winter warriors
The Charros de Jalisco, with Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton batting leadoff and playing center field, won the Mexican Pacific League championship on Tuesday night and advanced to the Caribbean Series. The MPL champs will play Friday (10 p.m., MLB Network) against the champion of the Puerto Rican Winter League — Indios de Mayaguez — in Mexicali, Mexico. Hamilton, a longtime major leaguer with 326 career stolen bases, batted .246 with a league-best 38 steals and 49 runs in 64 games for Jalisco this season. He hit .243 in the MPL postseason, scoring 12 runs and swiping six more bags. The 34-year-old Hamilton last played in the big leagues in 2023 (three games with the Chicago White Sox). Former Mississippi Braves and big league star Julio Teheran pitched for Jalisco this season. … Incidentally, the dramatic home run by Junior Caminero that won the Dominican Winter League title on Monday night — and became a viral sensation — was hit off former M-Braves closer Jairo Asencio. Asencio played under the name Luis Valdez in 2008, when he saved 28 games for the Southern League champion M-Braves. Caminero’s Leones de Escogido team plays Venezuela on Friday (3:30, MLBN) in Mexicali. … The Venezuelan Winter League champ is the Cardenales de Lara. Former M-Braves Gorkys Hernandez — who spent parts of six years in the big leagues — and Hendrik Clementina played for Lara this season. Rosters for the Caribbean Series have not been announced. P.S. Regi Grace, former Madison Central High standout, has signed with Washington of the independent Frontier League. Grace put up a 3.94 ERA in 133 career games over six seasons in the Minnesota system, working at the Double-A level in 2024.