The Bahamas had an off-day Wednesday at the World Baseball Challenge and if the weather had held, they might have been dipping their fishing rods trying to pull out some whoppers from Carp Lake.
As it turned out, thunderstorms that delayed the games Wednesday scrapped those plans. Instead of fishing, the Bahamas team went shopping, followed by a wild-game barbecue at the home of the team hosts, Tim and Barb Kelly.
They needed a hearty feast to get ready for the big fish of the WBC, undefeated Cuba. Those teams clash today at 3 p.m. at Citizen Field. The Bahamas (1-3) is a huge underdog against a powerful (4-0) Cuban team that has outscored its opponents 29-10.
The Bahamas took a major step toward international baseball respectability on Tuesday with a historic 6-5 win over the Beijing Tigers. It marked the first WBC win for the Bahamas, which went 0-7 in their first tournament appearance in 2009..
"That was a big win for our team and for our country, it's the first for us at this level," said Craig Kemp, president of the Bahamian Baseball Federation. "Our program is really young now. We didn't play baseball in our country for about 15 years due to politics and now we have a very vibrant youth program. This is really the crop of young players that we have seen develop over the last 10 or 12 years."
One of those stars in the making is infielder Brandon Murray, who clubbed a three-run home run in the eighth inning Tuesday that lifted the Bahamas to victory against Beijing. Third baseman Desmond Russell was stellar on defence and also contributed two hits and Sherman Ferguson came through with two-run dinger in the fourth.
The team ranges in age from 17 to 28 (pitcher Calvin Fowler is 28) and is the youngest team in the six-team tournament. Most of the players are college players in their freshman or sophomore years who have returned to the Bahamas for the summer.
"Everybody in the Bahamas is watching us online and we have one of the media announcers carrying the games back home live on the radio," said Kemp. "People back home are excited.
"I'll go record to say we are going to be the spoilers of this tournament. Somebody is going to go home crying."
The Bahamas started the WBC Saturday with 16-1 loss to Chinese Taipei, then lost 13-7 to Canada and 7-0 to Toshiba-Japan.
"As the games progress, they are getting better," said Kemp. "The first game they had the jitters, but now our defence is settling in and the pitching is coming around. In our country it is difficult because we don't get together until a week before we come to this tournament. We don't travel or play in a tournament before coming here. Considering a lot of these teams play together year-round, and travel to multiple tournaments, we're faring well.
"We still have a long ways to go, but we're proud of what we've accomplished over the last 12 or 15 years in baseball."
The one thing the Bahamas or any of the other teams can't control is the weather, which has been showery almost every day of the tournament so far. That's a far cry from 2009, when temperatures hovered in the mid-30s C for almost the entire week of the WBC. Kemp wasn't complaining, however.
"The weather is fine, this is good baseball weather," he said Tuesday. "You don't want it too hot, and if it's not raining, this is excellent. It was hot last time, even for us."
Kemp said it was a no-brainer to return to the WBC.
"Prince George is a fantastic host and we'll continue to come here as long as they invite us back because we really enjoy coming here," said Kemp. "It's the people. The people are fantastic and so warm and welcoming and we have a wonderful time here. They really support us well."
