The Cuban team defeated its similar team from Australia four races to three in the monumental Tokyo Dome stadium, in Japan, to go to the semifinal phase, to be played in the US city of Miami, starting on Sunday.
In this way, Cuba is the first classified to the semifinals, returning to the group of the big four of the great baseball event, after 17 years.
Australia, a team that stood out for its offense in the Classic, had been the first to open the scoring, when in the second inning they made one against the throwing of the Cuban starter Yariel Rodríguez.
The score came from a double by Darryl George, a sacrifice by Whitefield and a jit by Wingrove.
Then, Cuba tied it in the bottom of the third against Mitch Neunborn. The score was thanks to Roel Santos receiving a walk, Moncada doubled to left field, and Luis Robert missed with a connection to the shortstop, but the run entered.
Yariel Rodríguez came out of the box in the fourth inning, leaving two men in circulation, with only one out. In three innings and a third of work, they made a run and two hits, gave away five tickets, three of them after two outs in the third, and struck out four men.
The star Luis Miguel Romero came to its rescue, who resolved the situation and gave zero.
One of the great scenes could be described as Roel Santos' fielding in the fifth, against a long drive from Alex Hall's second bat.
At the close of that chapter, Cuba loaded the bases (Roel hit the center and Moncada and Luis Robert received tickets), when it was Alfredo Despaigne's turn, who did his job and drove in the second of those led by Armando Johnson.
Then, the pads were filled again, thanks to the indisputable Arruebarruena, who is in excellent shape in the Classic. Then, they replaced Australian pitcher Salio Sam Holland with left-hander John Kennedy.
Before the new pitcher, the lefty Guibert responded at the right time, hit a hit to the right and pushed another two for Cuba, making the game 4-1.
In the sixth, the right-hander Ronni Elías entered the mound for the Antillean troop, to whom they scored two runs, due to Wingrover's homers with a man on base, to shorten the advantage (4-3).
At that point, he pitched the seventh without complications and the scene was set for the supersonics Moinelo (8th inning) and Raydel (9th inning).
The lefty from Pinar del Río gave two strikeouts and the same number of walks in the eighth, while Raydel Martínez, combining his pitches very well and with a speed between 94 and 96 miles, dominated the ninth of one, two and three, with two strikeouts included.
In the game Cuba scored four runs, smash seven hits and made one error, while Australia scored three runs, hit five hits and did not miss the defense.
The Australians' game was characterized by a constant handling of the pitching, to prevent the Cuban batters from making their adjustments.
The match was won by Luis Miguel Romero, who has already accumulated two victories in the Classic, it was saved by Raydel Martínez and lost by Jorh Guyer.
