The Tigres de Ciego de Avila will be looking for the last roar that will make them champions of the III Elite League of Cuban Baseball today, but they will have to face the pride-stricken Leñadores de Las Tunas, who will try to redeem themselves under the gaze of their supporters at the Julio Antonio Mella stadium.
Abeysi Pantoja’s team, who will keep their hopes alive until the last out, will have to appeal to the epic to reverse the 0-3 record, never before seen in the finals of the domestic classics and only achieved in the quarter finals by Industriales against Santiago de Cuba in the last National Baseball Series (SNB).
In the 55th edition of the SNB, the Tigres also found themselves in a similar situation, but the Vegueros of Pinar del Río made amends for some mistakes to add consecutive victories, although they eventually conceded in the seventh game.
Danny Miranda will bring Luis Alberto Marrero into the box, after recovering from a recent injury to his pitching arm, and will also be looking to change his luck against his opponents, as he has five losses to just one smile in previous encounters.
Marrero, who after five losses against the red-and-green team, won his only victory on January 7, 2024 during the post-season of the 63rd SNB; meanwhile, in his hands is the possibility of consummating the eighth sweep in discussions for the title in domestic competitions.
The hosts, obliged to win in each of their outings, will depend on Jesús Enrique Pérez from Holguín, who was unlucky in his previous play-off appearance, allowing five runs, a couple of them clean, in 2.2 innings of work, with five hits, two strikeouts and one walk.
Just such a confrontation between Marrero and Pérez has a precedent, which took place on 16 June 2024, when the Avileños defeated the Cachorros de Holguín 5×2 during the qualifying phase of the 63rd SNB.
The aspirations of the hosts are to rediscover their offensive productivity, as they are averaging 239 with runners on base and have towed just eight of the 79 teammates found in circulation.
For his part, Miranda intends to protect his team from anxiety in this fourth game and continue with the good dynamics on the field of «Mella» in order to achieve the breakthrough that will lead them to glory once and for all, after nine years of waiting for the felines of the land of the pineapple.
