Previous notebook

Mexico

Pitching, including a shutout by 45-year-old lefthander Angel Moreno in the deciding game, lifted Hermosillo to a three-games-to-one victory in the Mexican Pacific League championship series against Mazatlan.

Moreno, who concluded a two-year major league career with the Angels back in 1982, threw a four-hitter in beating the Deer 5-0. His teammates scored all of the game’s runs in the first four innings.

The victory made Hermosillo the "home" team in the Caribbean Series Feb. 2-7 in Culiacan. Both Hermosillo and Mazatlan finished the regular season with 40-28 records. In the semifinals, Hermosillo defeated Guasave in four games, while Mazatlan beat Obregon in six games.

Dominican Republic

Aguilas, after trailing Escogido two games to one, won three in a row to capture the Dominican League title.

Aguilas, which won its fifth league title in six years, got shut out in the opener and lost two of the first three before coming back.

Escogido had looked unbeatable, establishing a record for the semifinal round-robin by winning 14 of 18 games. Aguilas went just 9-9, Azucareros 7-11 and Estrellas 6-12.

Puerto Rico

MAYAGUEZ, Puerto Rico–The Caguas Criollos, the dominant franchise for most of the Puerto Rican League’s first four decades, won their first title in 14 years against a Mayaguez team that had dominated the last decade.

Mayaguez came into the championship series with momentum and experience on its side. Caguas had the edge in overall talent, defense and pitching–particularly the bullpen, where Cubs minor league righthander Courtney Duncan proved the biggest difference between the teams.

Duncan, who was forced to return home briefly after the semifinals to attend to family matters, saved a league-high 17 games during the regular season, all four Caguas wins in its semifinal triumph over Santurce and four of the Criollos’ five wins in their 5-1 thrashing of Mayaguez.

The Caguas pitching staff registered a 1.45 ERA in the championship series–starters Frank Rodriguez (Reds) and Joe Crawford (Mets) each allowed only one earned run over eight innings–and second baseman Luis Lopez (Brewers) delivered almost all the key hits.

Lopez’ ninth-inning single in Game Two broke a 2-2 tie, and the Criollos went on to win 4-2. That was the first of three straight victories on Mayaguez’ home field.

–ERIC EDWARDS

Venezuela

Lara defeated Magallanes four games to two to win the championship in the Venezuelan League.

In the deciding game, Lara took a 5-0 lead through six innings on the strength of two RBIs each from outfielders Roberto Zambrano and Robert Perez (Yankees), then saw a Magallanes rally fall short in a 5-3 win.

Magallanes went 11-5 and Lara 9-7 in the semifinal round-robin. The finalists weren’t determined until the last day, when Magallanes swept a doubleheader from Pastora.

The doubleheader resulted from a Magallanes protest that was upheld by the league. Pastora apparently had defeated Magallanes 5-1, but Magallanes manager Phil Regan filed a protest contending that Pastora closer Santos Hernandez (Devil Rays) wasn’t on the list of players available for the game.

Pastora finished the round-robin 7-9, while Zulia went 8-8.

Australia

The Internationals won the initial IBL Australia championship in dramatic fashion. A single by A.J. Zapp (Braves) in the bottom of the ninth inning sent Troy Schader across the plate with the winning run in a 2-1 victory over Australia in the one-game playoff final.

The game at Palm Meadows Stadium on the Gold Coast had been tied since the fifth inning. Schader (Padres) and Ryan Langerhans (Braves) both walked before Zapp’s only hit of the game went to left field.

Most of the game was a pitchers’ duel between Darren Fidge of Australia and Brad Guy (Pirates) for the Internationals. Guy was the first to be replaced, giving way to Kazuhiro Takeoka after six innings. Takeoka, a Japanese industrial league player signed this winter by the Braves, gave up one hit while striking out one in two innings. Korean closer Kim Min-Ki pitched the ninth inning and was the winner.

The game marked the end of a sensational month for the Internationals, who found themselves in last place five weeks into the season. Hitting their stride after Christmas, the composite team of players from around the world won both the regular season and playoff titles.

Winter Roundup

• Santiago de Cuba pitcher Norge Vera threw a no-hitter in a 3-0 win over Havana. Vera, who was 6-1, struck out 15.
• Caracas outfielder Antonio Alvarez (Pirates) won the Venezuelan League battling title with a .359 average. La Guaira outfielder Chris Jones (Brewers) led in RBIs with 47 and was named the league MVP. Pastora’s Alex Cabrera (Diamondbacks) led in home runs with 13. Righthander Edwin Hurtado of Lara finished 11-0 and was named pitcher of the year. La Guaira shortstop Carlos Mendoza (Giants) was the rookie of the year. Mendoza, 21, was the league’s third-leading hitter at .326. Aragua righthander Josmir Romero (Twins) was second in the voting, while 17-year-old Aragua shortstop Miguel Cabrera (Marlins) was third.
• The Korean players’ union and teams reached a compromise to save the 2001 summer season, a month after the owners said they were canceling it. Kim Han-gil of the nation’s ministry of culture and tourism moderated the talks, in which the union won the right to select its own player representatives. In the clearest victory for management, the players agreed not to formally incorporate the union until there is a fan base of six million a season. Though on the surface that may not look like a major victory, the most the KBO has ever drawn was 5.4 million in 1994. The issue of a limit on import players was tabled, at least temporarily.

Contributing: Giner Garcia, Salo Otero, Thomas St. John.