Team Bahamas could only muster one hit in the gold medal game on Tuesday night, and were blanked 10-0, via the 10-run mercy rule in five innings to a very powerful Puerto Rico team, as the 2026 PONY Baseball 14U (14-and-Under) Caribbean and Latin American Championships concluded at the Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium.
Puerto Rico’s starting pitcher Eiden Pagán turned in a dominant pitching effort for the visitors, and his team backed him up with 10 runs on 12 hits, including three towering two-run home runs. They won convincingly, and will now go on to represent the Caribbean and Latin American region at the 2026 PONY Baseball 14U World Series, scheduled for later this summer.
Puerto Rico got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning with singles from three of their first four batters, and they never looked back. A trio of two-run home runs over the next three innings provided adequate support. Batting third in the lineup, James Feliciano had two of those two-run shots for Puerto Rico, and batting at the bottom of the lineup, Xavier Vázquez had the other.
As mentioned, The Bahamas Champs team had just one hit, coming from Logan Rolle early in the game.
“We wanted the gold. We wanted to put out for the country, and unfortunately, we came up short,” said Team Bahamas’ Manager Donavan Cox. “We just got beat by a better team tonight. We didn’t hit and we didn’t come out and show exactly what kind of talent we have. On a better day, I’m pretty sure we could beat them, but I have to tip my hat to Puerto Rico. They did their thing, and they came out with the win.”
Puerto Rico’s starting pitcher had the young Bahamian batters off stride all night, mixing high velocity fastballs with sliders and curveballs, to shut down Team Bahamas. On the opposing side, The
Bahamas relied on fastballs and Puerto Rico jumped all over the pitches.
Pagán pitched five scoreless innings for Puerto Rico, striking out six and giving up just one hit. Travonte Saunders got the start for The Bahamas Champs team. He gave up seven hits and six earned runs in three and a third innings. Kymani Rolle came on in relief and surrendered four runs off five hits.
“I am so proud of what they were able to do, and we’re excited,” said Puerto Rico’s Team Manager. “We worked hard back home and now we’re able to see what the hard work produced. They throw a lot of fastballs and we were waiting on the right pitch. I think we were patient and just took advantage of the opportunities that we had.”
He said they’re looking forward to the PONY Baseball world series in August.
Puerto Rico took a 4-0 lead on Feliciano’s first of two home runs in the bottom of the third inning on Tuesday night. His shot to straightaway center field came off Team Bahamas’ starter Saunders. One inning later, both Vázquez and Feliciano hit two-run home runs for Puerto Rico — Vázquez off Saunders, and Feliciano off Team Bahamas’ relief pitcher Rolle.
Puerto Rico added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to stop the game via the 10-run mercy rule.
Meanwhile, The Bahamas couldn’t muster any kind of offensive production off Pagán.
“Their pitcher was pretty good. He kept us off balanced all night. You have to fight to compete with a team like this, and we just didn’t fight tonight,” said Cox. “Other than the last game, I think we were the best team in the tournament. We just came out flat in the last game, and that happens sometimes. That’s baseball.”
Feliciano finished a perfect 3-for-3 with two home runs, four RBIs (runs batted in) and two runs scored for Puerto Rico. Three other batters contributed two hits apiece. The Bahamas finished a combined 1-for-17 against Puerto Rico.
“We have to work on getting more pitching. I think that’s where we fell short,” said Cox. “They showed that they’re a better hitting team and a better pitching team than us. That’s baseball — hits, runs and errors. They out-hit us and scored the most runs, and we tip our hats to them.”
In the bronze medal game, Venezuela scored eight runs in the final two innings to get past The Bahamas Host team, 15-10. After trailing 15-6 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, the host team scored four runs but would fall short in their comeback bid.
The Bahamas Host team won two games in the weekend tournament, but lost twice to Venezuela and once to Puerto Rico. They finished fourth behind Puerto Rico, The Bahamas Champs team and Venezuela.
“Our pitching didn’t hold up like we would have wanted, and our offense came around late,” said the host team’s Manager Mario Ford. “We won two games, and that was a blessing, but at the end of the day, we made too many mistakes to experience top level success at a tournament of this magnitude.
“It was a great tournament. Our players got to see top notch competition in the region — as good as it comes. We got to see kids playing fundamental baseball, especially the Latin American teams. For us to get to that level, we have to invest the time and the resources into these kids. We have to be playing every day and we have to be able to show a certain level of development. I’m confident that we could get there.”
In the semifinal games early on Tuesday, The Bahamas Champs team shut out Venezuela, 10-0, after a 14-13 walkoff win the night before, and Puerto Rico blasted The Bahamas Host team, 18-1.
Just the winner of the tournament moves on to the PONY Baseball world series, and that spot belongs to Puerto Rico who finished the five-day tournament undefeated at 6-0. The 2026 PONY 14U Baseball World Series is scheduled for August 7-12 in Washington, Pennsylvania.
