(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
     Curaçao opens Caribbean Baseball Cup with win
Nederlands
 NASSAU (Bahamas) -
Curaçao recorded a 7-1 victory against Puerto Rico on Sunday-afternoon (December 4) in the opening-game of the fourth edition of the Caribbean Baseball Cup, which is held in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.
In the evening, host-country Bahamas won 4-3 against the American Virgin Islands.
The fifth participating country is Cuba and the Final will be played on December 11.
Two teams will qualify for participation in the Central American and Caribbean Games, which will be held next year (June 23-July 8) in El Salvador.
Cuba has already qualified for the event.
All games are played in The Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Complex in Nassau.
On the first day of the tournament, the 5,000 seat Stadium was officially opened by Prime Minister Philip Davis.
The stadium is named after Andre Rodgers, who was born in Nassau and was a very talented cricket player.
In 1958, he became the first Bahamian to play in the Major League.
Rodgers played in ten seasons as short stop for New York/San Francisco Giants (1958-1960), Chicago Cubs (1961-1964) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1965-1967).
In 1969, Rodgers played in Japan for Taiyo Whales.
Rodgers passed away at age 70 in 2004.
The stadium was initially scheduled to open in 2017, but due to delays and changes, the opening was postponed several times.
On the roster of Curaçao are three players who are currently active in the Dutch big league.
They are pitchers Johnaikel Acosta and Nelmerson Angela and outfielder Rayshelon Carolina.
Acosta and Angela will play coming year for Amsterdam Pirates, Carolina tranfered to Curaçao Neptunus.
Angela also played for Pirates this season, but Acosta played for Quick Amersfoort, while Carolina played for Twins Oosterhout.
...Hainley Statia with the...
...Trophy for 2nd Place...
...at the Baseball Week...
...Haarlem 2022...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Two others played in the Dutch big league in the past, pitcher Temesh Lourens and first baseman Dudley Leonora.
Lourens played for Quick Amersfoort in 2020, Leonora last played in the highest league in 2021 for Neptunus and this year, he played in the Italian Baseball League for San Marino.
Amongst the other players on the Curaçao-roster are catchers Ortwin Pieternella and Ulrich Snijders and infielders Shurendell Mujica, Darren Seferina and Raywendley Van Gurp.
Pieternella also played for San Marino, the others all have played professionally.
Most players also participated this year in the international Baseball Week Haarlem in the Netherlands.
There, Curaçao reached the Final, but then lost 6-1 to the Netherlands.
Both then and now, the team is led by former Netherlands Team-player Hainley Statia.
Former Orange Team-pitcher Dennis Neuman is the Pitching Coach of Curaçao.
In the first game on Sunday, Curaçao opened the score with two runs in the top of the first inning.
Rayshelon Carolina led off and reached on an error, then Sherman Jones walked.
Hereafter, Carolina scored on a single by Darren Seferina and Jones went on to score on a wild pitch.
Curaçao added a run in the fifth when Raysheandell Michel led off with a triple and scored on a force play-grounder.
With two outs in the top of the ninth, Curaçao rallied for four runs.
Carolina then singled and Jones walked, then Seferina and Dudley Leonora followed with RBI-singles.
After a pitching change, two more runscoring singles followed from Kay-Lan Nicasia and Swindley Lint to lift the lead to 7-0.
...Darren Seferina, Raywendley Van Gurp...
...and Dudley Leonora during the...
...Baseball Week Haarlem this year...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Puerto Rico scored its lone run in the bottom of the ninth when Ricardo De La Torre Rivera led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nelson Molina Gonzalez.
Jordan Lucas went the distance for Curaçao, striking out one batter and giving up only six basehits.
On Sunday-evening, the Bahamas trailed 2-1 against the team of the US Virgin Islands, but then scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Virgin Islands then came alongside in the top of the eighth, but in the bottom of the eighth, the Bahamas re-took the lead via a basesloaded walk.
Most players on the Bahamas-roster play either on American colleges or in the Minor Leagues.
Last year, Curaçao won the third edition of the Caribbean Baseball Cup (or Copa de Béisbol del Caribe).
The tournament was then organized by Curaçao and the games were played at Tio Daou Stadium in Willemstad.
In the Final, Curaçao then won 4-3 against favorite Cuba.
The tournament was held for the first time in 2018, then again in 2019.
Both times in the Dominican Republic.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), the tournament was cancelled in 2020.
The third edition was then played in June of last year on Curaçao.
(December 5)
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