By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FOR a team that wasn’t supposed to be in the Dominican Republic, Bahamas Baseball Association president Theodore Sweeting said they couldn’t be happier with the way Team Bahamas performed at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Under-15 Baseball Pan American Tournament.

“We had submitted to the WBSC back in 2023 that we wanted to participate in the tournament. When we heard back from them in January, we were advised that the 12 countries had already been selected to play,” Sweeting said.

“We were very disappointed because we had to sit and wait. We didn’t get a final update until late February that the door was opened after Columbia dropped out. We then put all the wheels in motion to get this team ready.”

Ranked at number 59 in the world, Sweeting said the Bahamas should not have been there, but they took advantage of the opportunity to compete at the last minute.

“We came here and we performed, but when you tell your team that you have to play the number one ranked team in our region in Mexico, who is the number two team in the world behind Japan, the guys were a little timid.

“We played well, but we didn’t play well enough to keep up with them. Then we came up against Brasil. We knew we had a chance to beat them. We were tied 0-0 up to the fifth inning, but we ended up losing 9-4.

“We had a big win against Panama with a walk off victory and then played the Dominican Republic, but they were too much to handle. So we had to take it out on Argentina.”

The team finished 2-3 for a tie with Brasil and Panama and in the toe-breaking rule, the Bahamas fell short.

“We didn’t accomplish our goal of at least finishing third,” Sweeting said. “But we achieved the goal of put- ting the Bahamas on the map in the youth baseball. The world now realises that the Bahamas is coming.”

Sweeting, however, said the Bahamas was only ranked so low because they haven’t been playing as much international competition as they should.

Now he said the BBA administration is making every effort to get the exposure that the Bahamas needs to get its teams to play at the international level.

“Our goal is to participate in as much as the high-level competitions that we can participate in,” Sweeting said. “As a country, the only way to give our top-tier players the opportunity to participate in the World Baseball Classic as a country is to participate.

“The WBSC has told us that while they see the players we have out there playing at the professional level, we have to show them what we are doing at the youth level. So we have two tournaments that we are hoping to get the approval from the Bahamas Government to host this year and that should allow us to get more exposure for our players.”

Head coach Albert Cartwright admitted that it was tough for the team, but they rose to the competition.

“We put the guys in a tough situation that they were not used to,” Cartwright said.

“We played against some future Major League baseball players so for us to be right there in our games and win some of the games was impressive.

“I’m really excited about the future of this programme and where we can take it. I think in a year or so, if we can keep this team together and add some pieces, we will be a force to reckon with.”

Cartwright said as soon as they got the word from the BBA that they got an invitation to compete in the tournament, the rest of the coaches Geron Sands, Pedro Dean Jr and Donovan Cox went right in action, preparing the team.

“I feel we did the right thing to try and take baseball to the next level,” said Cartwright, a former minor league player turned coach and scout. “We had one of the youngest teams and they held their own and beat some teams.

“So I think once we can develop these guys, we will be ready for the next tournament.

“The most important thing is to keep these guys together and if we have to add one or two players, we will do that.”

Sweeting, however, said that while there were some persons who were concerned why some players did not make this team, he clarified the point that players who will be turning 16 years old this year are not eligible to compete, so they could not include them on the team.

Obviously with not much time to blend the talent from New Providence and Grand Bahama together, Cartwright said it showed in their first two games as they had to get over the jitterbugs. He noted that the team came together and played really well the rest of the tournament.

At the end of the tournament, Cartwright said they had an opportunity to gel together as a team with a light day before they made their trek home today.

Also during the tournament, Martin ‘Pork’ Burrows participated as an umpire.

In fact, he officiated in six games and they were all on the number one field, including the championship game. “The experience was great. I umpired with a lot of the younger umpires,” said Burrows in officiating in his first World Qualifier. “They accepted me like the daddy of the crew.

“To call the championship game at third base was a feather in my cap. What I liked about this tournament was that all of the officials knew what they had to do. You didn’t have to teach anyone anything.”

Burrows, the highest ranked umpire in the Bahamas, said he can now officiate at any WBSC Tournaments, whether it’s a qualifier or the World Championships.

He noted that when he returns home, he intends to go into the schools and to see if he can recruit at least two persons who are willing to officiate at their games.

His hope is that he can develop a cadre of officials to use in the future.