Villeda, Hurtarte & Dieguez homers propel Guatemala to key win over Colombia

Luis Pedro Villeda, Dennis Hurtarte and Pedro Dieguez homered for Guatemala in today's 9-2 win over Colombia in six innings of play. The Central American team improved their record to 2-1 and tomorrow will close the Opening Round with a doubleheader.

Guatemala's bats came alive early in the game to take the lead. Nery del Cid hit a lead-off double to the right-center field gap, and Luis Pedro Villeda followed with a home run to left field, a ball that was carried by the wind blowing out to left field. They never looked back. A double play and a spectacular diving catch by Colombian left fielder Jhon Lara limited the damage for the South American team.

The Colombians loaded the bases in the top of third with one out, on two walks and a single. But Guatemala's starter Jorge Segura retired the last two hitters on an infield fly and a grounder to shortstop to escape unscathed. 

Guatemala's hot bats sounded again in the bottom of the fourth to double their lead. Dennis Hurtarte sent a 73 mph drop ball way behind the 300 ft limit at OGE Energy Field for a solo homer. Two outs later, Pedro Dieguez went yard to the left field, giving his team a 4-0 edge.

In the fifth, Colombia got on the board with a pair of runs on an illegal pitch and a two-out RBI knock by Aldo Navia. 

However Guatemala broke the game open in the bottom half of the innings with a four-run rally, on an RBI triple by Fabian Vizcaino, an RBI single by Gerardo Dacaret and a two-run single by Manuel Hernandez.

They ended the game with no effort, drawing four consecutive walks with two outs to score the ninth and definitive run of the game.

Jorge Segura was the winning pitcher striking out seven in six innings while allowing two runs on four hits.

This win puts Guatemala in a good position to earn a spot in Friday's Play Offs, holding a 2-1 record. Tomorrow, they will face the Netherlands and Japan to close the Opening Round. On the other hand, Colombia (1-2) will play next against Netherlands to complete their doubleheader.