Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Colombia debut in the U23 World Cup

(Press Release; WBSC AMERICAS BASEBALL).- The U23 World Cup that will be played starting Friday morning (America time) in China, will have four representatives from America seeking the trophy.

Nicaragua will play as home club against the Republic of South Africa to open the tournament, they will go with right-handed starter Axel Zapata, while Robert White, also right-handed, will pitch for the African team.

For its part, Colombia will debut in the event as home club against Australia, for the South Americans right-hander David Acevedo will be the starter, while for Oceania the right-hander Ky Jackson will start.

Meanwhile, the other South American team debuts as home club against the Netherlands, and will go with the right-handed pitcher José Guzmán, while the Europeans will have the right-handed Naut Kragt as their starter.

Finally, Puerto Rico will make its debut as a visitor against the number one team in the world, Japan. The Puerto Ricans will go with left-handed pitcher Jorhan Laboy, while right-handed pitcher Koki Taniwaki will pitch for the Asians.

In the last tournament, Asia left the American teams off the podium, but the continent will seek to turn the situation around in this edition to continue demonstrating why the best baseball in the world is played in America.

For Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Colombia and Venezuela it will be a great opportunity to rise in the WBSC ranking, taking into account that other american and caribbean nations such as Cuba, the Dominican Republic or Panama will not participate in the competition for the top positions.

(Media Department; Guillermo Yáber Llanos)