Santurce & Carolina stake out 2-1 leads in LBPRC semifinals

Sabin Ceballos went yard with two runners on base in the eighth inning to lift the Carolina Giants to a 5-3 win over the Ponce Lions on Sunday night in Ponce.

By THE STAR STAFF

The Santurce Crabbers and the Carolina Giants notched wins Sunday night in the semifinal round of the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (LBPRC by its initials in Spanish) postseason.

With their respective Game 3 victories, both teams took 2-1 series leads into the Three Kings Day break.

A triple by Jeremy Arocho in the eighth inning gave the Crabbers (Cangrejeros) a 6-3 victory over the Caguas Criollos in the A semifinal at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Hato Rey.

The game initially seemed like a repeat of the first encounter of the series when the Criollos attacked early and scored two runs in the first inning. After one out, the Crabbers’ starting pitcher, Ashton Goudeau, walked Nelson Velázquez. Vimael Machín singled in the next at-bat, and after Goudeau retired José Miranda with a fly ball, Anthony García drove in both baserunners with a single to right field.

Unlike in the series opener, however, the Crabbers quickly narrowed the gap in the bottom of the inning. Criollos right-hander Harrison Francis put Jeremy Arocho on base to start things off, and Edwin Arroyo drove him home with a single to center field, making the score 2-1.

In the fourth inning, a home run by Brian Navarreto that landed in the metal bleachers in left field tied the game at 2-2.

Caguas resorted to small ball to retake the lead, 3-2, in the seventh. First, Luis Vázquez reached first base on a ground ball that was mishandled by reliever Blane Abeyta. Gustavo Meléndez bunted Abeyta over to second base, and Vázquez scored from third when Willy Vásquez grounded out to the pitcher.

The lead was short-lived. In the bottom of the inning, the Crabbers tied the game at 3-3 on an RBI single by Yohandy Morales to center field.

With one out in the eighth, a hit by Jack López and two walks issued by right-hander Yacksel Ríos, to Navarreto and Andrew Velázquez, loaded the bases for Santurce. With the hometown fans raising the decibel level inside Bithorn, Jeremy Arocho cleared the bases with a triple to put the Crabbers in front for good, 6-3.

The win went to reliever Luis Quiñones (1-0), who didn’t allow any runs in the last two innings, while giving up one hit and issuing one walk. The loss went to Roel Ramírez (0-1) after allowing two runs in one and one-third innings on three hits and a walk, along with three strikeouts.

Meanwhile, at Francisco “Paquito” Montaner Stadium in Ponce a three-run home run by Sabin Ceballos in the eighth inning helped the Giants (Gigantes) defeat the Ponce Lions (Leones), 5-3.

It was the second road win for the Giants in the B semifinal.

For the second consecutive game, the Lions scored their first run with a long ball. This time the solo home run came off the bat of veteran Jesmuel Valentín to deep right field. Control problems ensued for Giants pitcher Eduardo Rivera, who walked Emmanuel Rivera and Anthony Calarco. William Simoneit reached first base on a throwing error by third baseman Deniel Ortiz as Rivera scored Ponce’s second run of the inning.

The Lions made it 3-0 in the bottom of the third courtesy of a towering home run by Edwin Díaz to left field.

The Giants scored their first run in the fourth inning when a powerful line drive to left field by Jan Hernández drove in Isán Díaz.

The score remained 3-1 until the top of the eighth, when the Giants loaded the bases and pinch hitter Félix Stevens hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2. After Hernández struck out in the next at-bat, Ceballos went deep to right field to give Carolina the definitive 5-3 lead.

The win went to right-hander Ricardo Vélez (1-0) in relief. He pitched three innings, allowing only one hit and striking out five Ponce batters. Eric Torres (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing two runs -- the first runs scored against Torres all season -- in one inning pitched. The left-hander also recorded two strikeouts.