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Chiriqui wins talent-rich junior baseball tournament
 

Chiriqui wins talent rich junior baseball tournament

by Eric Jackson

On the evening of Sunday, February 4, the junior baseball team from Chiriqui broke a tie with Panama Metro in the bottom of the ninth inning and took the game 5-4 and the National Junior Tournament's final series four games to one. It was a lot closer than it may appear at first glance, as all games were decided but the second game were decided by one-run margins and that exception was a 4-2 game.

The Chiriqui team was blessed with two sets of talented twins, one of which, the 17-year-old pitchers Antonio and Alberto Cuan, is expected to play for Chiriqui in the upcoming national men's tournament. The Cuans have reportedly been offered professional contracts. Another 17-year-old for the winning team, Juan Vega (who drove in the winning run in the final game), has signed a professional contract with the Chicago White Sox organization.

But the real story in the under-18 tournament wasn't so much the 17-year-olds as the 15-year-olds, many of them coming from Little League and intermediate teams that have put in outstanding international performances. The overall level of play was better this year than in a long time, and most of those who made it so will be back for next year's tournament.

Sixteen-year-old Edul Escobar, for example, went 7 for 18 in the final series for Panama Metro, driving in six runs, while Chiriqui's 15-year-old twins Dimas and Ashley Ponce were base running terrors throughout the tournament.

Overall, the tournament's most valuable player was Ruben Tejada, who hit .543 for Veraguas. Also putting in an outstanding performance was Panama Metro's José Camargo, who led the tournament in stolen bases and hit .400 in the final series.

The players who are 15 or 16 are eligible to play in the national intermediate tournament that will take place after Carnival in Los Santos. Seven of the starters for Chiriqui will be in that event. Usually the junior tournament attracts a flock of professional scouts, but this year it's expected that a number of major league organizations will be in Los Santos to look at the intermediate tournament as well.

The junior tournament all-star game will take place on Saturday, February 10 at the Rodney Carew National Stadium.