Team Bahamas falls in the semis to DR Host

Team Bahamas gave it quite a ride, reaching the semifinals of the 2025 PONY Baseball Bronco 12U (12-and-Under) Caribbean and Latin American Baseball Zone Championships at the Academia de Beisbol Maikel Cuesta in Yaguate, San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic, but at the end of the day, they came up just short of their desired goal.

The Bahamas fell to the top-seeded Dominican Republic (DR) host team in the semifinals, 12-0, on Tuesday, and crashed out of the regional qualifier for the PONY Baseball Bronco 12U World Series.

Prior to that point, The Bahamas were competitive in all of their games, slaughtering El Salvador, 21-0, and falling to the Dominican Republic Championship Team, 7-6, in a doubleheader on Day One, defeating Panama, 9-4, on Day Two, and taking apart Ecuador, 10-3, on Day Three. They finished with a 3-1 record in the round-robin section of the tournament to advance to the semifinals.

However, they were overpowered by the Dominican Republic Host Team in the semis. Just the winner of the five-day tournament advances to the world series, set for August 1-4 at the Buena Vista Sports Complex in Laredo, Texas.

“These boys played very well. We hit the ball and our defense was impressive. We just made some mistakes, and it’s hard to overcome mistakes against a team like the Dominican Republic,” said Team Bahamas’ Assistant Coach Norman Bastian. “Our boys have a lot of heart and a lot of fight. They picked themselves up and continued to fight. We played with a lot of energy. They hung in there and battled to the end. We just came out on the short end of the stick today, but they stayed tough and hung in there.”

Bosfield Butler III, of Freedom Farm, known in local baseball circles as B3, was one of the offensive leaders of the team. He started at catcher.

“It’s a tough loss. We did pretty good, but the bats didn’t come around like we would have wanted them to. Overall, we did good,” he said.

Outfielder Josiah Filterman, of the Junior Baseball League of Nassau (JBLN), liked the fight of the team.

“We had some errors but we fought back. I think we did good,” he said.

Also on the team were Gianno Newball, Carmelo Wallace, Isaac Richardson, Tyler Smith, Xavier Petit and Reid Ingraham from the Freedom Farm Baseball League, Waiden Bain, Geralle Gabriel Jr., Jaycob Clarke and Ethan Burnside, of JBLN, and Liam Smith, Xavier Thompson and Jaden Liberal of the Grand Bahama Little League.

Team Bahamas Head Coach is James Clarke, and he was assisted by Bastian and Donovan Cox.

In the game on Tuesday, the Dominican Republic Host Team scored twice in the first inning off starting pitcher Gabriel, and they never looked back. The Bahamas loaded the bases in the second inning and couldn’t score. The Dominican Republic Host Team hit six home runs in the game and went on to win comfortably.

Curacao and the Dominican Republic Championship Team played in the other semifinal game for the opportunity to play the undefeated Dominican Republic Host Team in the championship game. The Dominican Republic Championship Team won that semifinal game, and then lost to the Dominican Republic Host Team, 8-4, in the championship game.

As a result, the Dominican Republic Host Team will move on to the PONY Baseball Bronco 12U World Series, August 1-4, in Laredo, Texas.