South Africa baseball team advances to WBSC Europe-Africa qualifiers
The Tokyo 2020 qualifier in Parma and Bologna will be played according to the single round robin format. The winner will advance to the baseball tournament of the Tokyo 2020 Games, while the runner up will earn a spot in the final Baseball Qualifier, to be played in Taipei City in April 2020
The South African men’s national baseball team won the Africa Continental Cup recently at the Boksburg City Stadium.
They will advance to the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Europe-Africa Baseball 2019 Qualifying event for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020, which will be held in Parma and Bologna, Italy, between September 18 and 22.
South Africa will enter the six-team Olympic qualifier in Italy as the number six seed, with the five other national teams coming out of the WBSC European Baseball Championship, to be staged in Bonn and Solingen, Germany, from September 7 to 15.
“Congratulations to the South African players and federation who demonstrated once again that they are the best on the continent,” said WBSC president Riccardo Fraccari.
“Let me also congratulate the entire African baseball community. This African qualifier help spread baseball awareness in Ghana and Kenya. We believe a lot in Africa’s potential and we will keep investing in development there.
“I have great confidence in our disciplines as well as Baseball5, our new street version of the game, in attracting more youth and fans to our sport.”
South Africa’s catcher, Kyle Botha, earned MVP (most valuable player) honours.
The road to the continental title and qualification process involved nine national teams in Africa, divided into three zones: East (Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya), West (Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Tanzania) and South (South Africa, Zimbabwe and Lesotho).
South Africa was the team to beat and showed it on the field. They outscored Uganda, Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe 52-4 in the round-robin play and went on to win the semi-final against Burkina Faso, 16-1, and the final against Uganda, 28-0.
South Africa, 23rd in the current WBSC Baseball World Rankings, is the only nation on the African continent to have ever advanced to a Baseball World Cup. The team is also the only African baseball programme featured in the WBSC rankings; however, all nations participating in the qualification process are expected to be awarded points and enter the world rankings.
Gavin Bennett, president of the Boksburg Cardinals, whose home games are played at the Boksburg City Stadium, sent a message of gratitude to Sportsmans Warehouse and Vital Med for sponsoring the tournament. Bennett is also the pitching coach for the national side.
Final standings:
1. South Africa
2. Uganda
3. Zimbabwe
4. Burkina Faso
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