Group A managers discuss upcoming WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier

The WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier Group A opens tomorrow, Monday 31 May, at Clover Park with world No. 10 Dominican Republic and No. 11 Puerto Rico facing off at 1 pm (all times local), and No. 2 USA taking on No. 15 Nicaragua at 7 pm.

Today, the four managers participated in a virtual press conference where they spoke about their teams and their chances in the tournament, which will award a berth into the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games baseball competition.

Puerto Rico v Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico will add another chapter in their rivalry at Clover Park, aiming to claim the first win of the tournament.

Dominican Republic’s roster has some veterans on the roster with successful MLB careers, and they can be the key in tomorrow’s opening game. Hector Borg, Dominican Republic Manager, recognises the veterans have led his team since the first day in camp. “This is the role they have played. They try to do their job on the field, but also being mentors and leaders for the younger players,” he said.

Juan Gonzalez, manager of the Puerto Rican team, acknowledges the Dominican Republic is a great, solid team, with MLB veterans, but he still has confidence in his team. “We must go into the field and give our best effort. In sports, there’s nothing written in stone. We’re going to do our best to try to win the game,” he added.

First pitch is slated for 1 pm at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie.

USA v Nicaragua

This game will be a battle between the top-ranked nation at the WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier, world number 2 United States, and the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, Nicaragua (15th).

“We understand where we sit in this whole pack. We understand we don’t have the same amount of fire power that everybody else has, so we’ve been focusing in little things.” said Marvin Benard, Nicaragua’s manager. “However, if we didn’t think we could win this tournament we wouldn’t be here.”

“We feel really good about where our team is, but the challenge in front of us is going to be really difficult,” said USA manager Mike Scioscia. “It’s going to be a fun tournament, you jump and run into the playoffs. Playoffs are a diffrent season, and we’re jumping in the playoffs since the first pitch of the tournament. So it will be very exciting.”

The game will start at 7 pm local time at Clover Park.