At the Julio Antonio Mella Stadium, in Las Tunas, more than thirty U-18 players are seeking a spot on the Cuban baseball team that will represent the country in the World Cup in their category, scheduled for next September in Japan.

Las Tunas, Cuba.– Under the command of Las Tunas manager Abeysi Pantoja, the baseball players will complete six weeks of training, four of which will focus on improving their performance. The fifth will include competitive modeling and diagnostics, for which they hope to play some games in the province of Ciego de Ávila. The sixth will focus on performance tuning so they arrive in optimal shape for the competition.

The pre-selection includes four catchers, nine infielders, seven outfielders, and 15 pitchers from all Cuban territories except Granma, Guantánamo, Ciego de Ávila, and the special municipality of the Isle of Youth. Players of the teams that won the national title in their respective categories this year, Villa Clara and Sancti Spíritus, which contributed seven and six players, respectively, are the priority.

The University of Las Tunas not only serves as the athletes' village but also contributes to their preparation based on a study conducted by experts at the Center for Integrative Health and Quality of Life. This survey will allow coaches to gain detailed insight into the athletes' overall health and how it influences their performance.

The current group of 35 hopefuls will be reduced to 20 who will make the trip to the “Land of the Rising Sun.” Looking ahead to the competition, at first glance, pitching and defense appear to be the most relevant attributes of the potential team.