Cuba Falls to Korea in Its Debut

Cuba lost 3-2 to South Korea in its debut at the U-23 Baseball World Cup. The game was decided in extra innings at the Rigoberto López Pérez stadium in León, Nicaragua.

The loss went to Randy Martínez (0-1). A bases-loaded walk ended the game. The win went to reliever Jonghyeok Won (1-0). Won struck out five Cubans in two innings.

Cuba connected for a single hit. It was a double by captain Jean Lucas Baldoquín. Cuban batters received 13 strikeouts. Matanzas native Hanyelo Videt saw the third strike three times.

Cuba struck first in the second inning. The Korean third baseman committed two errors in that inning. A sacrifice fly by Rafael de Jesús Álvarez completed the pair of runs.

Korea responded in the third. Three hits, with an RBI double by Joonseo Eo, cut the lead. Starter José Ignacio Bermúdez worked 4.2 innings. He allowed five hits and two runs and struck out eight.

In the fifth came the tie: there was a single, a bunt, and a wild pitch. A sacrifice fly by Seungjoo Kim drove in the run.

Fher Cejas allowed two hits in two-thirds, without runs. Randy Martínez pitched two hitless innings. He issued two walks.

Korea committed three errors. Cuba, one, but the difference was in the offense, where the Asians hit better than ours and knew how to take advantage of the chances they had.

Cuba is in Group B along with South Korea, Japan, Venezuela, Great Britain, and South Africa. Three teams will advance to the super round.

The team from the largest of the Antilles is now obliged to react immediately so as not to be left out of the next stage of the tournament and join the long list of international failures of our baseball in recent years.