Cuba forced to win remaining games at U15 World Baseball qualifying tournament

HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 9 (ACN) With a record of one win and two losses, the Cuban U15 baseball team begins the second round of the Caribbean qualifying tournament for the category today, forced to win all three games.

Tuesday, the team coached by Alexander Urquiola will face the host Dominican Republic, an undefeated leader at 3-0, who defeated them 9-8 in the first bilateral match.

On Monday, Cubans achieved their first victory by defeating Aruba 8-5, the only team without a win in the quadrangular tournament that will grant a single direct spot to next year's World Cup in Italy.

The aspirations of the Caribbean country team is to achieve consecutive victories against the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Aruba, their rivals, in that order, until Thursday the 11th, the final day of the competition.

Whoever occupies second place will await two wild cards, which will be distributed among the runners-up in the three regional tournaments organized by WBSC Americas, the governing body of baseball on the continent, which announced the championships with the most participants as the first selection criterion, followed by world ranking.

The first parameter puts the Cubans in a more awkward position, as they are playing in the smaller World Cup qualifying tournament, with only four participants, while the other teams have five.

Venezuela was the starter in the South Zone tournament, while Colombia was the runner-up, and the North and Central America tournament will soon be played in Mexico, with the United States, Nicaragua, Panama, and Costa Rica also participating. Behind the Dominican Republic are Puerto Rico (2-1), Cuba (1-2) and Aruba (0-3).