Yabucoa, Comerio in front as Double-A ‘Carnaval de Campeones’ enters final week of round robin play

The Pescadores del Plata of Comerío (4-1) will play the Maratonistas of Coamo (1-4) at Luis Guillermo Moreno Stadium in Coamo when the Double-A “Carnaval de Campeones” resumes on Friday. (Aldwin Santiago)

By THE STAR STAFF

The Azucareros of Yabucoa and the Pescadores del Plata of Comerío head into the final two days of the “Carnaval de Campeones” (Carnival of Champions) round-robin stage of the Double-A Superior Baseball League Championship Series later this week with 4-1 records, leading the field of eight teams that will be narrowed to the final four this Friday and Saturday.

The Mulos of Juncos and the Libertadores of Hormigueros, both at 3-2, occupy the next two slots in the current Carnaval standings after five games. The field is rounded out by the Gigantes of Carolina and the Petateros of Sabana Grande, both at 2-3, and the Maratonistas of Coamo and Tigres of Hatillo, both at 1-4.

Yabucoa, Comerío, Juncos and Carolina all helped their own causes with victories on Sunday as the Carnaval completed a second weekend of games.

A seven-run rally in the fifth inning propelled the Azucareros to a 9-2 victory over the Tigres at Rafael “Fello” Marrero Stadium in Florida. Jan Hernández hit a home run and Edwin Gómez drove in three runs.

Marcos Santa pitched a brilliant 5.1 scoreless innings in relief to earn the win. The loss went to Brayan Robles, who allowed five runs, three of them unearned.

Meanwhile, the Pescadores del Plata scored four runs in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth to defeat the Petateros 10-7 at Carlos Bonet Stadium in Comerío.

José “Pocholo” Rivera and Kevin Millet homered for Comerío. Rivera drove in four runs and scored two.

Reliever Kelvin Román pitched 3.1 scoreless innings to earn the win, while ace left-hander Miguel Ausúa took his second consecutive loss, this time in relief, after starting the weekend with a perfect 8-0 record.

The defending champion Mulos notched their third straight victory to sweep the second Carnaval weekend, defeating the Libertadores 9-4 with a six-run outburst in the eighth inning at Hermanos Miura Stadium in Hormigueros.

Jan Rivera, Luis Román and Brahiam Maldonado each drove in two runs for Juncos. Reliever Kenny Burgos earned the win with 2.2 scoreless innings. The loss went to reliever Xavier Ramos, who allowed two runs in 1.1 innings.

At Roberto Clemente Walker Stadium in Carolina, the Gigantes routed the Maratonistas 11-0 with a combined pitching performance from Héctor “Heto” Acevedo and Carlos Rivera.

Acevedo pitched the first eight innings without issuing a walk, striking out three, and allowing only five hits to secure the victory. Jorge Cartagena led the offense with three RBIs, and Yomar Cruz went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Omar Álvarez took the loss for the Maratonistas, allowing three runs in three innings.

Play resumes on Friday with four games (all starting at 8 p.m.): Hormigueros at Hatillo (at Hermanos Miura Stadium), Juncos at Yabucoa (Néstor Morales Stadium), Comerío at Coamo (Luis Guillermo Moreno Stadium) and Sabana Grande at Carolina (Roberto Clemente Walker Stadium).

On Saturday, all games start at 7:30 p.m. with Hatillo visiting Sabana Grande (Rafael Milán Padró Stadium), Hormigueros at Comerío (Carlos Bonet Stadium), Coamo at Juncos (Mariano “Nini” Meaux Stadium) and Carolina at Yabucoa (Néstor Morales Stadium).