The Nassau GuardianSend an emailSeptember 16, 2022 307 1 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

The Retired Boxers Association inaugural Hall of Fame Awards program that was originally scheduled for this coming Sunday, September 18 has been postponed and will now take place at a date to be announced in late October.

It was set to be held at the JCN Broadcast Center on University Drive in New Providence. However, plans are being made to hold the event in late October at the same venue.

A representative for the organization said that the event was put off because of circumstances beyond the control of the organizers. 

The association is set to induct Oswald “Elisha Obed” Ferguson, Gomeo Brennen, William “Yama Bahama” Butler Jr., Ray Minus Sr., Nathaniel “Nat” Knowles, Garvin “Garry” Davis, Charlie Major Sr., Kirkwood “Baby Boy” Rolle, Leonard “Boston Blackie” Miller, Bertram “Bert Perry” Perigord, Wilfred Coakley Jr., Wilfred “Battling” Douglas, Clifford “Sugar Cliff” Francis and Andre Seymour into the Hall of Fame Class of 2022.

They will also recognize Taureano Johnson, Ray Minus Jr., George “Boo” Wilmore, Everette Jackson, L. Garth Wright, Paul Thompson, Gladstone Thurston, Chris Malakius, Roger Kelty, Charlie Major Sr., Wilfred Coakley Jr., Frederick Sturrup and Valentino Knowles for their outstanding contribution to amateur and professional boxing.

The association is a non-profit organization with former Bahamian Cruiserweight Champion and former Chairman of the Bahamas Boxing Commission (BBC) Pat “The Centreville Assassin” Strachan as the chairman. Wellington Miller is the vice chairman, Sturrup is a director and Janet Munroe serves as the organization’s first secretary.

https://thenassauguardian.com/retired-boxers-hall-of-fame-awards-rescheduled/

 Home|Sports|BAISS softball season gets underway TuesdaySports

Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 16, 2022 372 3 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

The Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) will kick off its 2022-2023 sporting calendar on Tuesday, September 20 with its softball season on Tuesday, September 20 at various locations.

Four division titles will be up for grabs – senior boys, senior girls, junior boys and junior girls divisions. It is the first time that the BAISS will be hosting its softball season since the 2019-2020 school year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Coordinator for the softball discipline, Ainsworth Beckford, said that it was imperative to get softball up and running.

“It is key to get started as we have a calendar of sporting events to try and get in within the school year. If we push back softball, it is going to affect the sports we normally play at the end of the school year which is volleyball. We need to get softball started so we can keep on track with the calendar so we can have a smooth calendar for the year,” Beckford said.

The softball season was set to start on Monday, September 19 but because of the National Holiday those games were pushed back to Friday, September 23. The senior girls will kick the season off on Tuesday, September 20.

Queen’s College will host Kingsway Academy,; St. Andrew’s will host St. Anne’s Schools; St. Augustine’s College will host C.W. Saunders Schools; over at Freedom Farm, Nassau Christian Schools will host Temple Christian Schools. All games start at 3.30 p.m.

“Our student-athletes at Nassau Christian Schools are excited to go again,” Beckford said. They are just ready to let loose on the field against other schools. It is the same thing that I am hearing from the other schools. The students are excited to get back into competition.”

As for the level of competition, Beckford said that the senior level should be very competitive as they were involved in the sport outside of school. The junior high level may not be as competitive because they were in primary school before the pandemic hit, where they were not playing any softball. He understands that it will be a rebuilding process.

“The level of competition will be a mixed one,” Beckford said. With the juniors, I see a little of a struggle there as they were coming out of primary school where there is no competition at all. They come into high school, and they will do a lot of catching up. Those kids who were playing baseball from the two leagues – Freedom Farm and Junior Baseball League of Nassau (JBLN), they did not stop playing. We are expecting very good technical skills to be displayed by those students who were involved in some level of sporting activity.”

There has been a push to have the boys play baseball in the private schools like in the government schools. Beckford said that while they want to have baseball played in BAISS, it is not a simple fix as facilities are needed in case all 15 of their member schools decide to play baseball.

“We do not have sufficient fields to play a round robin format amongst the schools,” Beckford stated. “We are looking around and thankfully, the National Sports Authority (NSA) refurbished the softball complex which should be able to play baseball, but it is still a softball complex. Few private schools can accommodate baseball namely SAC, St. Andrew’s School and Aquinas College. They have a sizable field to accommodate baseball. All the other schools will rely on facilities such as Freedom Farm and the facilities by Blue Hills. It’s a logistic situation for us and we are trying our best to see as quickly as we can to get baseball going.”

There are 10 schools across the four divisions that are participating in this year’s softball season. In the 2019 season, Queen’s College won the senior boys division while St. John’s College won the senior girls. On the junior side, Queen’s College won the boys and C.W. Saunders won the girls.

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 Home|Sports|Collegiate tennis players see fall actionSports

Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 20, 2022 150 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

Bahamian collegiate tennis players Sydney Clarke, Jacobi Bain and Abigail Simms saw some Fall action over the weekend as they look to see where they are in these early matches.

Jacobi Bain and doubles partner VanDer Woody came away as champions in the men’s A doubles at the HBCU National Championships at the South Fulton Tennis Center in College Park, Georgia on Saturday. Bain repeated as champion.

The Xavier University of Louisiana Gold partners took care of Alabama State University’s Ruan Du Preez and Samrakshyak Bajracharya. They won 6-3. The duo comfortably won the quarter finals and semi finals.

The sophomore played in the men’s singles A draw. He received a bye in the first round. He then played against the eventual champion, Jonasz Dziopak in the quarterfinal. However, Bain fell 3-6 and 0-6.

Bain and his team were tied for third with 17 points as nine teams participated.

Clarke and her University of Alabama Blazers were in action at the Austin Peay University Fall Tournament at the Governors Tennis Courts in Clarksville, 

Tennessee. The matches were played on September 16-18.

The junior was able to play in eight matches including both singles and doubles. She was not so fortunate in the singles as she lost all but one of her four matches. In the doubles, she won all four of those matches.

In her first match against Emma Honore, Clarke fell in two sets – 1-6 and 4-6. Clarke was able to win a set against Melody Hefti but fell 6-1, 0-6 and 7-10. She then fell 3-6 and 2-6 to Coc Bosman. She won the final match with a score of 6-0 and 6-2 over Maria Arbelaz.

Clarke played with four different doubles partners, and they were able to be victorious. She first paired up with Adela Wasserbaureova. The duo took on Paola Campigotto and Emma Honore and won 6-4. Clarke played with Mackenzie White, and they won 6-4 over Denise Torrealba and Lucy Lascheck. Her third double matches saw her pairing up with Annalisa Smith as they took down Bosman and Callie Billman 6-2. Her final doubles match saw her and Alexandria da Silva taking care of Elina Sungatullina and Juanita Mendez 6-1.

Simms and her Indiana Tech Warriors were in action against the number five Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats at the IWU Fall Classic. They were shut out 6-0. In the doubles action, Simms and doubles partner  Echavarria fell 2-6 to France Antezana and Sofia Loren Munoz.

Simms’ number two singles match against Munoz did not finish as the Wildcats wrapped up that dual.

https://thenassauguardian.com/collegiate-tennis-players-see-fall-action/

 Home|Sports|Titans rally against Mighty MittsSports

Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 20, 2022 152 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

The Atlantis Titans had a tough start to their game defensively but picked it up in the final three innings, as they came back to get the 12-10 victory over the Chances Mighty Mitts on Saturday at the Bankers Softball Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex.

The women’s division saw the Sunshine Auto Wildcats winning by default over the Johnson’s Lady Truckers.

Coming away as the Player of the Game was the Titans’ Windsor Bethel, who was impressive offensively as he finished the game three-for-four and four runs batted in (RBIs).

He had help from Morris Canter, who finished 3-for-3 at bat to go with four runs. Also helping the Titans was Angelo Dillett, who went 2-for-3 to score one run.

The Mighty Mitts got on the scoreboard first when first baseman Chris McPhee brought home centerfielder Stephen McKenzie. That put the Mighty Mitts up 1-0 as the score remained the same heading into the bottom of the first inning.

The bottom of the first saw the Titans come up empty as the score was unchanged.

It was a very offensive game in the third inning as the score was tied at 1-1 heading into it. The Mighty Mitts were able to score five runs in that inning. They left the Titans to try and battle back from a 6-1 deficit.

The Titans responded with five runs of their own in the bottom of the third inning. They were tied at the end of the third inning 6-6.

Looking to open the game and give themselves some distance, the Mighty Mitts went up by three more runs as they took a 9-6 lead at the end of the fourth inning. The Titans were only able to come up with one run in the fourth inning. In the end, the Mighty Mitts went up 9-7.

The fifth inning saw the Mighty Mitts scoring one run and the Titans scoring one as the Mighty Mitts were still up 10-9.

Needing to find a way to take their first lead of the game, the Titans found a way in the bottom of the sixth inning. They did it when three batters came home to put the Titans up 12-10 as the Mighty Mitts had one final chance to take the win at the top of the seventh inning. However, the Titans’ pitching and defense pulled through as they were able to out the first three batters.

The league is winding down as the make-up games begin on Thursday at 7 p.m. The schedule for those games was not available at press time.

https://thenassauguardian.com/titans-rally-against-mighty-mitts/

 Home|Sports|Sun falls short againSports

Jones finishes with 13 points

Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 20, 2022 166 3 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

For the second time in just four years, the Sun made the finals and it came to an end without them lifting the championship trophy. This time they fell to the number one seed, the Las Vegas Aces 78-71 in game four of their best-of-five championship series on Sunday afternoon.

Playing in front of their home crowd at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, the Sun kept it close but an 8-0 run in the final 1:39 by the Aces was the final nail in the coffin for a Sun team that has shown resilience and was hoping to force a fifth and final game.

Bahamian Jonquel Jones finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. 

Defensively, she had two blocks and one steal. The Grand Bahama native went 5-for-8 from the field and made both of her three-point attempts. She played 29 minutes as she battled foul trouble with four personal fouls by the end of the third quarter. She was whistled for three fouls in that quarter alone.

The Sun was in the WNBA finals in 2019 and fell 3-2 to the Washington Mystics. It was also their fourth consecutive trip to the WNBA semifinals. Asked what it will take to get them over the hump, Jones said she was trying to process the loss.

“I wish I could answer that for you right now but all I know is it hurts me, and that’s all I’m feeling right now,” Jones said.

After going down 53-49 at the end of the third quarter, the Sun needed to bring out their resilience. The Sun went down 67-61 with 3:55 left. That were able to pull the game closer in less than one minute. That sequence saw DeWanner Bonner making three free throws then Jones pulling up and making a 10-footer to bring the game to 67-66 with Aces leading and 3:35 left in the game. Jones stole the ball on the next Aces offensive possession that set up Courtney Williams who got fouled and went to the free-throw line as the crowd was fired up. Williams split the pair of free-throws as the game was tied at 67 points. The Aces turned the ball over that set up Williams to make a jumpshot to give the Sun the 69-67 lead with 2:22 left in the game.

From there the Aces went on a 9-2 run to end the game and win the series.

Despite the loss, the 2021 Most Valuable Player (MVP) spoke about her team’s resolve to compete in night in and night out throughout the season.

“This team has heart,” Jones said. “This team has a lot of pride. This team, everybody has made sacrifices for us to be able to be back here. And like Courtney said, the chips didn’t fall the way we wanted them to. But there’s a lot of selflessness and a lot of sacrifices to be able to have this team back together and make this run.”

She added, “While it’s tough and it’s disappointing, we get to say that we were one of the last two teams standing and playing for a championship. So, I’ve got a lot of pride and a lot of joy with the moments that I’ve had with this team and have the ladies that have been ready to play with every night.”

The Sun’s forward Alyssa Thomas finished with her second consecutive triple double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. She also had two steals and two blocks. Scoring a team high 17 points for the Sun was Williams.

The finals MVP was the Aces’ Chelsea Gray who did it all and more with a game-high 20 points to go with five rebounds and six assists in 37 minutes. She got support from bench player Riquna Williams who had a breakout game with 17 points including five triples.

Jones led her team in these finals in scoring with 16 points per game that included shooting 56.5 percent from the field. She averaged 8.3 rebounds per game.

For her efforts in the regular season, Jones was able to earn All-WNBA second team and All-Defensive second team. The center finished seventh in the MVP voting.

Jones, 28, averaged 14.6 points per game on 51.3 percent shooting from the field this season. She also had 8.6 boards per game to go with 1.2 blocks per game and 1.1 steals per game.

https://thenassauguardian.com/sun-falls-short-again/

 Home|Sports|Valentine Cox sweeps Fall Classic Chess tournamentSports

The Nassau GuardianSend an emailSeptember 15, 2022 168 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

The Fall Classic Chess Tournament took place this weekend at the University of The Bahamas’ (UB) Choices Restaurant on September 10-11. This vital partnership between UB and the Bahamas Chess Federation (BCF) was formed to promote the growth and development of critical and analytical thinking, leadership and safe social interaction in The Bahamas through the sport of chess.

The Fall Classic Chess Tournament was the final qualifier to determine who would fill the remaining spots at the upcoming Bahamas National Chess Championship. Valentine Cox defeated all his opponents and emerged as the overall winner of the tournament. Dr. Kenville Lockhart came second, and Avian Pride secured third place. The Fall Classic Chess Tournament was the final qualifier to determine who would fill the remaining spots at the upcoming Bahamas National Chess Championship.

The tournament was set up as a five round Swiss format, game in 60 minutes plus five seconds per move tournament. The chief arbiter of the Fall Classic Chess Tournament was Andre White. He is an experienced chess arbiter. White was one of nearly two hundred arbiters selected by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), out of a total of over 14,000 official FIDE arbiters globally, to arbiter at the 44th Chess Olympiad held in Chennai, India this summer. The 44th Chess Olympiad was his second Olympiad as an arbiter. The first was in Tromso, Norway in 2014. White was assisted at the tournament by Angel Pride.

Subsequent to a recent partnership formed between UB and BCF, future chess tournaments will be held at UB.

“UB is excited for the opportunity to collaborate with the Bahamas Chess Federation,” said Dr. Joseph Ferguson, assistant professor, mathematics and Chess Club advisor, the University of The Bahamas.

He continued: “We recognize that many of the younger chess players currently in primary and high schools will one day be at UB, and we want them to know that chess has a home at the university. 

President Rollins, vice-president Stubbs and the entire UB community congratulates BCF on the tournament and their efforts.”

Candidate Master (CM) Kendrick Knowles, BCF president, recognized the partnership between UB and the BCF.

He added: “I thank UB for hosting the Fall Classic Tournament and look forward to BCF hosting more chess tournaments and events in collaboration with the University of The Bahamas. Traditionally higher education institutions and chess go hand in hand. Top universities around the world promote chess and participate regularly in chess tournaments. Congratulations to Cox on a stellar performance. I am excited for The Bahamas Nationals, the players qualifying for the Nationals are the top chess players in The Bahamas and competition will be intense.”

The Bahamas National Chess Championship, the biggest event on the BCF calendar, is a five-day event. Players for the upcoming Bahamas National Chess Championship include CM Knowles, Shawn Barker, Curtis Pride, CM Nathan Smith, FIDE Master (FM) Cecil Moncur, Avian Pride, Noah Albury, Trevor Bridgewater, Cox and Dr. Lockhart.

https://thenassauguardian.com/valentine-cox-sweeps-fall-classic-chess-tournament/

 Home|Sports|Jones, Sun in must-win game tonight Sports

Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 15, 2022 168 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

All the odds are stacked against Jonquel “JJ” Jones and the Connecticut Sun as they look to play an elimination game against the Las Vegas Aces tonight in the WNBA Finals. The Aces lead the best-of-five series 2-0.

No team has ever come back from a 0-2 hole in the WNBA Finals. The Sun is 3-0 in elimination games this postseason and has shown that they are a resilient bunch all postseason. They will look to use that fighting spirit to pull off the improbable – win the series.

The Aces did what they had to do in the first two games of the series – win on their home court. Now the series swing to Jones and the Sun’s home court for the next two games – the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. With them needing to win both games, Jones said they are not looking ahead of this game.

“We are taking it one game at a time. That’s all we can do. We are going to go back home. … We are going to have our fans behind us, who have been with us all season, and we are going to use that to propel us to a win and that’s all we can do,” Jones said.

Sun’s head coach, Curt Miller shared his center’s sentiment at not looking past the game tonight.

“You can’t think big picture. That becomes overwhelming and daunting and feels, at times, bigger. It’s too big. So you’ve got to drill it down and we’ll get back to work with our preparation for Game Three, and all we talk about is Game Three, and in particular, all we are going to talk about is the first quarter, and that’s our approach. I think if you start thinking we have to win three in a row, we have to do those kind of things, it becomes big. So, we are going to talk about Game Three and Game Three only and be ready for that first quarter,” Miller said.

The Sun fell 85-71 to the Aces on Tuesday night as the Aces shot a blistering 51.6 percent from the field in that game compared to the first game, when they were held to 39.7 percent from the field. The Grand Bahama native recognized that they did not play good defensively in the second game.

“I think they were just extremely aggressive,” Jones said. “I think we did a better job of playing one-on-one defense in game one and we didn’t do as well of a job this game (game two) and I think that was the major difference, them just putting their heads down and getting to the basket and being able to finish through contact or getting to the free-throw line.”

For her, going into this game is another opportunity for them to make it a series with their fans behind them.

“We have another opportunity. That’s why it’s a series and like I said before, we’re going home and we’re going in front of our fans and we are going to use it to help us win the game,” Jones said.

The 2021 Most Valuable Player (MVP) is averaging a double-double with 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in this series. She is shooting 50 percent from the field and is averaging 30 minutes per game.

The Sun must slow down 2022 MVP A’ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray who are both averaging 20-plus points in the series. Wilson is averaging 25 points per game and Gray is averaging 21 points per game.

Tonight’s game will get underway at 9 o’ clock on ESPN.

https://thenassauguardian.com/jones-sun-in-must-win-game-tonight/

Jonquel reacts to Game 2 loss

CONNECTICUT Sun forward Jonquel Jones (35) battles for the ball with Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson (22) during the first half in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals series on Tuesday night in Las Vegas. Las Vegas leads the best-of-five series 2-0 heading into Game 3 against the Sun at 9pm tonight in Connecticut. (AP Photo/John Locher)

As of Thursday, September 15, 2022

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#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#Jonquel Jones and the Connecticut Sun are once again facing a must-win situation to keep their 2022 season alive.

#Jones has averaged 15.5 points and 10 rebounds through the first two games of the WNBA Finals, but the Sun left Nevada with an 0-2 series deficit at the hands of the Las Vegas Aces.

#Jones had 15 points and nine rebounds in a game one 67-64 loss followed by 16 points and 11 rebounds in an 85-71 loss in game two.

#The best-of-five series shifts to Connecticut for games three (September 15 at 9pm on ESPN) and four if necessary (September 18 at 4pm on ESPN). A fifth and deciding game would be hosted by the Aces at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 20.

#The Sun are 3-0 in elimination games in the playoffs so far this season.

#“We are taking it one game at a time. That’s all we can do. We are going to go back home, we are going to have our fans behind us, who have been with us all season, and we are going to use that to propel us to a win and that’s all we can do,” Jones said.

#“We have another opportunity. That’s why it’s a series and like I said before, we’re going home and we’re going in front of our fans and we are going to use it to help us win the game.”

#Connecticut did not make a field goal spanning from the 3:46 mark in the first quarter until the 8:04 of the second quarter. A total span of 6:42 of game action in Tuesday night’s loss.

#Las Vegas led 68-54 after the third quarter after a game one performance where they scored only 67 points.

#“I think they were just extremely aggressive,” Jones said. “I think we did a better job of playing one-on-one defence in Game 1 and we didn’t do as well of a job this game and I think that was the major difference, them just putting their heads down and getting to the basket and being able to finish through contact or getting to the free-throw line.

#Tuesday night’s performance marked Jones’ 10th career postseason double-double and moved her into a tie for no. 12 all-time with Elena Delle Donne and Taj McWilliams-Franklin.

#Jones also moved into fourth all-time in scoring in Connecticut Sun postseason history.

#Sun head coach Curt Miller said the team will have to take a much different approach facing elimination.

#“You can’t think big picture,” Miller said.

#“That becomes overwhelming and daunting and feels, at times, bigger. It’s too big. So you’ve got to drill it down and we’ll get back to work with our preparation for Game 3, and all we talk about is Game 3, and in particular, all we are going to talk about is the first quarter, and that’s our approach.

#“I think if you start thinking we have to win three in a row, we have to do those kind of things, it becomes big. So we are going to talk about Game 3 and Game 3 only and be ready for that first quarter.”

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2022/sep/15/jones-we-are-taking-it-one-game-time/?news

BJ MURRAY

As of Thursday, September 15, 2022

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#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#BJ Murray and his South Bend Cubs continued their dominant second half into the postseason and are one win away from the Midwest League championship series.

#The Cubs took game one of the best-of-three West Division series 2-1 over the Cedar Rapids Kernels Tuesday night at Four Winds Field in South Bend, Indiana.

#The Cubs were the second half West Division leaders, while the Kernels won the first half. Both teams finished tied for first place for the year-end division standings. They wrapped up the regular season with a five-game series prior to the playoffs.

#Murray hit .421 in that series, highlighted by a 3-4 night with two runs in the finale. If South Bend moves to the final round, they would host Game 1 of the three-game championship set at Four Winds Field on September 18.

#The 22-year-old infielder has made a successful transition to High-A baseball and his progression within the Chicago Cubs organisation.

#Since the start of July, Murray is one of only two players in the Midwest League with a batting average over .300 and an on-base percentage over .400. Through 56 games with South Bend, Murray is hitting .273, slugging .406, with a .794 OPS, with 51 hits, 22 runs scored, eight doubles, five home runs, 28 RBI and eight stolen bases.

#Murray began his 2022 season at the Low-A level with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans before he was promoted on June 14.

#In 39 games with the club, he hit .305, slugged .461 with a .902 OPS, 39 hits, including three home runs, 11 doubles, 31 runs scored and 25 RBI.

#Murray was selected by the Cubs out of Florida Atlantic University with the 22nd pick in the 15th round, no. 454 overall in the 2021 MLB Draft. He spent his first season of pro baseball in the Arizona Complex League.

#Through 16 ACL games, he hit .286, slugging .482 with a .826 OPS, 16 hits, including two home runs, three doubles, a triple, 12 runs scored and eight RBI.

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2022/sep/15/bj-murray-and-cubs-one-win-away-championship-serie/?news

World Baseball Classic qualification: Team Great Britain in training camp

GREAT Britain’s Anfernee Seymour yesterday in training camp. Photo: GB Baseball

As of Thursday, September 15, 2022

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#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#TEAM Great Britain, including members of the Bahamian contingent, has arrived in Regensburg, Germany and are currently in training camp as they prepare to chase 2023 World Baseball Classic qualification.

#The team heads into the final day of camp today with their first matchup at 1pm Friday local time against France in the second half of a double header at Armin-Wolf-Arena.

#The winner will advance to face the host country, Germany, Saturday at 1pm while the loser will be relegated in the double elimination tournament format.

#All WBC qualifying games will be broadcast on MLB.com, at Worldbaseballclassic.com and on the World Baseball Classic’s Facebook and YouTube pages.

#The Great Britain roster includes outfielders Anfernee Seymour and D’Shawn Knowles, pitchers Tahnaj Thomas and Chavez Fernander, catcher Ural Forbes and Albert Cartwright as a member of the coaching staff.

TEAM Great Britain players, including members of the Bahamian contingent, share a light moment together yesterday during training camp in Regensburg, Germany. Photos: GB Baseball

#“I’m grateful to the amazing staff of volunteers (coaches, coordinators, athletic trainers and more) who have given so much to get us to this point. And I’m excited to see this team compete,” said Great Britain manager Drew Spencer.

#“This team has already shown that they will represent us very well. Such a great group of young men.”

#Seymour spent his season with Charleston Dirty Birds and the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Knowles, a prospect in the Los Angeles Angels organisation, began his season at the Low A level with the Inland Empire 66ers before he was promoted to High A with the Tri City Dust Devils.

#Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Thomas has been a top reliever in the rotation for for the Altoona Curve at the Double A level, while Fernander (Detroit Tigers) has spent time between the Low A and High levels with the Eerie Seawolves and West Michigan Whitecaps.

#Forbes was most recently a hitting coach for the Vermont Mountaineers of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

#Bahamian baseball players have been on the roster for Great Britain at the last two editions of the qualifiers. In the 2013 Qualifiers, Cartwright appeared with Antoan Richardson and helped Great Britain make their debut in the event with a 1-2 record in Regensburg, Germany. Their tournament highlight was a 12-5 win over the Czech Republic.

#At the 2017 Qualifiers in Brooklyn, New York, Richardson and Cartwright were joined by Ali Knowles, Jazz Chisholm Jr, Kyle Simmons, Todd Isaacs Jr, Reshard Munroe, Byron Murray and Champ Stuart. That team finished just one game shy of WBC qualification when they suffered a 9-1 loss in the final.

#Several of the Bahamas’ top minor league players were expected to compete for Team Great Britain before the 2021 edition of the Qualifiers were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

#Bahamian players are eligible to compete for Great Britain once their parents were born in the Bahamas while it was still a British colony, prior to Independence. Germany and Panama serve as the two respective sites of the qualifiers this fall.

#Each location will host a six-team pool, with the top two teams from each qualifier advancing to the main event in March 2023.

#Great Britain is currently ranked at no.23 in the WBSC rankings. They will play in Pool A alongside no.18 Germany, no.14 Czech Republic, no. 19 Spain, no. 22 France and no. 26 South Africa.

#The Pool B Qualifier is scheduled from September 30 to October 5 in Panama City and includes no. 13 Panama, no. 15 Nicaragua, no. 25 Brazil, no. 27 Argentina, no. 31 Pakistan and no. 46 New Zealand.

#The newly expanded 20-team, top-tier global tournament, serves as World Baseball Softball Confederation’s official professional-level National Team World Championship.

#Sixteen teams had already secured a berth in the 2023 WBC – Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico, United States and Venezuela.

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2022/sep/15/world-baseball-classic-qualification-team-great-br/?news