Fifteen teams representing eight Caribbean nations have descended upon Yaguate, San Cristobal, Dominican Republic this week for the Mustang and Bronco Caribbean Zone Championships. Over the next five days, these teams will compete in 37 games to determine the Caribbean Zone's best Mustang 10U and Bronco 12U teams. Played at Yaguate, La Presa and Los Leones Fields, the Mustang and Bronco Caribbean Zone Championships will feature Bahamas, Curacao, host Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Puerto Rico and St. Martin, who will battle it out on the baseball diamond in order to win the Zone's title and automatic bid to the Mustang World Series in Youngsville, Louisiana and Bronco World Series in Los Alamitos, California later this summer.
The teams will participate in round robin competition for four days before starting the semifinals on Sunday. During the evening of Wednesday, July 4th, the tournament will hold its opening ceremonies. The Mustang Caribbean Zone Championship Game is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday ET/US, while the Bronco Caribbean Zone Championship Game is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/US. View the tournament's official schedules below:
Dominican Republic is vying to win the Mustang Caribbean Zone title for just the second time and first since 2014. That year, Dominican Republic went on to the Mustang World Series and finished second behind Mission Viejo, California. For the past two years, Aruba was the Caribbean Zone champion. You can follow each game pitch-by-pitch via GameChanger's gamecasts for complete stats: here.
In addition to its success in the Mustang 10U age division, Puerto Rico has had even more success in the Bronco 12U age division. In all but one year, since 1977 has Puerto Rico represented the Caribbean Zone as its champion at the Bronco World Series. In 2008, Panama City, Panama not only won the Zone, but also the Bronco World Series title. For the past four years, defending Caribbean Zone champion Puerto Rico has recorded two Bronco World Series wins and two second-place finishes. You can follow each game pitch-by-pitch via GameChanger's gamecasts for complete stats: here.
Follow along at PONY.org, CARIBBEAN.PONY.org and on PONY Baseball and Softball's social media for additional content from the tournament all week long.