The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IN preparation for the fourth annual Caribbean Baseball Cup from December 4-11 at the newly constructed Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium, the Bahamas Baseball Association will host a training camp in Grand Bahama.

Head coach Geron Sands said they will be taking the team to Grand Bahama today for a 10-day training camp, which is expected to be set up similar to what the players would experience when they are on the road playing for their respective professional league teams.

It’s expected that at least 17 players, including Toby Simmons, Warren Saunders, Keithron Moss, Ian Lewis and Elliston Hanna, will be in attendance. Sands, however, said they are still waiting on confirmation from Tahnaj Thomas to see if he will be available.

“We have a lot of players from the collegiate and minor league, so we will take this opportunity to see how we can mesh them together,” Sands said.

“It’s going to be a good time for us to gel together and look at what is available and how we can utilise each player.”

Avard Hart, a former national team player who serves as the team’s general manager, is arranging the camp, according to Sands, as they work on developing the culture they want to display during the tournament.

“We want to get everybody to move around and get familiar with the guys,” Sands said.

“A lot of these guys played with and against each other when they were growing up, but it’s a while since they became young men and they played together.

“It also gives the coaching staff a chance to see all of the players. I think we have a team to compete. Our goal is to win. But once we are available to compete, we have a chance to win. Once we compete, we have a better chance to win.”

Sands said the association wasn’t able to get the full team assembled.

But joining Sands on the coaching staff are Albert Cartwright, a former minor league baseball player and co-founder of I-Elite, who will be the bench coach, Dominique Collie, a former NAIA College standout and former minor league player with the Diamondbacks, who will be the first base coach, Trae Sweeting, former division one college standout and national team player, will be the outfield coach, and Donovan Cox, a former national team player, will be the bull pen coach.

The BBA, headed by Sam Rodgers, will host the Caribbean Baseball Cup against teams coming in from the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Cuba, defending champion Curacao and Haiti.

The tournament, organised by COBABE, will grant two teams a bid into the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador in 2023 and Sands is hoping that the Bahamas will earn one of the spots.

“We won’t get everybody we want, but the Bahamas has so many guys who can step up,” Sands said. “We are using the phrase, ‘the next man up.’ The actual team we started off with, we won’t have because some of the guys are engaged in their careers.

“So we had to go to the next man up, which is impressive. I feel any sort of guys can get the job done. We just need to work on pitching. We have sufficient arms. But we have to find a way to get the elite pitching.”

This is the first time that the Bahamas is hosting a regional competition and Sands said he’s glad to be leading the ship.