CASTALLA - The Spanish team competition saw the 8th round played on Saturday with wins for top teams Madrid Nacional and ASOC Palma. The Spanish PBA players, who performed in the last tournament of this season last week, returned to their county and to the competition. Dani Sánchez (Palma) faced PBA number 2 David Martinez (Castalla) and won 40-15 in 24 innings. The best match came from Robinson Morales, the Madrid Nacional frontman, who beat Ruben Legazpi 40-37 in 18 innings. David Zapata played the highest run: 17.
Madrid Nacional and ASOC Palma's Madrilenes lead after eight rounds of play with 15 points, ahead of CB Vic, Valencia and Mostoles with 12.
Madrid Nacional faced the tricky away match against CB Móstoles and had its outstanding frontrunner in Robinson Morales. The Spanish Colombian beat Ruben Legazpi 40-37 in 18, which was good for the maximum 6-2 win. Only Dutchman Jeffrey Jorissen lost for the leading team to Adrian Legazpi 40-31 in 26. There were also wins for Frenchman Mikael Devogelaere and Ricardo Garcia in 22 and 25 innings.
ASOC Palma, the other leading team, won the away match against Castalla 6-2 with the top billings between Dani Sánchez n David Martinez. The UMB player won the match by a generous score: 40-15 in 24 innings. Best winner was Carlos Crespo, who beat Andrés Carrion 40-20 in 19.
For Cartagena, David Zapata played against Portuguese Rui Costa. The Spaniard won 40-32 in 26 innings. Joao Mota and Carlos Anguita met in an exciting match: Mota won 40-39 in 30. CB Vic and Valencia played a 4-4 draw. Javier Yeste beat Ivan Mayor 40-30 in 24, Rui Edgar de Almeida won from Sergio Jimenez 40-33 in 26.
The standings after eight rounds:
1 Madrid Nacional 8-15
2 Palma 8-15
3 CB Vic 8-12
4 Mostoles 8-12
5 Valencia 8-12
6 Castalla 8-11
7 Cartagena 8-5
8 Ateneo 8-3
Robinson Morales, best match against Ruben Legazpi in 18 innings
Best games:
1 Robinson Morales (Madrid) 2,222
2 Carlos Crespo (Palma) 2,105
3 Ruben Legazpi (Mostoles) 2,056
David Zapata, high run 17
Highest runs:
1 David Zapata 17
2 Dani Sánchez 12
3 Robinson Morales 10.