In a game that ended 6-5 to a sold-out crowd at the Quisqueya Juan Marichal Ball Park, the Escogido Lions defeated its capital city rival, the Licey Tigers. The game delivered the first professional baseball championship to Albert Pujols, the Cooperstown Hall of Famer in his debut as a team manager. Pujols expressed his satisfaction yet, he says he does not know if he will repeat with the Escogido Lions, as reported in Diario Libre.
The game was decided when Junior Caminero blasted a 454-foot home run over the center field wall in the top of the ninth inning to lift the Leones del Escogido to a 6-5 victory over the Tigres del Licey on Monday night in Game 7 of the 71st Dominican League final.
With Caminero’s walk-off home run off a Jairo Asencio sinker, the Leones captured their 17th championship, their first since 2016-17, ironically against their arch-rivals, the Licey.
Caminero became the first player to hit a home run over the 411-foot mark at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal in a Final Series since Juan Francisco did it for the Licey on January 21, 2014, against Edward Valdez.
In seven games, Caminero hit .346 (9-for-26) with four runs, two doubles, a triple, a home run, six RBI, six walks, and five strikeouts. He was named the Most Valuable Player.
The Leones now have a 6-2 record in decisive championship games.
Fans had lined up early to pick up the last tickets to game 7 of the Dominican Winter Professional Baseball League 2024-25.
The finals were extra exciting this year, going to the stretch. In game six on Sunday, 26 January, the Escogido was winning the game 4-2 in the 9th inning with two outs when Licey batter Gustavo Núñez batted a homerun that tied the game to 4-4. The Licey would eventually win that game in the 13th inning. Escogido manager Pujols called for an inspection of the bat. The Dominican Baseball League did not find anything irregular with the bat of Gustavo Núñez, and the two capital city teams would battle it out in a final game seven on Monday, 27 January 2025.
The playoff results were:
The games have ended:
Game 1: Licey, 4-3
Game 2: Escogido, 3-2
Game 3:Escogido 6-0
Game 4: Licey 9-3
Game 5: Escogido 4-1
Game 6: Licey 7-4
Game 7: Escogido 6-5
Read more in Spanish:
Lidom
Lidom
Lidom
El Dia
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Listin Diario
N Digital
28 January 2025