Bermuda to take on U.S. in baseball

By Don Burgess 

Bermuda has opted to take on teams from the United States in the Little League World Series instead of the Caribbean as qualifiers get underway next weekend.

At first glance, it might not seem like it makes sense to take on the U.S., the inventors of baseball, instead of smaller Caribbean nations.

Coach Chris Dougherty said the competition will actually be a bit easier.

Bermuda will face the state champs from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia as well as the champs from the Bahamas. 

“In the past we’ve had our hats handed to us in the Caribbean and we did some looking and thought it might be more competitive for us in the U.S. tournament. They’ll be nothing like the all-star Puerto Rican team or the all-star Curacao team where they have two million kids to draw from. These kids all have to win county tournaments so it’s not like the 12 best players from Florida, it’s a team from Florida that advances. They will be very good players, but they won’t be the very best players from the state.”

Dougherty said the squad has been training four days a week in preparation for the qualifiers in Lakeland, Florida. n

Bermuda has opted to take on teams from the United States in the Little League World Series instead of the Caribbean as qualifiers get underway next weekend.

At first glance, it might not seem like it makes sense to take on the U.S., the inventors of baseball, instead of smaller Caribbean nations.

Coach Chris Dougherty said the competition will actually be a bit easier.

Bermuda will face the state champs from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia as well as the champs from the Bahamas. 

“In the past we’ve had our hats handed to us in the Caribbean and we did some looking and thought it might be more competitive for us in the U.S. tournament. They’ll be nothing like the all-star Puerto Rican team or the all-star Curacao team where they have two million kids to draw from.

"These kids all have to win county tournaments so it’s not like the 12 best players from Florida, it’s a team from Florida that advances. They will be very good players, but they won’t be the very best players from the state.”

Dougherty said the squad has been training four days a week in preparation for the qualifiers in Lakeland, Florida.