Cuba ratifies participation in Caribbean Baseball Series Culiacan 2017

HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 28 (acn) Omar Canizales, president of the Mexican Pacific League, ratified the will of Cuba to intervene in the Caribbean Baseball Series Culiacan 2017, scheduled for February 1 to 7 next year.

In order to open communication channels to ensure the attendance of the Cuban team to the upcoming edition of the Caribbean baseball classic, Canizales met in Havana with the leading authorities of the sport in the island.
In press conference at the Latinoamericano Stadium, the official said the Mexican city of Culiacan wants to organize the best Caribbean Series in history, which would be impossible if not having the presence of a Cuban representative.
Cuba will attend for the fourth time the traditional festival since its return to the event in 2014, again as a guest country, despite the willingness of local sports authorities to become part of the Caribbean Confederation of Professional Baseball (CCPB).
Higinio Velez, president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, confirmed the participation in the contest, although it has been considered the possibility of not intervening, due to Cuba´s demand to become a full member of the CCPB still lacks a positive response.
The head of the Pacific League said the incorporation of Cuba has improved the quality of the Caribbean Series, and also stressed the desire of having in a future players from the Cuban nation inserted in the Mexican baseball circuit.
In Culiacan 2017, the Cuban team will debut on February 1 st against the Dominican Republic, will rest the second day, and in the following days will face successively the sides of Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Mexico, in that order.
The semifinals will be on February 6th involving the first four teams of the qualifying round and the final will be a day later.
The traditional baseball tournament will be staged by the majestic and modern New Stadium of the Culiacan Tomateros, which opened on October 9, 2015 and has capacity for 20,000 fans.