The Navegantes de Magallanes defeated the Caribes de Anzotaegui, 3-2, in game seven of the championship series of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP) 2021-2022 season in Caracas Tuesday night.
First-year manager Wilfredo Romero commented: "We did a great job. I'm delighted with the relationship I could establish with my players. Players like Sandoval, Gabriel Noriega and Alberto Gonzalez helped me do this."
Romero was awarded the Chico Carrasquel Award as the best manager at the end of the regular season.
Left fielder Angel Reyes homered in the top of the eighth off reliever Johan Pino to put the Navegantes ahead.
Center fielder Cade Gotta, a six-year LVBP veteran born in the US, earned the Robert Perez MVP Award.
Perez, a former Major Leaguer and the hitting coach for the Navegantes, served in the same position for the U-23 World Champion Venezuela.
Gotta went 2-for-4 and hit a game-tying home run in the top of the fifth off reliever Lester Oliveros.
"I'm very happy," commented Gotta. "It's an honour to receive the award that bears his name from my hitting coach Robert Perez."
Six Navegantes pitchers limited the Caribes to six hits. Starter Cesar Jimenez went four innings. Reliever Anthony Vizcaya, who was on Venezuela's roster at the WBSC Premier12 2019, pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Bruce Rondon allowed one hit and a walk in the bottom of the ninth but came away with his third save in the series.
Yohander Mendez pitched seven innings of the shut-out game six win.
"We needed that win to make game seven happen," commented Mendez. We were hungry for that win, when we took the field."
It's the 13th title for the Navegantes, who hadn't claimed a pennant since 2014. The only player of that championship team on the 2022 roster was former Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series MVP Pablo 'The Panda' Sandoval.
With the Navegantes trailing 2-0 in the series, Sandoval was instrumental in a 4-2 game three win, hitting a home run and three RBIs.
"This means a lot to me," said Sandoval. "Winning was our goal. The guys did all it took to win. I love the team. It was special. I also want to thank my family. I couldn't have done this without their support."
All the results
Caribes de Anzotaegui-Navegantes de Magallanes 6-5
Caribes-Navegantes 5-4
Navegantes-Caribes 4-2
Navegantes-Caribes 10-9
Caribes-Navegantes 15-10
Navegantes-Caribes 6-0
Navegantes-Caribes 3-2
The BOX SCORES
The LVBP, a WBSC Associate Member, concludes the 2021-2022 Winter League season in the Caribbean region.
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