NEW YORK– Baseball is one of a kind. In today’s Pool D game between Team Dominican Republic and Team Nicaragua, a young 21-year-old’s life changed right in front of his eyes. Nicaragua’s reliever Duque Hebbert appeared in the ninth inning, and struck out Dominican Republic superstars Juan Soto, Julio Rodríguez, and Rafael Devers. All on 19 pitches… 

An impressive trio to add to Hebbert’s career strikeout list, however; what occurred during postgame shook the baseball world. 

Following Nicaragua’s 6-1 loss to Dominican Republic, Hebbert was approached by a Detroit Tigers scout by the name of Luis Molina, who was watching Monday’s WBC games at loanDepot Park. Molina grew interested in Hebbert from what he saw on the mound as well as being able to connect with him one-on-one.

What followed was Molina and the Tigers, offering Hebbert a minor-league contract with Detroit. 

What a story 🙌

Team Nicaragua pitcher Duque Hebbert struck out Juan Soto, Julio Rodriguez and Rafael Devers in today's game against the Dominican Republic

An hour after the game, the Tigers signed him to a contract 🇳🇮 pic.twitter.com/sy3Tm5BWLY

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 14, 2023

Prior to today, Hebbert had no MLB affiliation. He pitched in pro-level ball across Nicaragua in the LBPN for Tren De Norte. 

As mentioned, Hebbert completed his day by throwing 19 pitches… 14 of those for strikes with three strikeouts AND a contract paving the way for his dream to come true of one day pitching in the big leagues. 

Quite the day for Hebbert, though Nicaragua lost, he and his family won!

Duque Hebbert Won The Day – Image Credit: World Baseball Classic/MLB

Congratulations Duque!

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Robert Rizzo is a journalist and co-editor of Latino Sports

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