August 18, 2012

Guatemala captures World Series title,
6-3 over Lemon Grove, Calif.

Latin America champ makes the most of opportunities

By Chris DeBeck

Communications Staff

History was made at Mansfield Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Juvenil de Guatemala Little League of Guatemala City, Guatemala, became the first team from that nation to win a Little League sanctioned tournament, holding off Lemon Grove, Calif., 6-3 in the championship game.

Julio Alvarado’s two-run single in the third broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Guatemalan team the lead for good. He finished with two singles and two RBIs. He also scored a run in the sixth on a passed ball.

Fabian Vizcaino doubled and singled for the Guatemala team, which finished the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record. Guatemala’s final pool play Thursday was rained out, costing the Latin America champ a tie for most wins in a Bangor World Series, which is six, held by Paraguana L.L., Falcon, Venezuela (2006), North Cumberland L.L., Upper Deerfield, N.J. (2008), and last year’s champion, Hilo L.L., Hilo, Hawaii.

Alejandro Amezquita, who the consistently in the high-70s, allowed just two earned runs and three hits in five innings of work to record the pitching win, walking three and hitting two batters. Fernando Valls recorded the final out to pick up the save.

Lemon Grove, the U.S. West regional champion, struck first in the second when Dominik Sawyer hit a one-out single with the bases loaded to score Frankie Nunez.

It appeared that Lemon Grove might add to its lead when Brad Moreno hit a fly ball to right and the throw home sailed over the catcher’s head, but Derrick Clark – on third – hesitated before trying to tag up and run home. He was caught in a rundown between third and home and was eventually tagged out for a double play to ended the inning.

Guatemala, the Latin American champion, took the lead for good in the third. Montes singled home teammate Carlos Estevez to tie the game at 1-1, then Fernando Valls drew a walk to load the bases, setting up Alvarado’s heroics.

Guatemala added three runs in the top of the sixth, with Gabriel Montenegro and Vizcaino each drawing a bases-loaded walk to drive in a run as part of a nine-batter inning. The Latin Americans’ strategy all week had been to wear down opposing pitchers by taking lots of pitches. They finally got Lemon Grove starter Deandre Simpson off the mound in the fifth when he reached his pitch count limit.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound righthander’s fastball averaged about 86 mph.

Lemon Grove cut Juvenil de Guatemala’s lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth. Frankie Nunez hit a double deep to right not far from the foul line, scoring Ray Peterson (single) and Cesar Preciado (pinch running for Simpson, who had walked). But Valls retired four of the next five batters before giving way to Werner.

Alvarado and Werner each singled for Guatemala, while Lieras, Peterson and Sawyer each singled for Lemon Grove, and Clark doubled.

By limiting Lemon Grove to five hits, Juvenil de Guatemala pitchers held opponents to a series batting average of .128, shattering the old record of .178, set in 2006 by Paraguana. Guatemala’s walks and hits allowed per inning ratio of 0.88 was three points better than the previous record of 0.91, set in 2004 by San Francisco L.L., Maracaibo, Venezuela.

The U.S. West region entered the game with a 5-3 record over Latin America in Bangor World Series. The U.S. Southwest region is the only other region with a winning record over Latin America (6-3). U.S. West teams have played in seven title games, but have won only two. Latin America teams have played in six title games, winning four.

Yet, the two regions had played each other for the title only once before, in 2006, when Paraguana defeated Pearl City L.L., Oahu, Hawaii, 4-2.

Before the game, a memorial brick was dedicated to the late Sam Snyder, a former member of the World Series grounds crew.

She died in a car crash in March in Charleston, Maine, at the age of 21. Snyder and her grandfather, Richard “Splash” McQuesten, attended many baseball games together at Mansfield Stadium. Snyder was also a four-year starting catcher for the Foxcroft Academy softball team, earning a spot in a senior all-star game to cap her career.

McQuesten has supported the Senior League World Series from the beginning.

Editor’s note: Statistics are unofficial until they can be verified.

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