WASHINGTON, PA (July 25, 2022) - Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, has won PONY Baseball’s Caribbean Zone to qualify for the 2022 DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY League World Series.
Coach Geovannie Santiago describes his team as being very balanced, with a good offense and defense, along with power, speed, and pitching depth.
Santiago reports that their record for the year was 61-5, winning four championships.
“We also went undefeated in the Caribbean Zone qualifiers,” Santiago said. “We went undefeated against teams from Panama, Bonaire, Honduras, and an AOBA host team.”
In the Caribbean Zone tournament, Puerto Rico dominated on both sides of the ball, outscoring its opponents 74-5.
The team expects to have a great time at the 2022 DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY League World Series. Santiago expects tough competition, but he believes they are ready to compete and will bring a championship back to Puerto Rico.
The 2022 tournament will be Guaynabo’s second appearance in the World Series, after its loss in the semi-finals in 1978 to Joliet, IL.
Although Guaynabo has only one previous appearance, the team has other connections to the PONY World Series. Guaynabo’s roster includes a player named Luis Matos, whose father not only played Major League Baseball for seven seasons, but also played in the 1993 PONY World Series for the runner-up Bayamon, PR, squad.
Puerto Rico will play its first game in the 2022 DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY League World Series against Chinese Taipei at 8:00 PM/ET on Friday, August 12, at Lew Hays PONY Field in Washington, PA.
DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY League World Series
The DICK'S Sporting Goods PONY League World Series is an international youth baseball tournament played annually at Lew Hays PONY Field in Washington, PA. The World Series annually attracts 25,000 fans and contributes over $4 million to the regional economy, with all games livestreamed internationally via MLB.com. The tournament represents PONY Baseball's 13- and 14-year-old age division. PONY has over 500,000 players ages 3-23 in more than 50 countries. More information is available at plws.org.