The Leñadores (Las Tunas Lumberjacks) have the chance today to reach the final of the Baseball Champions League Americas 2025 (BCL) and, in the process, get revenge against the Kane County Cougars for their defeat in their second appearance in the tournament.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- The Green and Reds indeed fell to the North Americans, but they did so with their boots on, coming from behind twice to tie the score and demonstrating their ability to hit against their fast-pitch pitching.
Defensive blunders and inconsistent pitching led to the Cougars' victory last Thursday. But the story could be different this evening. The Lumberjacks are eager to reach the final and have a chance to fight for the title of Champion of Champions in the Americas, although they aren't the favorites.
Abeicy Pantoja's players will rely, first and foremost, on the pitches of Yadián Martínez, according to journalist Orlando Cruz from Mexico. This will be the right-hander's second appearance in the tournament, as he was one of the relievers in the match against the Santa María Pirates of Curaçao. Martínez pitched 1.1 innings, allowing three hits and one earned run (a home run). His ERA is 6.75, and opponents are batting .429 against him.
We are well aware of the Lumberjacks' power-at-bat, which has led them to win three Cuban championships, and it has been no less impressive in this competition. Some of them occupy privileged positions among the leaders in that section. Yosvany Alarcón is second in RBIs (9), along with Yoelkis Guibert and Rafael Viñales -the first and second among the home run hitters with three and two, respectively. Alarcón himself (.688) and Roberto Baldoquín (.615) are third and fourth in average. Therefore, what the bullpen can do and how well they can defend will be very important.
In the other semifinal matchup, the hosts Diablos Rojos, sole survivors of Group A, will face off against Curacao's Pirates. The competition system allowed all three members of Group B to advance to the semifinals: the Cougars, undefeated leaders (like the Mexicans), and the Leñadores and Pirates, second and third, winners yesterday in the sudden-death match against the Puerto Rican Titans and Nicaraguan Tigres, respectively.
