The Grand Finale of the much-publicized game starts tonight, starting at 7:30 p.m., between the Licey Tigers and the Escogido Lions, the “oldest” Dominican baseball rivals

The Grand Finale of the much-publicized game starts tonight, starting at 7:30 p.m., between the Licey Tigers and the Escogido Lions, the “oldest” Dominican baseball rivals
Santo Domingo, January 20, 2014

Although these two franchises are among the most traditional in the history of the country, this final meet, which is scheduled for a 9-5 win, is somewhat strange, since this will be only the eighth time that the two teams who share the Quisqueya stadium would play against each other in the last stretch of the season.

Tonight’s game will be the first meet between the two teams in a final game since the Tigers beat the scarlet team 5-4 in an amazing series back in 1999. That is, the two teams have not played each other in 15 years and this will be only the second time they would meet in a decisive event for the last 23 tournaments.

Of the seven games they have played, the Licey has won 5 times, and the reds 2.

Elih Villanueva is the winning card selected by team leader Audo Vicente to be at the mound tonight, while José Offerman has selected Mitch Atkins to pitch the first game.

The Lions dominated the Licey easily both during the regular season and in the round-robin. In the first instance, the results were 7-3, while in the all-play-all tournament they beat them 4-2. The latter results included a no-hitter game that was played on January 14. Tallying both segments, the Escogido have dominated the Licey 11-5.

Even the current champions weaved together eight straight victories against the cats. Because of this, the red team has mocked the supporters of the blue team with the slogan “Licey somos tu papá (Licey we are your dad),” which gained notoriety during the recently completed round-robin.

On Saturday, after their victory over the Giants, the Licey players let out the battle cry “Papá, Papá nos vemos en la final (Dad, Dad we’ll see you in the finals),” which anticipates an all-out series. The scarlet team has reached its third consecutive final series, and the fourth within the last five years, with a comfortable record in the all-play-all tournament, that at one point even the team to win seven of the eight games played, while the Tigers required an extra match and a dramatic home run by Juan Francisco to beat the Giants and advance to their first final in the last five championships.

Tie breaker

For the Bengalese team this is a great opportunity to break the tie it has with the Eagles of 20 wins, while the scarlet team is the team of the moment, and getting three championships within the last four years has increased to 15 the number of championships it has won.

In fact, the Escogido team is looking for its third consecutive title. If it wins it, it will be the third time in the history of the team. They won it from 1955 to 58 and from 1987 to 90. The Escogido is the only franchise that has successfully attained such success in Dominican baseball.

Although the Lions won the round-robin comfortably, the Blues have been successful in their last two games and, most importantly, they have hit with more authority in the last three games, in which they have scored 21 runs.

Escogido was the highest pitching team in the round-robin, scoring 2.50 and its average was .233 (600-140), while the Tigers scored 3.45 and their average was .236 (622-147).

Escogido strength

The scarlets have an enviable pitching, both in the starter and in the relay, which has been one of the main factors for them to conquer both the regular series and the round-robin.

Their starters Elih Villanueva, Edward Valdez and Chris Leroux will be joined by the great competitiveness of Evan MacLane, a left-handed player who will fill the void left by Raúl Valdez.

Meanwhile, the relay has been strengthened by the arrival of Fernando Rodney, joining José Valdez, who saved seven games, Armando Rodríguez, Roberto Novoa, Daniel Corcino, Claudio Galva and Carlos Pérez, among others.

In the offensive, Escogido hit .237 collectively and will have a very fast team now that Jesus -Motorita- Feliciano has joined them and José Constanza has returned. They will be joined by Eurys Pérez, Freddy Guzmán and Pedro Ciriaco. In turn, Carlos Santana, Gregory Polanco, and Alfredo Marte are the players who have been called to connect the home runs.

Weaknesses

Santana continues to be dangerous while in the anteroom, while Ciriaco is not a glimmer of virtue at the shortstop. Starling Marte’s bat will be missed by the Lions.

Licey strength

The Tigers have improved their offense in recent games, mainly coming from Cuban Ronnie Mustelier (.370) and Félix Pérez (.313). Erick Aybar, Emilio Bonifacio and Eugenio Vélez have done better at connecting with the ball.

The starting pitching is superb and deeper, especially now with former Aguila player Chris Cody joining in. The cats have Esmil Rogers, who is back, Héctor Noesí, Yuneski Maya, Francisley Bueno and Mitch Atkins, among others.

Weaknesses

The cats have played quite erratic for much of the season, especially making mental mistakes that have neutralized potential opportunities to score runs.

The relief pitching has had its ups and downs, having had to work very hard. The club must improve its offensive against the left-handed pitching.

Also, it is worth mentioning the fact of the eventual departure of Anderson Hernández, who is scheduled to leave the club on the 23rd during the third match of the final meet, because of his contract commitments with the Japanese league. Venezuelan Jairo Peréz could take his place in the anteroom.

Who is the favorite? Both teams are balanced in their strengths and weaknesses, and the experts say that this could be a rather long series.

(Source: Listín Diario)