CARACAS – Nicaragua will join 11 other countries in Venezuela later this month to battle it out in the inaugural Baseball Cup of the Americas, Sept. 25-Oct. 6, the Venezuelan Baseball Federation said.
Federation President Edwin Zerpa said the cities of Puerto La Cruz and El Tigre in the eastern Venezuela, will host the games.
The tourney’s big absentees will be the United States and Canada.
The main candidates for the title are the teams from Cuba, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
Others that have confirmed their participation are Aruba, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama.
The first Baseball Cup of the Americas tourney will serve as a training ground for countries hoping to compete in the second World Baseball Classic, scheduled for March 2009 in Japan.
–EFE
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