Havana and Artemisa became the first teams to qualify for the IV Baseball5 National Championship, which will be held from 7 to 12 May in the country's capital, Havana.
Havana defeated Artemisa, 4-2, in the final to win the West Zone tournament at the 500 Aniversario field in the Havana Sports Citadel.
World champion Orlando Amador (pictured above) represented Havana and commented: "Baseball5 is developing quickly. You had world champions competing in this tournament. It's good. These champions can inspire younger players who will hopefully take our place and help Cuba in the future."
Three world champions and two youth world champions took the field. The head coaches, Sergio Arturo Perez (Havana) and Sadia Fernandez (Artemisa), led Cuba to the Youth Baseball5 World Championship.
Reigning Baseball5 World Cup MVP Briandy Molina added: "The tournament was very well organized. It represented the first step towards the Baseball5 World Cup in Hong Kong."
Eros Bernal, who leads the Baseball5 programme in Cuba, announced that Camaguey will host the Central zone tournament while the East zone event will be played in Santiago.
