Havana, (RHC) – The right-handed pitcher Josimar Cousin will be the starter for Cuba this Friday, in the Cuban debut in Pool B of the U-23 Baseball Pre-World Cup tournament, that will begin in Honduras.

Before traveling to Honduras, the manager Eriel Sanchez picked the Camaguey native to pitch against Panama, team that is considered the toughest rival of the group, that includes Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala and the locals.

The Cuban U-23 team has in its roster several ball players that are included in the group of payers from which the definitive roster of the Cuban team will be selected, in order to take part in the upcoming Pre-Olympic Tournament to be played in Arizona, United States, next March.

Among these players there are the infielder Cesar Prieto, who Eriel Sanchez has already selected to be the 3rd batter in the U-23 line-up, and Brian Chi, a right-handed pitcher from Havana who walked out with a victory against the Cuba top team in an exhibition game held at the Latinoamericano Stadium.

This tournament in Honduras will provide three tickets to the Pre-World Cup Super Round, that include the top 3 teams from Pool A, formed by Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

The top 3 teams of the Super Round, to be played in Nicaragua from February 26 to the 29, will take part in the U-23 Wold Cup that will be held in Mexico next October.

The Cuban team will try to improve the poor results obtained in the last edition of the tournament under the commands of former star catcher Ariel Pestano in Panama. There, the Cuban youngsters made it to the Super Round but then they lost their first 3 games, what kept them from qualifying to the World Cup held in Barranquilla, Colombia, in 2017.