Victory

It wasn’t a perfect ending, but it was close enough.

Heber Gomez led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a triple and Jose Sandoval singled him home to give Mexico a 4 to 3 win over Venezuela on the final day of the Caribbean World Series.

With the Dominican Republic having already wrapped up the championship, this game was played for pride and the Mexicans showed plenty.

Vinicio Castilla did not homer to finish a brilliant career, but he led his team to one last victory with a double, a walk and a run.

The final record of 1-5 is not a true measure of the Mexicans. They lost hard-fought battles to Puerto Rico and the Dominican before edging past a tough Venezuelan team today.

They kept coming no matter how many leads slipped from their grasp. When Sandoval’s hit landed in right field, his teammates rushed from the dugout and Mexicans everywhere threw their hands in the air.

One baseball game can mean a lot. This one meant that we never quit because we are all Mexican.