Preview: WBSC Baseball Americas Olympic Qualifier
Right-hander John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.) will be a key member of Canada’s pitching staff in the Americas Olympic Qualifier set to start today. Photo: Baseball Canada
May 30, 2021
Baseball Canada
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – The Canadian men’s baseball team along with seven other countries are in South Florida gearing up for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Baseball Americas Qualifier that gets underway on May 31 and runs until June 5.
The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach and Clover Park in St. Lucie will play host to all tournament games.
What’s on the line?
The winner of the event will earn a spot in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic baseball tournament becoming the fifth nation to qualify joining host Japan along with Israel, Korea and Mexico.
The second and third place finishers will earn spots in the WBSC Baseball Final Qualifier, June 22-26 in Puebla, Mexico, where the final spot in Tokyo 2020 will be decided in a group that also includes Australia, Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands.
Groups and Format
Canada is in Group B along with Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela while Group A features host USA along with the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico.
Canada opens play against Colombia on May 31 (7 p.m. E.T.) before taking on Cuba on June 1 (7 p.m. E.T.) and Venezuela on June 2 (1 p.m. E.T.).
After group play concludes, the top two finishers from each group will advance to the Super Round, on June 4 and 5, where they will each play two games. Head-to-head contests among these teams from the opening round will carry over into the Super Round standings.
The team with the best Super Round record will be declared the winner and earn a spot in Tokyo 2020.
How to watch
All tournament games will be streamed live in Canada via the CBC Sports streaming platform. The WBSC recently announced that the event will be broadcast in 70+ countries and territories.
Team Canada
Ernie Whitt returns to manage the national side for the 19th time in his career where he’s guided Canada to four Pan Am Games medals (two gold, one silver and one bronze), at all four World Baseball Classic events and the 2004 Athens Olympics.
He will oversee a roster at the Americas qualifier that includes former major leaguers Andrew Albers, John Axford, Chris Leroux, Scott Mathieson, Dustin Molleken and Scott Richmond.
The team has been in West Palm Beach for training camp since May 25 and has played three games to ready themselves for the event.