By The Star Staff
The Mulos de Juncos, DBacks de Gurabo and Maceteros de Vega Alta inaugurated the 2023-24 season of the Confederated Central Amateur Baseball League (COLICEBA) by sweeping their respective doubleheaders on Sunday.
The three teams set the early pace in the league, which this year has the participation of 18 franchises.
Juncos dominated the defending champion Ganduleros de Villalba, winning 5-0 and 2-1. In the opener, pitchers Luis Cintrón, Edouardo “Lalo” Peña, Christian Bonilla and Bryan Quiles combined to barely allow the Ganduleros a hit. Peña was the winner with three innings in relief and four strikeouts, with no hits.
Gurabo, meanwhile, beat the Azucareros de Yabucoa 5-2 and 1-0. In the first victory, the DBacks scored their five runs in the first inning with three RBIs from Ángel Ortiz.
Elsewhere, the Maceteros beat the Florida Titans 6-1 and 5-2. Elvin Álamo went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored for Vega Alta in the first game.
In other results, the Sabaneros de Cidra split their doubleheader with last year’s runners-up, the Jardineros de Aibonito, with Cidra winning the first game 2-1 and Aibonito blanking the Sabs 7-0 in the second game.
The Prodigiosos of Sabana Grande split with the Maní de Mayagüez, with Sabana Grande winning 4-1 with five innings from pitcher Wilbert Rodríguez. Then it was all Mayagüez in a 15-3 romp, with four hits and two RBIs from Anthony Torres.
Meanwhile, the Rebeldes de Moca beat the debuting Tiburones de Aguadilla 3-2 in their first game. Aguadilla won the second game, 4-3.
Three other scheduled games, Orocovis at Camuy, Arroyo at Coamo and Aguas Buenas at Maunabo, were suspended due to rain, with two of the matchups rescheduled for Wednesday.
Aguas Buenas will play Maunabo at 7:30 p.m., while Arroyo plays Coamo at 8 p.m.