Aug 15, 2024 By Jonathan Guth 5 min read

Guaynabo, Puerto Rico’s Dariel Carrion must have been waiting to shine under the bright lights of Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park.

The Guaynabo catcher entered Wednesday’s championship against Tijuana, Mexico, without a hit in three games played in the tournament, but the fourth time must have been the charm.

Carrion hit a solo home run in the fourth inning and doubled in the ninth before scoring on Jehiel Hernandez’s walk-off single to right field in Guaynabo’s 2-1 victory to win the championship in the 72nd edition of the Pony League World Series.

“It was an unbelievable experience to hit the home run,” said Carrion through teammate Derek Vazquez, who served as the team’s second baseman and interpreter. “I was 0-for-7 in the tournament coming into this game, and scoring the winning run was really special. Playing Mexico is like playing against our brother because they’re so close to us. We played great baseball all week and they took us to the ninth inning, so it was a great game.”

Guaynabo won its first title, but Puerto Rico pushed its championship total to eight. Caguas won Puerto Rico’s first Pony League title in 1984, and secured its second in 1987. San Juan (1991), Bayamon (1995) and Ponce (2001) earned their first championships before Caguas got back on top of the mountain in 2006. Trujillo Alto won the title in 2007 to get Puerto Rico back-to-back championships.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” said Guaynabo manager Rafael Cruz through Vazquez’s translation. “A month ago in the 13-and-under Little League World Series, we played against Mexico and lost, 2-1, but this time, we won, 2-1.

“The home run was big because it gave us some momentum. Before the game, I talked to the players who haven’t really been hitting this tournament, and those are usually the players that came out in these championship games.”

Guaynabo was playing with a heavy heart, as the island of Puerto Rico suffered the damage of Hurricane Ernesto that put more than 630,000 homes and businesses without power Wednesday afternoon.

“The weather was bad in Puerto Rico,” Cruz said. “Everyone was inside watching the game in their homes.”

Carrion’s double in the ninth came with one out, as he hit a laser past the diving Tijuana second baseman that went to the wall in right centerfield to set the stage for Hernandez.

Hernandez smacked a 1-2 offering into right field and Carrion scored on a head-first slide before being mobbed by his teammates.

“I was looking for a curveball because he was throwing a lot of curveballs,” said Hernandez through Vazquez’s translation. “My mindset was, ‘Hit the curveball, hit the curveball,’ but I got the pitch I was looking for, hit it the other way and it got us the win.”

The first three innings were a pitcher’s duel, as Guaynabo’s Gean Figueroa and Tijuana’s Alexander Jimenez allowed just one combined hit. Figueroa retired the first nine batters in order and Jimenez had nine strikeouts through three.

Carrion homered on the first pitch he saw to centerfield, which gave Guaynabo a 1-0 lead.

Tijuana responded in a hurry when Marlon Melendrez went deep to left centerfield on a 1-2 count to lead off the top of the fifth.

Jimenez was relieved after the fourth inning. He allowed one earned run on three hits with nine strikeouts and one walk.

“He (Jimenez) was definitely dominating with strikeouts, but in the fourth inning he said he was getting tired, so we didn’t want to risk it,” said Tijuana manager Jose Estrada through an interpreter. “We had the pitching depth, went with other guys and left everything on the mound.”

Figueroa was pulled after five innings. He allowed one earned run on three hits with three strikeouts and no walks.

Akilis Rivera earned the pitching victory after tossing four scoreless innings. He yielded three hits while striking out one and didn’t issue a walk.

Tijuana had its best chance to take the lead in the sixth as Guaynabo committed two errors, but also made up for it with a play that turned out to be a game saver.

Bryan Espinoza singled to right field and advanced to second on an error to lead off the frame, but he was tagged out while stepping off the second-base bag to celebrate his hit. Espinoza had two of Tijuana’s six hits.

Emiliano Contreras doubled to center and sprinted around third towards home plate when Jimenez reached on an error, but Guaynabo right fielder Dylan Padilla fired a strike to Carrion at the plate, who tagged out Contreras for the second out. Rivera got the next batter to fly out to center.

Guaynabo’s Carlos Arroyo doubled in the third for the game’s first hit. Xavier Beltran and Moyses Salido each had a double for Tijuana.

Honoring Clemente

Vazquez wears No. 21 to honor the late Roberto Clemente, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and is considered to be one of the greatest right fielders in baseball history. Vazquez’s birthday also falls on the 21st.

Hernandez, like Vazquez, has similar admiration for the baseball hall-of-famer who spent his entire career in Pittsburgh, but grew up in Puerto Rico.

“Roberto Clemente is really special for Puerto Rico,” Hernandez said. “He really changed baseball and brought it to the island of Puerto Rico.”

Notes

WJPA Radio’s Mark Uriah was honored for being the “Voice of the Pony League World Series” the last 40 years. Uriah called his last game Wednesday night. … Chloe Morgan won the 2024 Pony Hostess and Farrah Grace sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.”