Six players from the national champions Leñadores de Las Tunas (Lumberjacks) were announced as part of the Cuban preselection for the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile; and three of them, along with Yosvani and Yordanis Alarcón, are part of the Alazanes de Granma (Sorrels) that will participate in the first edition of the Champions League.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- Pitcher Carlos Juan Viera, a member of the Cuban team to the 5th World Classic, leads the Las Tunas group that aspires to compete in the continental tournament, in the Chilean capital, from October 20 to November 5.

The green and red representation includes shortstop Roberto Súliban Baldoquín, who has experience in minor league baseball, and outfielder Héctor Castillo, who was the leading hitter in the 62nd edition of the National Series. Pitchers Alberto Pablo Civil, Rodolfo Díaz, and Keniel Ferraz, the latter voted Most Valuable Player of the recently concluded postseason complete the list.

In a press conference held on Monday at the Latinoameriano Park, the Cuban baseball leadership announced the roll of 61 players who will seek a position in the team of Armando Johnson, which will have the costly objective of retaking the Pan-American title.

At the meeting, the roster of the Granma Sorrels was announced, which will travel to Yucatán, Mexico, to participate in the first edition of the Champions League as Cuban title-holders in 2022.

Brothers Yosvani and Yordanis Alarcón are among the reinforcements of that team, accompanied by Héctor Castillo, Alberto Pablo Civil, Rodolfo Díaz, and Keniel Ferraz.

The start of the Champions League will take place from September 28 to October 1st in the city of Mérida, where the local Leones de Yucatán, the Colombian Caimanes de Barranquilla, and a team from the United States will also be present.

According to the announced schedule, the training for the Pan American Games will begin on September 4 at the “Latino” Stadium. On the 11th and 13th, the national preselection and Granma will face in a couple of preparative games. Finally, the Caribbean Cup, scheduled for the first week of October, in Puerto Rico, will include the participation of a very similar cast to the one that will travel to Santiago de Chile.

The Sorrels, on the other hand, will begin their training on August 25th, in Bayamo, and then will move to the capital.

Besides the eight athletes, two other Las Tunas baseball men will be involved in the extensive preparation program: the rookie mentor and new Cuban champion Abeysi Pantoja, and Olympic champion Osmani Urrutia, who participated in the last World Classic and is the director of the Las Tunas U-23 team. Pantoja will be in charge of working with the outfielders, while Urrutia, accompanied by Orestes Kindelán, will be in charge of the offensive line.

Finally, it was announced that the second edition of the Elite League will begin on November 7, and each of the six involved teams will have 20 players from their province and 12 reinforcements, eight of which will come from a pool prepared by the National Baseball Commission.

After the change in the structure of the competition, in which the six best teams of the last National Series will participate, the competitors will be the Leñadores de Las Tunas (Lumberjacks), Leones de Industriales (Bue Lions), Avispas de Santiago de Cuba (Wasps), Cocodrilos de Matanzas (Crocodiles), Cazadores de Artemisa (Hunters) and Gallos de Sancti Spíritus (Roosters).