Dominican Republic inaugurates the U-18 Pan American Baseball Championship: eleven nations chase four berths to the 2027 World Cup

Santo Domingo — The Dominican Republic inaugurated the U-18 Pan American Baseball Championship this Thursday at IPL Academy in the municipality of Guerra, with eleven nations competing for four direct berths to the 2027 U-18 World Cup.

The tournament, organized by WBSC Americas/Copabe together with the Dominican Baseball Federation (Fedom), gathered delegations from Brazil, Curaçao, Cuba, the United States, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Canada, Panama, Puerto Rico and the host Dominican Republic in a parade that filled the stadium with color.

The ceremony drew national and international baseball figures, including Aracelis León, president of WBSC Americas/Copabe; Juan Núñez, president of Fedom; Kelvin Cruz, minister of Sports and Recreation; Junior Noboa, national baseball commissioner; Vitelio Mejía Ortiz, president of Lidom; and Alfredo Acebal Rizek, president of the Gigantes del Cibao. Also present were Miguel Matos, director of Major League Baseball's office in the country, and Orlando Díaz, president of the Dominican Summer League.

"I give you the warmest welcome to this land that God gave us to play baseball, a land of good people who welcome you with great desire for you to enjoy good baseball and the warmth of good Dominicans," said Núñez. León thanked the federation chief for "taking on this great challenge" of staging the qualifier, while Cruz noted that "the Dominican Republic today dresses in gala, dresses in sport."

The sports oath was taken by Dominican team captain Alfredo Sena, and the ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Minister Kelvin Cruz, with Mejía as designated hitter. The host team dreams of one of the four berths at stake: it would be the first time the country qualifies for a World Cup in this age category.

Photo: FV Digital

Source: FV Digital