As the national champion of the Dominican Republic, San Cristóbal will represent PONY’s Caribbean Zone at the 2019 Bronco-11 World Series (B11WS) this July 26-29. It is the second time that San Cristóbal will be participating in the 11-year history of the event. This year marks the first year that the team is returning to Chesterfield, Virginia since 2011.
San Cristóbal first had to fight its way through the Dominican Republic’s challenging national tournament to earn the right to represent the Caribbean Zone and advance to the B11WS. San Cristóbal had to win 11 games to claim the title. The team faced tough competition late in the tournament, including a 7-5 victory over Santiago City in the semi-final and a 3-2 victory over Samaná City in the championship.
In the Dominican Republic itself, there are a total of six PONY Baseball regions. San Cristóbal first had to win provincial and regional tournaments in the Dominican Republic before winning the national tournament. The Dominican Republic is part of PONY’s Caribbean Zone, which consists of 22 total countries, some of which are Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Curacao, Aruba, San Martin, the Bahamas, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.
To prepare for the B11WS, San Cristóbal practices twice a week for a couple of hours, and they train with other teams to stay competitive. The team has good pitching, but San Cristóbal’s coach, Mauro Vizcaino, believes that the team’s true strength lies in their fielding and hitting.
San Cristóbal is looking forward to coming to the United States, but the team’s main focus is representing the Dominican Republic with pride and being competitive in the B11WS. San Cristóbal recognizes that there are many other good teams in the tournament, but the team believes that their work ethic and positive attitude will give them an advantage to contend for a world title.
San Cristóbal will take on the champion of the PONY North Zone in its first game at 8:00 p.m. ET/US, Friday, July 26 at Harry G. Daniel Park at Iron Bridge in the 2019 B11WS. San Cristóbal seeks to become the first B11WS champion from PONY’s Caribbean Zone.