2024-07-07 13:09:31
Photo: Emmanuel Santos
Text: Cuba News 360 Editorial Team
A couple of months ago, not even the most enthusiastic of fans would have dared to guess that the then-cellared team from Guantánamo would be fighting for a spot in the postseason of the 63rd National Baseball Series with the last three games of the qualifying stage remaining.
The Indios del Guaso have become the true sensation of the championship in recent weeks with a surge in victories that catapulted them to eighth place in the standings, tied with Sancti Spíritus, after the close of the penultimate subseries.
The team from the easternmost province completed a five-game sweep of Isla de la Juventud this Sunday, in an unusual match, whose first four games were played at the Nelson Fernández stadium in San José de las Lajas, and the last at the Latinoamericano stadium in the capital, due to inclement weather that prevented sea travel to Nueva Gerona.
Previously, the Guantanamo team had obtained an excellent record of six wins and four losses in their matches against Pinar del Río and Ciego de Ávila, two teams that have been at the top of the standings since the very beginning of the Series.
With these and other formidable performances, Rubén Prevot’s pupils now have a positive record for the first time in the entire campaign of 37 wins and 35 losses, the same as the Gallos from Sancti Spiritus, who this week also collected a good lead of four wins and one loss against the Cachorros from Holguín.
Starting this Tuesday, the Indians will host the already qualified Santiago de Cuba Wasps at their Nguyen Van Troi headquarters in search of a result that will allow them to return to the Cuban baseball postseason more than a decade after their last foray.
However, even if they win all three games, the longed-for ticket does not depend on them, since Sancti Spíritus beat them in the particular subseries by 4-1, so they would need to finish with one more victory to finally get the spot. And to top it off, the Yayabo team has an apparently easier path in their visit to the penultimate place Cienfuegos.
As if that were not enough, the team from Sancti Spiritus is not the only threat to Guantanamo, as Villa Clara (36-36) also appears to have serious possibilities, just one game away from eighth place. In the case of the Azucareros, the victories in the particular pairings against those two direct rivals count in their favor and they will close the qualifying round in their stadium against the already eliminated Holguin.
If this puzzle in search of the eighth passenger is not enough, suffice it to say that there are still other positions up for grabs. At this point, Industriales, Ciego de Ávila and Matanzas have not yet sealed their passport to the playoffs, all with a record of 39-33 in positions six to seven.
It seems like something out of science fiction, but a misfortune for some of these teams in the remaining three matches, combined with sweeps by the teams from Sancti Spiritus, Guantanamo or Villa Clara, could cause an earthquake in the standings. So the end of the regular phase will be seasoned with plenty of excitement.
Meanwhile, the absolute leader Pinar del Río (46-24) is already greasing its weapons for the postseason, having taken two wins and one loss from its battle of giants against Granma (44-26) this week. The last two duels of this sub-series between these two qualified teams and serious title contenders had to be suspended due to rain.
Likewise, the defending champion Las Tunas (41-23) and Santiago (42-30) are the other two teams that also have a secure seat on the playoff train, awaiting the remaining passengers, who we will know at the end of the week.