Championship Run Over...Leones Drop Game 7 By A 5-4 Score

TIGRES TO FACE ACEREROS DE MONCLOVA IN LMB FINALS

Watch video highlights HERE.

Leones Acknowledge Their Fans

The Tigres scored 4 runs in the top of the 6th inning, all with 2 outs, and hung on to beat the Leones in game 7 of the Zona Sur Championship series. Yucatan relievers Miguel Aguilar and Oscar Verdugo gave up 2 walks, a hit and allowed 2 runs to score without recording the final out of the inning. Verdugo took the loss for the Leones and Daniel Cabrera picked up the win for the Tigres.

The Leones started fast, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning. Jose Aguilar singled with one out and scored when Ricardo Serrano's line drive was misplayed by the Tigres left fielder and went to the wall. Serrano wound up on third. Jesus Valdez singled to left to score Serrano and Yucatan was up 2-0. Hector Gimenez walked. Luis Garcia singled to drive in Valdez but Gimenez was thrown out at third for the second out. Jaime Pedroza struck out to end the inning but the Leones were up 3-0 after 1 inning.

Serrano Scores

The Tigres answered with a run in the top of the 5th off of Yucatan starter Jonathan Castellanos. Greg Golson led off with a single to center and scored on a double to right by Esteban Quiroz.

With two outs in the top of the 6th for the Tigres, Jorge Cantu and Jorge Vazquez singled. That was all for Castellanos who was replaced by Aguilar. Sergio Contreras singled to drive in Cantu. Greg Golson then reached on an error by the Leones shortstop that scored Vazquez to tie the game at 3. Alfredo Amezaga walked to load the bases and Iker Franco walked on 5 pitches to force in Contreras with the go ahead run. Demetrio Gutierrez came in to pitch for the Leones and walked Esteban Quiroz to force in Golson and the Tigres had a 5-3 lead.

Israel Nunez and Corey Wimberly singled in the bottom of he 7th for Yucatan and Nunez scored on a sac fly by Jose Aguilar to narrow the Tigres lead to 5-4.

There would be no more scoring in the game and the Leones, after winning 3 consecutive games, dropped the all important game 7 to the Tigres by that final 5-4 score.

The Yucatan pitching staff, which led the league in ERA for the 2015 season, came up short in the final game of the year for the Leones and the hitters, who hit .291 on the year, came up 1 run short.

There is blame enough to go around, starting with the 2 losses at home to begin the series, but the Leones as a team never quit and brought exciting baseball back to Merida, something that had been missing for some time.

The Tigres will now face the Acereros de Monclova in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol Championship round set to begin in Cancun on Tuesday the 8th of September.

IN OTHER LMB PLAYOFF ACTION

Monclova 2, Tijuana 1

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The Acereros scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning on singles by Jose Amador and Hernando Arredondo, a ground rule double by Francisco Cordoba and a ground ball out by Hector Garanzuay and the pitching staff did the rest as Monclova beat the Toros 2-1 to win the Zona Norte Championship.

Anthony Capra pitched 5 innings and gave up the lone run on 4 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4. Josh Lowey, normally a starter for Monclova, pitched the final 3 1/3 innings to pick up the save. Lowey didn't allow a hit and struck out 3 in his time on the mound. Walter Silva pitched well over his 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits, but the Toros bats were held in check and Silva was saddled with the loss.

Francisco Cordoba and Hector Garanzuay drove in the runs fo Monclova while Oscar Robles drove in the only run for the Toros.

Monclova moves on to face the Tigres de Quintana Roo in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol Championship set to begin on Tuesday the 8th of September.

Leones Defeat Acereros del Norte Monclova 7-4

The Leones scored 3 runs in the 2nd inning on a triple by Kevin Flores with the bases loaded and 3 more runs in the 8th inning to defeat the Acereros de Monclova 7-4 in front of 7,975 home town fans Friday night at Parque Kukulkan in Merida.

Monclova started the scoring in the top of the first. Flavio Romero led off the game with a walk and moved to second on a wild throw to first on a pickoff attempt by Leones starter, Jesus Rodriguez. Romero would come around to score on a single by Jose Ruiz that gave the Acereros an early 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning, the Leones loaded the bases on consecutive singles by Willy Aybar, Ivan Araujo and Ricardo Serrano. Kevin Flores worked the count to 2-2 before hitting a shot into the right field corner for a bases clearing triple and the 3-1 Yucatan lead.

Flores Triple courtesy Leones Facebook

Yucatan added to their lead in the bottom of the 7th on a double to right by Jose Aguilar and a run scoring single by Hector Gimenez to give the Leones a 4-1 lead.

Flavio Romero drew a one out walk for Monclova in the top of the 8th. Hector Garanzuay singled and Romero scored on a single by Olmo Rosario. Two batters later Jose Amador singled to drive in Garanzuay and the Acereros had cut the Leones lead to 4-3.

Ricardo Serrano led off the bottom of the 8th inning with a solo home run for Yucatan. Kevin Flores followed with a single and scored in front of a home run by pinch hitter Jesus Valdez that made the score 7-3 Yucatan.

Serrano HR courtesy Leones Facebook

Monclova scored a run in the top of the 9th. Jesus Arredondo drew a lead off base on balls and went to third on a wild pitch and throwing error by Leones reliever Anthony Ortega. Pinch hitter Hector Arredondo was hit by a pitch and Hector Garanzuay followed with a single that scored Jesus Arredondo. The rally fell short when Olmo Rosario hit into a game ending double play and the Leones won 7-4.

Jesus Rodriguez (1-0) was the winning pitcher and Anthony Ortega picked up his first save of the year. Newcomer to the Acereros, Justin Klipp (0-1) suffered the defeat.

Jesus Rodriguez courtesy Leones Facebook

Kevin Flores was 2 for 3 with a triple and 3 RBIs, Ricardo Serrano 3 for 4 with a home run and RBI and Jesus Valdez 1 for 1 with a home run and 2 RBIs for Yucatan. Hector Garanzuay went 2 for 4 with an RBI and Jose Amador was 2 for 4 with an RBI for the Acereros.

IN OTHER LMB ACTION:

Mexico 14, Oaxaca 2
Mexico scored 14 runs on 14 hits to pound the Guerreros 14-2. Yair Lozoto (2-1) got the win and Luis Mendez (0-1) lasted just 2 1/3 innings, giving up 8 runs in the loss. DH Ruben Rivera was 2 for 2 with 3 walks and 2 runs scored and Jesus Fabela went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and 6 RBIs for the Diablos.

Aguascalientes 9, Tabasco 7
The Rieleros scored 7 runs in the 7th inning to overtake the Olmecas 9-7. Saul Soto was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs and Danny Richar 3 for 5 with 2 RBIs for the Rieleros. For the Olmecas, Jose Castillo went 4 for 5 with a home run and 3 RBIs and Cesar Rodriguez had a home run and 3 RBIs on a 2 for 4 night at the plate.

Saltillo 5, Veracruz 4
The Saraperos got a pinch hit walk off single by Rufino Candelario to beat the Aguilas 5-4. Edwin Salas (1-3) got the win in relief while Jose Marrujo suffered the loss for Veracruz. Luis Terrero was 1 for 3 with a home run and 3 RBIs for Saltillo and Issmael Salas had a double and a home run with 2 RBIs for the Aguilas.

Tamaulipas 6, Campeche 2
The Broncos scored 4 runs in the 2nd inning on their way to a 6-2 win over the Piratas. Francisco Campos (1-3) took the loss for Campeche. Heriberto Rodriguez (1-0) got the win and Hector Navarro the save for the Broncos. Cristhian Presichi and Travis Denker hit home runs for Tamaulipas while Ruben Mateo and Fernando Flores homered for Campeche.

Ciudad del Carmen 6, Monterry 5
The Delfines scored the winning run in the bottom of the 9th on a throwing error by the Sultanes second baseman's attempted force at second. del Carmen had tied the game by scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th with the help of a 3 run home run by Alex Valdez.

Laguna 8, Quintana Roo 1
The vaqueros scored 4 in the 7th and 1 in the 8th to overpower the Tigres 8-1 in Cancun. Luis Rodriguez (2-0) picked up the win while Kelvin de la Cruz fell to 2-1 on the year with the loss. Francisco Mendez was 1 for 3 with a home run and Angel Berroa went 2 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBIs for Laguna.

Tijuana 2, Puebla 1
Sandy Madera hit a solo home run for the Pericos in the 2nd but it wasn't enough as the Toro's Roman Pena hit a 2 run home run in the bottom of the 8th for the 2-1 final score. Dennys Reyes (3-0) won in relief and Ramon Ramirez picked up his 7th save of the season. Marcos Zavala (0-1) took the loss for Puebla.

Wilfredo "Willie" Romero - Leones de Yucatan Manager 2015

Wilfredo Romero, better known as Willie, born in Maracay Venezuela, was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1990 and in 8 years climbed as high as Triple A Albuquerque in the organization.

Romero played for 17 years in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol for 4 different clubs. During his professional career, Willie compiled a .318 batting average in 1,794 games. He collected 2,121 hits with 414 doubles, 52 triples and 172 home runs. He drove in 1,055 runs in his career.

His best season in the LMB was with the Leones de Yucatan when he hit .366 with 150 hits in 104 games with 24 doubles, 101 RBIs and 243 total bases. In 2002, with the Saraperos de Saltillo, Romero hit .387 to lead the league. That year he had 142 hits with 29 doubles, 219 total bases and 77 RBIs while scoring 85 runs.  

Romero with the Saraperos

Romero played on LMB Championship teams for the Leones de Yucatan in 2006 and the Tigres de Quintana Roo in 2011.

In 2012, Romero took over as the manager of the Tigres de Yucatan part way through the year as a player manager.   He was also a player manager for the Acereros de Monclova in 2013 before managing the Tigres de Quintana Roo in 2014.

Manager of the Acereros de Monclova

The Leones de Yucatan named Romero as their manager for the 2015 season in September of 2014.

Leones de Yucatan