Puerto Rico claims fifth Big League championship

EASLEY – Fittingly, the game ended on a defensive gem by Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico turned in several sterling defensive plays Tuesday night, including a victory-clinching diving catch by centerfielder Vladimir Rodriguez with a runner on base and two outs in the top of the seventh inning as the International bracket champions posted a 3-1 victory against Conejo Valley from Thousand Oaks, California, in the championship game of the 2015 Big League World Series.

The game was televised live from the J.B. “Red” Owens Sports Complex on ESPN.

It was the fifth world title for Puerto Rico, which was playing in the BLWS championship game for an eighth time in the last 10 years. Puerto Rico’s previous titles came in 1982, 2002, 2010 and 2012.

Two of those world championships have come at the expense of U.S. West champion teams from Thousand Oaks, which defeated Puerto Rico for the world title in 2006 in their first title-game matchup.

On Tuesday night, the team from Guayama, Puerto Rico put pressure on Conejo Valley from the outset and never let up, getting its leadoff hitter on base in five of six innings and taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning on two singles, a fielder’s choice and an error.

Puerto Rico added another run in the second on a walk, a single by Osvaldo Colon and an RBI single by Ricardo Natal.

Conejo Valley responded with John Glenn’s RBI single to cut its deficit to 2-1 in the third, but Sidney Duprey’s run-scoring single in the fifth provided a two-run cushion that held up over the final two innings.

“That’s a really good team,” Conejo Valley manager Scott Clarke said. “They lost a game and game from the loser’s bracket and beat a really good Chinese-Taipei team, then knocked us off, and I’d like to think we were probably as hot as anybody around here.”

Nelson Malave got the win, scattering five hits over six innings while striking out six and walking one.

Luis Santiago recorded the final three outs, striking out the final two batters he faced, to earn the save.

Rodriguez, Colon and Carlos Texidor each had two hits to pace Puerto Rico at the plate.

Thousand Oaks, which defeated the South Carolina District I host team on Monday night in the U.S. championship game, finished the tournament with a 4-1 record. Puerto Rico finished 5-1, winning five straight games after dropping its tournament opener, 4-3, against Monterrey, Mexico.