Game 1: The little things

Final Series of the II Elite Cuban Baseball League

Luis Antonio González did not make any claim. Since he slid into the plate, he seemed certain that he wouldn't arrive in time to score the Artemisa Hunters' fifth run. With two outs, Denis Laza hit a fly ball to center field and the start of the fifth inning went down in history.

If the Hunters had done well those little things that make the difference in a baseball game, perhaps they would not have fallen 6-5 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Final Series of the II Elite Cuban Baseball League.

That's baseball. Perhaps if González had scored with Frederich Cepeda's double, our comment would have been different. However, Jorge Luis Crespo, the Hunters' third base coach, took too much risk and sent González to the plate. I'm not judging his work. Many times, a coach's insight helps win baseball games. Nobody knows runners better than them. Split-second decisions are difficult to make. And, under the pressure of the postseason, each responsibility becomes that much more demanding.

Everyone feels pressure. That's reasonable. But the game situation was extreme: González tried to score from first with Cepeda's double towards the left field line. There was one out, and after Cepeda, Denis Laza would come to the plate. You can't challenge the fundamentals of baseball like that.