By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net    

THE Bahamas national team advanced to the playoffs of the Pony Baseball Caribbean and Latin American Under-12 Championships in the Dominican Republic.

The Bahamas team, managed by James Clarke, finished the pool play with a 3-1 win-loss record and will play the Dominican Republic today to get into the final for a shot at representing the Zone in the World Series in Indianapolis, Indiana, in August.

Yesterday, Team Bahamas knocked off Ecuador 10-3 to advance to the semifinals where they will take on  the Dominican Republic host team, the top team in the tournament. 

Curacao will play the Dominican Republic team that nipped The Bahamas 7-6 in their round robin play. The winners of the two semi’s will go on to play the championship game today as well. 

“I’m very impressed. The boys are playing really well,” said Clarke, who is being assisted by Norman Bastian and Donovan Cox from Grand Bahama and Temico Smith. Terran is head of the delegation. 

Team Bahamas, made up of players from the Junior Baseball League of Nassau, Freedom Farm and the Grand Bahama Little League, The players are Liam Smith, Josiah Filterman, Gianno Newball, saac Richardson, Tyler Smith, Xavier Thompson, Bossfield Butler III, Jaden Liberal, Waiden Bain, Geralle Gabriel Jr, Reid Ingraham, Jaycob Clarke, Carmelo Wallace, Ethan Burnside and Xavier Pettite. 

As they prepare for today’s game, Clarke feels that as long as Team Bahamas pitchers show up and the players execute the game plan, they have a chance to qualify.

“I think it will be a real dog fight, but if the guys come out and execute, I think we have a real good chance,” said Clarke, who noted that the players are loose and ready to play. 

“Our pitchers just need to implement some more off speed pitches and our batters need to cut down on the strike outs and put the ball in play and put more things in motion and utilize our speed.”

On day one of the tournament on Saturday, Team Bahamas blanked El Salvador 21-0, but lost 7-6 to the Dominican Republic in their second match.

On Sunday, Team Bahamas pulled off a 9-4 win over Panama, thanks to a pair of home runs from Wayden Bain, including the game winning three-run shot.