14ymedio, Havana, 22 March 2024 — Two days after Cuba’s Under-15 baseball team failed in the Dominican Republic by not winning a ticket to a baseball World Cup for the first time in its history, Prensa Latina published the recognition of Frank Frías Castro, from Bayamo, as the best designated batter, and Cristian Oscar Lías, from Holguín, as the best outfielder of the tournament.
The report is limited to pointing out that the Island’s national team achieved two victories against Peru and Guatemala and suffered three defeats against Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Nicaragua, so the Cuban team “found it impossible to move to the final round.” The same lukewarm headlines were offered in the official media Cubadebate and Jit, without an analysis of the failure in the Boca Chica 2024 tournament.
In addition to the poor results in youth tournaments, which include failure in the U-15 World Cup, Cuba has been left out of the tournaments in the categories of 12, 18 and 23 years old. There is also a growing exodus of athletes, not only among the 18-year-old prospects, but also among the younger players. As of Thursday, Samuel Palencia and Liusban Sánchez are no longer in the country. Both were part of the Bayamo team in the Little League 2023. “Although one would think that these 13-year-old boy
