SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A coach with Cuba’s first-ever Little League World Series group has gone lacking, a match official stated Monday.
Bayamo Little League coach Jose Perez left the Little League International Grove late Saturday night time and didn’t return, Little League International spokesperson Kevin Fountain stated.
“Little League International has communicated to all appropriate authorities and will ensure the Bayamo Little League team continues to have the best support and experience while in Williamsport,” Fountain stated.
This was the Cuban group’s first go to to the LLWS, and Perez’s disappearance got here hours after Little League and the Cuban Baseball Federation prolonged their relationship to 2025.
The relationship between Little League and Cuba started in 2019 with the affiliation of 170 youth applications and an entry into the LLWS as a part of the World Series enlargement in 2021.
A 3-year rotation was established between Cuba, Puerto Rico and Panama in 2021. Under the rotation, two groups earn an computerized bid to the match every year, and the remaining group competes for a spot within the LLWS by its regional match.
To get the Cuban nationwide champs from Bayamo to this yr’s match, Little League labored with the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control and the State Department to get 20 visas for the Cuban group, plus coaches and baseball officers.
Wednesday marked Cuba’s first sport within the LLWS, a 1-0 loss to Japan. After defeating Australia 11-1 within the opening spherical of the elimination bracket Saturday, the Cubans misplaced 3-2 in opposition to Panama on Sunday and had been eradicated from the match. Even after being eradicated, groups usually keep on the Little League campus and play exhibition video games for a number of days across the space.
Perez served as one in every of two coaches for the Cuban group, which is managed by Vladimir Vargas.
• Seth Engle is a pupil within the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
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