It’s all systems go as the Western Cape baseball squads are ready to take on the country’s best in this year’s junior national championships which will take place in Port Elizabeth (PE) later this month.
The Western Cape (WC) will be represented by youngsters taking part in the under-12, under-15 and under-18 groups.
They will be up against strong opposition from the likes of hosts Eastern Cape (EC), Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in the nationals.
The competition runs from Tuesday March 26 to Saturday March 30.
The WC players, who come from the Cape Town Baseball Federation (CTBF), which represents the Cape Metro; Eden; which includes the likes of Paarl – had to go through a gruelling selection process to make the final WC squad.
Earlier this year, the Western Cape Schools’ Baseball Federation (WCSBF) hosted the provincial junior championships at Parktown sports complex in Athlone, where youngsters from these regions battled it out.
From that competition, the cream of the crop were selected to represent the Western Cape in the upcoming nationals.
And, if what went down in Athlone in January is anything to go by, then the Western Cape youngsters could be the team to beat next week.
Warren Manson, who coaches the WC under-15 side, said going to this year’s national was a special occasion for everyone involved, especially considering it was the first time a team representing the whole of Western Cape has been selected for the nationals.
“The teams going to this year’s competition are representative of the demographics of the province, as the players come from all of our regions. They had to compete in a tough inter-district competition, out of which the final squads were selected,” he said.
