor League Baseball and was pitching coach with AAA Columbus the past two years and he'll be Terry Francona's bullpen coach in Cleveland next season. He was also pitching coach for Mexico in the 2017 WBC.

    Dessens spent 14 seasons in MLB between 1996 and 2010, pitching for nine teams along the way and going 52-64 with a 4.44 ERA in 441 appearances (including 140 starts), winning 21 games for Cincinnati between 2000 and 2001, pitching for Mexico in both the inaugural WBC in 2006 and in 2009. The Hermosillo product also spent 1999 in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants and hurled four winters with his hometown Naranjeros before wrapping up his playing career in the LMB with Mexico City in 2011. He's spent the past two summers as pitching coach for the Reds' Arizona Complex League rookie team.

    Bobby Magallanes spent three years as an infielder in the Mariners system between 1990 and 1992, never batting higher than .216 for a season, then played several campaigns in independent leagues and in the Mexican League before wrapping up his playing career with the Mexico City Tigres and Puebla of the Liga in 2001. His coaching experience includes time with the Mexican National Team at the Central American & Caribbean Games at Veracruz in 2014, serving with Mexico along with Beltran in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and as an assistant batting coach for the 2021 World Series champion Atlanta Braves.

    Ever Magallanes managed Mexico in the 2014 Central American & Caribbean Games while serving as a coach for Mexico in both the 2009 and 2013 editions of the WBC while managing several years in MiLB (including last summer with the Angels' Indland Empire affiliate in the Class A California League). As a player, the elder Magallanes attended Texas A&M before embarking on a pro career in 1987 that would last 19 seasons, the last 11 in the Mexican League. He went hitless in three plate appearances for Cleveland in 1991.

    Jacob Cruz hit .241 with 19 homers over 409 games for five teams in bits and pieces of nine MLB seasons between 1996 and 2005. The well-traveled Oxnard, California native also played in South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico before retiring after the 2010 season. Over the past five years, Cruz has been an offensive coordinator with the Chicago Cubs (2018), an assistant batting coach in Pittsburgh (2019), an assistant hitting coach in San Francisco (2020) and has served as the Giants' minor league batting coordinator over the past two summers.

    The five join Vinny Castilla, Tony Perezchica and Gil Velazquez, who were named to Gil's coaching staff earlier in December. Mexico will open Pool C play on March 11 against Colombia at 12:30PM local time. They'll also face the host United States, Great Britain and Canada that week.