Cuba finished second in U23 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifiers

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 2 (acn) Cuba lost to the host team in the final of the U23 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifiers held at Dennis Martinez Stadium, in Managua, Nicaragua.

Cubans only batted six hits and lost 0-1 although the best hitter of the game was Cuban SS Cesar Prieto, who batted 3 hits.
The win went to lefty Sheyler Garcia, who managed to pitch 6.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts and a walk, while Yankiel Maury took the loss despite allowing only one earned run.
The balance of squad coached by Eriel Sanchez was of seven wins and two losses, both against Nicaragua. In the group stage they won their five games: Panama (3-2), Guatemala (27-2), Colombia (3-0), Argentina (10-0) and Honduras (13-3), while in the Super Round they beat Venezuela (5-0) and the Dominican Republic (3-2) and only lost to the local side (0-6).
The bronze medal went to Venezuela who defeated 9-0 Colombia.
Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela qualified to the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2020, to be played in Mexico from October 2 to 11. The hosts and defending World Champions will be the fourth team representing the Americas.