The oldest regional games in the world, the Central American and Caribbean Games opened its door today for various disciplines. Although the official inauguration of this XXIV edition that the Salvadoran capital, San Salvador plays host to, will be held on June 23.
As per the organizing committee of the event, baseball will begin this coming Saturday the 24th of June, when Cuba faces off against the Mexican team at 11:30 am in the opening game of baseball for this competition. The remodeled Saturnino Bengoa Urrutia Stadium will host the sport in this regional multi-sport event. A day later (Sunday the 25th), Cuba will compete against the team from Curaçao, which fields a roster quite similar to that which attended the last Caribbean World Series in Caracas this February.
That contest will start at 3:00 pm and Cuba will be the visitor. The third game for the Cuba team, which seeks to reconquer the gold in the Central American Games which it lost in Barranquilla 2018, will be at home against the representation of Venezuela. The duel with the “vino tinto” squad will take place from 6:30 pm on Monday the 26th. On Tuesday the 27th Cuba will face off as visitors at the same time (6:30 pm) against the defending champion, Puerto Rico.
Cuba revela los 24 peloteros a Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribehttps://t.co/GXZe2IZbPv
— Pelota Cubana (@pelotacubanausa) June 13, 2023
The schedule for the Cuban team includes all the consecutive games in the group stage of this competition. So the fourth clash for the team led by Mandy Johnson will be on Wednesday June 28 at 10:00 pm. They will have to face the hosts, El Salvador, as visitors. So this can be the game to rest the starters in preparation for upcoming foes. On Thursday the 29th, Cuba will take to the field as home club starting at 3:00 pm against a dangerous Dominican Republic team.
Finally, the Cuban team will close the regular phase of the event on Friday, June 30, facing the representative of Nicaragua also as the home club, an encounter that will begin at 11:30 am. Saturday, July 1, is set aside on the calendar as the day for the final and consolation games of the tournament. Remember that the format used for the tournament will pit the first two qualifiers in the final while the next two finishers will face off in the bronze medal game. The top four qualifiers in this tournament will be occupy spots in the upcoming XIX Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile to be held between the months of October and November of this year in the South American country.
Cuban Roster for the 2023 Central American Games:
Catchers (2): Yunior Ibarra (SSP) y Andrys Pérez (MTZ)
Infielders (7): Erisbel Arruebarruena (MTZ), Dayán García (ART), Yadil Mujica (MTZ), Yordan Manduley (HOL), Luis V. Mateo (CFG), Guillermo Avilés (GRM) y Yasniel González (MAY)
Outfielders (4): Roel Santos (GRM), Yoelkis Guibert (SCU), Yurisbel Gracial (MTZ) y Raico Santos (GRM)
Pitchers (11): Carlos J. Viera (LTU), Yoennis Yera (MTZ), Yeudis Reyes (GTM), Javier Mirabal (VCL), José R. Rodríguez (CAM), Naikel Cruz (MTZ), Jonathan Carbó (IJV), Franklyn Quintana (IJV), Miguel Neira (SSP), Yunieski García (ART) y Renner Rivero (MTZ)