Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela qualify for first stage of WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup

Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela qualify for first stage of WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup
18/08/2022
After a six-team round robin, the semifinals are now set for the WBSC Americas Qualifier. Games are being live-streamed on host Venezuela Baseball Federation's Youtube channel.

Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba have advanced to the semifinals of the WBSC Americas Women's Baseball World Cup Qualifier, thus clinching a spot in the first stage of the IX WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup.

Puerto Rico dominated the six-team round-robin, which kicked off last Friday, 12 August. Puerto Rico went undefeated in the round-robin, outscoring the opponents 44-10. Star right-hander Janiliz Rivera pitched 14 innings, struck out 14, and earned two wins. She had an earned run average of 0.50. Adrix Paradizo went 8-for-15, .533 batting average in the opening round.

Venezuela, Cuba and Mexico all finished the round-robin with a 3-2 record.

Venezuela won a pitching duel against the Dominican Republic to earn their pass on the final day of round-robin play. Mariana Natera shut out the Dominicans, going the distance and allowing only three hits. Angela Burgos lost on two unearned runs after allowing only four hits in six innings.

The Dominican Republic(1-4) placed fifth, while Nicaragua (0-5) finished in sixth place.

The semifinals are scheduled for Friday, 19 August, in Macuto, Venezuela:

14:00 Mexico vs. Puerto Rico
18:00 Cuba vs. Venezuela

The finals are scheduled for Saturday, 20 August.

Games are being live-streamed on host Venezuela Baseball Federation's Youtube channel.

The IX WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup is scheduled for the summer of 2024. It will be the first edition to be played under the new WBSC two-stage World Cup format.

After the continental qualifiers, 12 National Teams will be split into two groups of six and participate in the first stage. The participants by continent are as follows:

Americas (4) No. 5 Venezuela, No. 7 Cuba, No. 9 Puerto Rico, No. 12 Mexico
Asia (4)
Europe (1) No. 16 France
Oceania (1)
Wild Cards (2)

The top two finishers of each group will advance to the final stage. The WBSC will assign two Wild Cards.