The Puerto Rican Baseball Federation (FBPR) announced that a pre-selection of the women's baseball National Team will warm up for the 2023 international season by competing in the youth men's league of the Confederación de la Liga Central de Béisbol Aficionado (COLICEBA).
The COLICEBA Youth League will open on 11 February and has 24 participating teams split into four groups. The Puerto Rican Women's National Team, led by veteran manager Carlos Ferrer, will be part of Group B and face Cataño, Bayamón Llaneros, Guaynabo, Cidra 7 and Toa Baja. They will play 20 games and won't feature in the standings.
Puerto Rico finished second in the WBSC Americas Women's Baseball World Cup Qualifier and will participate in the ninth edition of the World Cup.
The IX WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup will inaugurate a two-stage format.
The first group stage is scheduled for the middle of 2023. Seven of the 12 participants have already qualified.
- World No. 16 France won the European Championship on home soil in Montpellier in August 2022.
- No. 5 Venezuela, No. 7 Cuba and No. 12 Mexico joined No. 9 Puerto Rico through the Americas Qualifier.
- No. 8 Australia qualified as the top-ranked nation in Oceania.
- No. 3 Canada earned a Wild Card.
The remaining five participants will be four out of the WBSC Asia Qualifier and a second Wild Card.
The first group stage will consist of two groups of six, with the top two finishers of each group and two Wild Cards advancing to the Finals, scheduled for the middle of 2024 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Thunder Bay earned hosting rights for Group A, scheduled for August 2023. The Group B hosts will be announced at a later stage.
