Ponce & Santurce win to even LBPRC semifinals at 1-1

Ponce Lions left-hander Brady Tedesco held the Carolina Giants’ lineup in check to earn the win, allowing no runs and four hits in his five and two-thirds innings of work.

By THE STAR STAFF

The Ponce Lions and the Santurce Crabbers both notched victories Saturday night to even their respective Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (LBPRC) postseason semifinal series at a game apiece.

Third baseman Emmanuel Rivera homered to help the Lions (Leones) to a 5-2 victory over the Carolina Giants (Gigantes) at Roberto Clemente Walker Stadium in Carolina.

Semifinal Series B is now tied at one win apiece.

The Lions’ victory was anchored in part in the team’s excellent selection of reinforcements for the postseason. Rivera went 3-for-3 with the home run, a double, three RBIs, and one run scored. On the mound, left-hander Brady Tedesco held the Giants’ lineup in check to earn the win, allowing no runs and four hits in his five and two-thirds innings of work.

The Lions took the lead in the first inning with Rivera’s long ball over the center field fence. According to “Trackman” -- the system that measures every pitch and every hit at Roberto Clemente Walker Stadium -- Rivera’s solo shot traveled a distance of 411 feet.

Two innings later, the Lions used small ball to manufacture a cluster of three runs. Import player Matt Batten led off the third inning with a single. Then, Aldemar Burgos laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance him to second base, and the Giants’ starter, Jonathan Bermúdez, walked Dalton Guthrie. Next, in a left-handed pitcher versus left-handed batter matchup, Jesmuel Valentín hit a triple to right field to clear the bases and increase Ponce’s lead to 3-0. In the next at-bat, Rivera hit a sacrifice fly to center field to send Valentín home with the Lions’ fourth run.

In the bottom of the third, Giants leadoff hitter Gabriel Cancel hit a solo home run to left field, making the score 4-1.

The fifth run for the Lions again came off the bat of Rivera, who singled to make the score 5-1 in the eighth inning. In the bottom of the inning, Johnathan Rodríguez drove in the second run for Carolina.

The Giants had runners in scoring position in the ninth inning, but the Lions’ closer, Andrew Marrero, bore down to earn his first save of the postseason. The loss went to Bermúdez (0-1) after four runs were charged to him in his two and one-third innings of work.

Meanwhile, a five-run outburst in the eighth inning gave the Crabbers (Cangrejeros) a 6-2 victory over the Caguas Criollos in Caguas.

Semifinal Series A also is now tied at one win apiece.

What the fans at Yldefonso Solá Morales Stadium witnessed was a pitching duel between left-handed starters, Criollos veteran Héctor Santiago and the young Eduardo Rivera for the Crabbers. Santiago allowed one hit and struck out two batters in four and two-thirds innings. Rivera, meanwhile, gave up two hits and struck out eight batters in five innings.

Both teams had to wait until their starting pitchers left the mound to score their first runs of the game.

The Crabbers were the first to score, and they did so in a big way, on a home run to right field by Rubén Castro off right-hander Anthony Maldonado at the start of the seventh inning.

Santurce went back to work in the eighth, loading the bases with one out before scoring a flurry of five runs. The first two runs came on a single by Shed Long Jr., while the other three came on a double by Christian Vázquez and a single by Jack López, making the score 6-0.

Caguas answered with a rally in the bottom of the inning. With the bases loaded, a double by Luis Vázquez brought in the Criollos only runs of the game.

Right-hander Andrew Baker (1-0) earned the win, pitching one scoreless inning in relief, striking out two and walking two. The loss went to Maldonado (0-1).

Both semifinals were to continue Sunday night, at Francisco “Paquito” Montaner Stadium in Ponce and Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Hato Rey.