Yucatan Advances To Championship Round In The Zona Sur

When hired by the Leones de Yucatan in September of 2014 the new manager, Wilfredo Romero, was quoted as saying “(w)e know what it takes to win and we will implement the changes necessary”.

2015 arrived and the Leones de Yucatan started off slowly but finished 1st in the Zona Sur division of the LMB, 1 ½  games ahead of the Tigres de Quintana Roo.

Romero led the Leones to a 66-46 record, a 20 game improvement over the 2014 season. If I had a vote, Romero would be the Manager of the Year in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol. As it is, Miguel Ojeda led the Diablos Rojos del Mexico to a 73-39 record this year, the most ever in LMB play. Ojeda will probably be the MOY for 2015.

The Piratas de Campeche took a different path to their meeting with Yucatan. Finishing the season with a 53-56 record, the Piratas had to defeat the Pericos de Puebla in a 1 game play-in for the chance to face the #1 seed Leones.

Once they got to Merida the Piratas gave the Leones all they could handle.

The Leones took game 1 of the divisional playoffs with Campeche by an 8-0 score leading some to believe the series was as good as over. Yoanner Negrin pitched well and the Leones hitters flexed their muscles in the win.

Game 2 saw the Leones limited to 5 hits in a 3-1 loss. This time the Piratas pitching was superb.

The bats came alive in game 3, in Campeche, as the Leones had 14 hits, including 5 home runs to top the Piratas 9-2. Jonathan Castellanos picked up the win. Jesus Valdez, Kevin Flores, Israel Nunez and Ricardo Serrano (2) all hit home runs for Yucatan.

Campeche started strong and got great pitching from Evan Maclane as the Piratas shut out the Leones 5-0 in game 4. There wasn’t much to cheer about for the Leones as the Piratas evened the series at 2 game each.

Game 5 was all Piratas as they topped the Leones 4-2. The Piratas took a 3 games to 2 lead in the best of 7 game series.

Back again in Merida, Luis Garcia was the hero of game 6 with a 3 run home run in the bottom of the 8th giving the win to the Leones. The series was tied at 3 games apiece.

The Leones left no doubt as to the outcome in game 7, building a 5-1 lead after 3 innings and coasting to the win. Jonathan Castellanos worked 7 very good innings for the win.

Yucatan now faces the Tigres de Quintana Roo in the Zona Sur Championship round. The series begins in Merida on Friday the 28th of August with the winner of that series paying the winner of the Zona Norte series between the Toros de Tijuana and the Acereros de Monclova.  

Monclova Pitching Shuts Down Leones 5-3

The Acereros del Norte Monclova's starting pitcher, Jose Oyervidez (3-1), gave up 2 runs on 5 hits over 6 innings and the offense pounded out 15 hits on the way to the Acereros 5-3 win.

Jose Oyervidez courtesy Leones Facebook

Carlos Penuelas got things started for Monclova in the top of the 2nd inning with a single. Flavio Romero followed with a single of his own and Hector Garanzuay singled to score Penuelas and Romero scored when the throw to third got by Willy Aybar to give the Acereros an early 2-0 lead.

Monclova added to their lead in the top of the 3rd. Jose Ruiz led off the inning with a solo home run to right center for a 3-0 lead. Jose Amador and Travis Garcia followed with singles and Amador scored on a single by Francisco Cordoba. Carlos Penuelas drove in the third run of the inning, and the 5-0 Acereros lead, with a single.

Luis Garcia courtesy Leones Facebook

Luis Garcia led off the bottom of the 4th inning for Yucatan by singling to left. Garcia would come around to score in front of a Willy Aybar home run to right that cut the Monclova lead to 5-2.

Before the Acereros came to bat in the top of the 7th, the Leones manager, Wilfredo Romero, was ejected from the game by the home plate umpire for arguing balls and strikes. Corey Wimberly hit a two out double to center and Jose Aguilar drew a base on balls. Hector Gimenez singled to center to plate Wimberly and the lead was down to 5-3 Monclova.

With two on and two outs in the top of the 9th inning, the Leones pitcher, Luis Vazquez left the game after injuring his leg. Manuel Rodriguez came in to face the dangerous Olmo Rosario but Rodriguez got Rosario to ground out to short to end the inning.

Juan Noriega, in to pitch the 9th for Monclova set the Leones down to preserve 5-3 win for Jose Oyervidez (3-1) and pick up his 3rd save of the year. Juan Delgadillo (1-2) gave up 10 hits and 5 runs in 2 1/3 innings to be charged with the loss.

Willy Aybar was 1 for 3 with a home run and 2 RBIs, Corey Wimberly 2 for 4 with a run scored and Hector Gimenez 2 for 4 with an RBI for Yucatan.

Jose Ruiz was 2 for 4 with a home run and an RBI while Carlos Penuelas went 2 for 3 with an RBI and Jose Amador was 3 for 5 for the Acereros.

IN OTHER LMB ACTION:

Mexico 10, Oaxaca 4
The six through nine hitters in the Diablos lineup went 6 for 14 with a home run, 7 RBIs and 5 runs scored and Mexico's pitchers held the Guerreros to 4 runs on 6 hits, including home runs by Jaime Brena and Alejandro Gonzalez.

Aguascalientes 13, Tabasco 5
The Rieleros scored 5 times in the 8th inning including Saul Soto's 2nd home run of the game to cruise past the Olmecas 13-5. Pedro Diaz went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs for Tabasco. Soto was 3 for 4 with 6 RBIs and Julian Castro went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs and 4 runs scored for the Rieleros.

Saltillo 6, Veracruz 2
4 runs in the 3rd inning was enough for the Saraperos to top the Aguilas 6-2. Linder Castro (1-0) pitched 5 innings allowing 1 earned run on 4 hits, 1 a home run by Adelaido Martinez, to earn the victory while Oscar Verdugo (1-2) took the loss. Carlos Alvarez and Genaro Andrade homered for the Saraperos.

Campeche 1, Tamaulipas 0
The Piratas scored the only run of the game in the 3rd inning on a single by Dave Sappelt, a walk to Maxwell Leon and a Josh Fields RBI single to left. Hector Velazquez (2-0) tossed 8 innings of 2 hit ball while striking out 10 for the win. Ricardo Gomez recorded his 4th save. Francisco Felix (1-2) pitched well but walked 5 and took the loss for the Broncos.

Ciudad del Carmen 2, Monterrey 1
Carlos Ibarra went 3 for 3 with 2 RBIs for the Delfines while Jose Felix went 2 for 3 with the lone RBI for the Sultanes in the 2-1 loss. Sandy Rosario (3-0) got the win and Josh Lueke his 5th save. Thomas Melgarejo (0-2) was saddled with the loss for Monterrey.

Quintana Roo 3, Laguna 2
The Tigres jumped out to a 2 -0 lead in the bottom of the 1st and held on to beat the Vaqueros 3-2. Jorge Cantu homered for the Tigres and Jose Orozco hit a solo home run for Laguna. Pablo Ortega (4-0) worked 7 innings for the win and Francisco Rodriguez earned his 5th save of the year. Felipe Arredondo (1-1) took the loss despite 7 good innings on the mound.

Puebla 18, Tijuana 6
The Pericos scored 18 runs on 20 hits to maul the Toros 18-6. Luke Scott went 3 for 5 with 2 home runs, 1 a grand slam, and 6 RBIs for Puebla. Alberto Carreon added a homerun on a 3 for 5 night with 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored and Jon Del Campo was 4 for 5 with 3 RBIs and 4 runs scored. CJ Retherford was 2 for 3 with a home run for the Toros and Emmanuel Valdez added a pinch hit solo home run.

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