
Cuba, its identity and its roots are celebrating. The Beisbol5 boys did it again, defending the Youth World Championship crown they won in Istanbul in 2023 and returning with it. The popular game of four corners, born on the streets of this beautiful island and now internationalized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), continues to have the flavor of son, sugar cane, and tobacco.
This discipline, due to its dynamism, beauty, and guarantee of a colorful spectacle, has grown so much that in its second edition of the world competition among the most novice players, 16 teams registered.
This participation has also given it an exponential boost in quality, which is why several nations aspired to the crown, which was contested in the Mexican city of Tepic.
However, the WBSC, in its report on the gold medal match between Cuba and Chinese Taipei, stated: "In the end, the champion category is permanent, and Cuba won its second youth title to add to the two senior Baseball5 World Cup titles in its trophy case."
Rachel de la Caridad Medina, a 14-year-old girl from Santiago, won the Most Valuable Player award, and her teammate, Carlos Rivera, won the same award among the boys.
She earned the recognition by leading in runs batted in (35), fifth in runs scored (25), and being a key player in the decision of the main games. Carlitos was second in batting average (759), first in runs scored (37), first in hits (63), and third in runs batted in (25).
Six of the eight Cuban players were making their international debut, right in a World Cup, "but that, while it was a challenge, was a motivation that these kids took on with a very high sense of responsibility, with joy, and also with discipline. Cuba has to be very proud of its young people, for the way they defended their roots," said team manager Sergio Arturo Pérez Hechevarría emotionally.
The performance left the largest of the Antilles undefeated on foreign soil in Baseball5. They have not lost a tournament since the international competitive calendar for this sport was established.
Now they did it not only without losing a game, but they only lost one set, already at the semifinal stage.
Cuba and its streets, its people and its citizens are, once again, world champions. Our four corners, our culture and our children are also champions, and that honor makes us proud of our Cuban identity. On Fidel's centenary, today he would have said, as he did on August 24, 2008: "For the honor of the gold medal."