BANGOR, Maine – The Europe-Africa regional champion Catalunya L.L. from Barcelona, Spain, held on for a 3-2 victory in a consolation game against U.S. Southwest regional champion Capitol Park L.L. from San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday. The win was the first for the Spanish team at the 2016 Senior League World Series.
“We know where we come from and our goal when we came here was to at least win one game, and we finally accomplished it,” said Catalunya L.L. coach Oscar Roman.
The game was scoreless until Catalunya L.L. scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning.
Adrian Hernandez led off the inning with a single to left field, and advanced to second on a walk to shortstop Jostin Castillo in the next at bat. Omar Hernandez followed Castillo with a bunt single. A wild throw from Capitol Park L.L. pitcher Nick Foster allowed a run to score.
Second baseman Frank Hernandez grounded into a 4-3-5 double play that scored Castillo, putting Catalunya L.L. up 2-0.
The team from Spain added a crucial insurance run in the fourth inning after a Rafael Blanca bunt single and error from relief pitcher Robert Acosta scored Adria Foz Pedrosa, who led off the inning with a double down the left field line.
Catalunya L.L. starting pitcher Alex Tome shut out the Texas team until the top of the sixth inning, when a two out double from Austin Vaughan scored Derek Klosowski.
Jalen Battles led off the seventh inning for Capitol Park L.L. with a walk and beat out a throw to second on a ground ball from Clay Kotzur.
A large secondary lead from battles caused Catalunya L.L. catcher Omar Hernandez to throw down to second after a pitch from reliever Pedro Ramon Rosell Edreira. Battles sprinted to third on the throw, making it there safely.
Isaac Velasquez singled to left field, scoring Battles and making it a one-run ballgame with runners on first and second and only one out.
Eric Asensio Lopez came to the mound for Catalunya L.L. and quickly retired the next hitter with an infield popup. The right-hander struck out the next batter for the last out of the game.
Tome pitched five and two thirds innings for Catalunya L.L., allowing one run on four hits, three walks and two hit batters. Tome struck out four batters in the game.
“I wanted to make sure I was on my A game today and pitch a really good game. My main priority was not to throw balls, not to get runners on base and not to let them score any runs,” said Tome, with language translations from Roman.
Foster pitched the first three innings for Capitol Park L.L., allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while recording four strikeouts.
Robert Acosta took the mound to start the bottom of the fourth inning, but was replaced by Battles after surrendering hits to the first three batters he faced. Battles held Catalunya L.L. scoreless for the final three innings, only allowing one hit and striking out four.
“I was just trying to strike everybody out,” said Battles.
Capitol Park L.L. finishes the 2016 Senior League World Series with a 1-3 record. They lost their first game against Maine District 3 champion Bronco-Hermon L.L., 9-8, on Sunday. The Texas team won an elimination game against U.S. East regional champion Clifton American/National L.L. from Clifton, New Jersey, 12-1, on Monday, and was eliminated after losing to Asia-Pacific regional champion Southern Mariners L.L. from Melbourne, Australia, 2-1, on Tuesday.
Capitol Park L.L. went 5-1 in the U.S. Southwest regional tournament, with two wins over two time defending Senior League World Series champion West University L.L. from Houston, Texas, to claim the regional title.
Catalunya L.L. lost their first game of the tournament, 6-0, to U.S. Central regional champion Clear Ridge L.L. from Chicago. They were eliminated after a 1-0 loss to Kiwanis National L.L. from Regina, Saskatchewan.
“It’s a lifetime opportunity. We made history. Spain is a small country and there’s people like us and the kids that try to play something else rather than soccer,” said Roman. “We are a country that fights, and we love this sport. We fought, we practiced hard and we made it all the way over here.”
Catalunya L.L. advanced to the Bangor tournament after going 4-1 in the Europe-Africa regional tournament.
