Alfredo Despaigne knew it as soon as he hit it, all the Cubans did. That ball was gone, headed for the furthest reaches of Tokyo Dome. Despaigne watched the ball fly while taking a few steps up the first base line with his index finger pointing toward the Cuban bench. When he turned to see his teammates celebrating, Despaigne flipped his bat and began his jog around the bases.

The Cubans are not done yet, they will continue on at this World Baseball Classic.

Despaigne turned a one-run deficit into a three-run lead in the fifth inning with a grand slam and Cuba held on to avoid an early exit with a 4-3 win over Australia that sent it into the second round of the 2017 WBC.