By Neto Baptiste
Puerto Rico emerged winners of the 10th Annual Caribbean Little League Championships held here in Antigua from July 2-9.
The Puerto Ricans defeated Venezuela 2-0 when they met in the final held at the baseball facility in Potters on Saturday. Host, Antigua and Barbuda, finished at the bottom of the six-team standings.
President of Little League Baseball Antigua, Jose George Jr, said it was a struggle putting the tournament together from a sponsorship standpoint, but he thanked the government for stepping in at the last minute.
“Much of the help we got, we got it basically in the last week going into the tournament and especially the accommodation and transportation. I don’t know if it was that people may not have believed that the tournament would have actually taken place or what, but there were many calls, many follow ups but unfortunately they didn’t come through. The government actually stepped up to help us at the very last minute,” he said.
The tournament was the first to be held at the body’s new facility in Potters, and although admitting there is still work to be done, George said he has been getting good reviews.
“The delegates from Puerto Rico were very welcoming and appreciative of the fact that we are actually hosting the tournament in our own facility. A lot more work needs to be done, and if you realized, the diamond [shape of the field] was redone again the week prior [the tournament] and they said we could host all [forms] of tournaments in the future,” he said.
The scheduled third place fixture between Aruba and Curacao was abandoned due to rain.
The win qualifies Puerto Rico for the Little League World Cup scheduled to take place from August 16 to August 27 at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
