Cuba reaches Caribbean Series final after big turnaround.

After years without a Cuban representative the Caribbean Series added a Cuban team to the lineup of teams in 2014. Cuba lost all games but one and did not reach the semi-finals.

This year the Cubans sent their national champion Pinar de Rio. But unlike last year, this year’s Cuban team was heavily fortified with players like Yulieski Gourriel, Frederich Cepeda and Alfredo Despaigne among the 16 “reinforcements”.

The Cubans fell 2-1 to Mexico in the opening game and were beaten up 6-1 by the Dominican Republic. But Cuba bounced back in game three and beat Puerto Rico 3-2. The next game vs Venezuela was lost 6-2.

Due to the win over Puerto Rico the Cubans finished fourth in he regular standings, giving them the right to play the semi-finals.

The semi-final game vs Venezuela appeared to go the same way as the previous meeting between the two countries, when the Venezuelans won 6-2. After four innings the Venezuelans were leading 4-0. Freddy Alvarez was pulled after 3.2 innings. He was tabbed for all runs that Venezuela scored. But a remarkable rally of the Cubans in the sixth innning brought them back within one run from Venezuela. In the seventh inning the Cubans added five more runs to their total for the 8-4 win. Frederich Cepeda was the man of the match for the Cubans, hitting 4 for 5 with five runs batted in.

Pinar de Rio will face Mexican champ Tomateros de Culiacan. If the Mexicans win it will be the third consecutive Caribbean championship for Mexico. The last time that Cuba won the Caribbean Series was in 1960 when Elefantes de Cienfuegos won it all. That was the last time that Cuba sent a team to the series.

Game one was a close game, so this one can go either way. I am hoping for a Cuban win.