Valle leads Mexico to the mountaintop.

MEXICO 3, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 2 (HOME TEAM:  MEXICO)

Dominican Republic:  Emilio Bonifacio was 1-for-3 with a walk and a double.  Juan Perez was 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Yunesky Maya pitched 5.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and no walks with three strikeouts.

Mexico:  Sebastian Valle was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Chris Roberson was 2-for-4 with a run.  Alfredo Aceves pitched seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and one walk with two strikeouts.

The game:  In the top of the first, Leury Garcia was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a pair of ground outs to give the Dominican Republic a 1-0 lead.  In the bottom of the first, Roberson singled, stole second, and scored on a Jon Weber single to tie it at one.  There was no more scoring until the seventh, when Perez singled, went to third on an error, and scored on a sacrifice fly to put the Dominican Republic up 2-1.  Mexico tied it in the eighth on a walk, a hit batsman, and two more walks.  In the bottom of the ninth, Yunesky Sanchez led off with a single, went to second on a bunt, and scored on a single by Valle to win the game for Mexico.

THE SERIES

Mexico advances to the championship game on Saturday.  They will play the winner of the Puerto Rico-Venezuela game, which will be played tonight.