February 2025 Newsletter Supplemental
By Gilbert D. Martinez
Seven chapter members gathered on Sunday to watch the Texas Longhorns defeat the Dartmouth Big Green 4-1 on what turned out to be a mild, sunny day at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin.
We watched a tight ball game in which both teams struggled to sustain long innings. Both teams could only muster no more than run in an inning. The difference was that the Longhorns did so in four separate innings and held the Big Green scoreless after they took an early 1-0 in the first inning. On Sunday, the Longhorns completed a three-game sweep of Dartmouth.
Longhorns freshman reliever Dylan Volantis threw 4.2 innings in relief, allowing just one hit and striking out four. Second baseman Ethan Mendoza provided half the offense, going 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.
More details about the game can be found on the Longhorns baseball website: https://texaslonghorns.com/news/2025/2/23/no-16-baseball-secures-sweep-of-dartmouth.aspx
Many thanks to Bailey Hall for pitching the idea to catch a college ball game this month. At the game, we talked about making this an annual event.
Caribbean Series 2025 in Mexicali: The 67th edition of Serie del Caribe builds upon recent successes
By Monte Cely
The Caribbean Series was conceived at baseball meetings in 1948, and the first edition of the international baseball tournament was held in 1949 at the Gran Estadio de Cerro in Havana. After record-setting attendance and interest in Miami in 2024, expectations were high for the 2025 episode. Mexicali did not disappoint, with sellouts, solid play and great weather.
Following are some highlights:
ROUND ROBIN PHASE
The 2025 Series included five teams, the four league champs and an invited team from Japan (a first for an Asian squad):
Charros de Jalisco – Mexico
Indios de Mayaguez – Puerto Rico
Leones de Escogido – Dominican
Cardenales de Lara – Venezuela
Japan – Japan Breeze
The format of competition is a single round robin, with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals. As of the completion of round robin play the standings stood at:
Mexico 4-0
Dominicana 2-2
Venezuela 2-2
Puerto Rico 2-2
Japan 0-4
Highlights and observations from Round Robin play:
The Japan team has been outgunned but are a plucky young team and became fan favorites here with their sportsmanship. At the end of each game, they line up on the base line and bow to the fans and then to the opposing team.
The Mexico pitching and defense have carried them to the top spot so far. They have allowed the opposition only four runs in the four games during the Round Robin Phase.
Attendance has been strong, around 13,000 for the afternoon games and sellouts (17,000+) in the evening when Mexico plays.
Albert Pujols is managing the Dominican team.
Venezuelan pitcher Jesus Vargas threw a no-hitter against Japan, only the third one in Caribbean Series history.
The Stadium (el Nido de los Aguilas – The Eagles Nest) was recently remodeled and is in great shape – comfortable with good sight lines. Dimensions are 330’ to the foul poles and 400’ to CF.
SEMIFINALS
The DR defeated Venezuela 5-4 in 11 innings to punch their ticket to the finals. The game was tied 3-3 after nine and both teams drove in their bonus runner (aka the Manfred Man) in the 10th. Likewise for the Dominicans in the top of the eleventh. In the bottom of the 11th the Venezuelans had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs but failed to score either of them thus losing the game.
Mexico scored three runs in the bottom of the first and that was all they needed as again the solid pitching and defense for Mexico shut down the Puerto Rico offense. Final score: 3-1. Mexico has won all five games so far and allowed opponents only five runs total.
Former major league speedster Billy Hamilton plays CF for Mexico. He has excited the fans with five stolen bases so far.
FINALS
Escogido (Santo Domingo, DR) defeated Charros de Jalisco (Mexico) 1-0 on Friday night to win the 2025 Caribbean Series. The Mexican squad continued their outstanding defense and pitching but could only muster one hit. There were no RBIs recorded as the one Dominican run scored on a double play.
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Esmil Rogers was the tournament MVP, winning two games for the Dominican team including the final game. The all-stars for the tournament were:
C: Francisco Mejía República Dominicana
1B: Yamaico Navarro República Dominicana
2B: Michael Wielansky México
3B: Kelvin Gutiérrez República Dominicana
SS: Jack Mayfield México
CF: Billy Hamilton México
LF: Rudy Martin Jr. México
RF: Alexi Amarista Venezuela
DH: Danry Vázquez Venezuela
Starting Pitcher: Jesús Vargas Venezuela
Reliever: Trevor Clifton México
Manager: Benjamín Gil México
CLOSING OBSERVATIONS
The Caribbean Series is always a party at the ballpark, and this year was no exception. The author is second from right behind my good friend Juan Antonio from Mexico. The other two “fanaticos” were our “vecinos” (neighbors) at all the games.
The upcoming schedule for the Caribbean Series will be:
2026 – Caracas, Venezuela
2027 – Hermosillo, Mexico
2028 – Miami, U.S.A.
Next meeting
Next month’s meeting will be at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 16, at Hurricane Grill and Wings (2701 Parker Dr., Round Rock). With spring training winding down then, we’ll be gearing up for the 2025 season! Hope you can join us. Watch for a call for RSVPs early next month.