Team Kenya Baseball scooped silver, best coach, and player awards during the intercontinental championship baseball held in Western Cape Sports School, Capetown, South Africa.
Team Kenya, ranked at position 15 worldwide managed to beat Tunisia and the host, South Africa, ranked at positions five and eight, to qualify for the November Youth Baseball World Cup champions in Mexico.
The Kenyan team also beat Zimbabwe and Lesotho before losing the final to Ghana.
The Intercontinental Baseball Champions tournament featured six teams based in their regions through qualifiers, with Kenya making it to South Africa after emerging top in East Africa.
The team led by Kenya Baseball Coach Joel Wangicho, which gave a courtesy call to the Migori County Department of Sports, expressed their hope to excel in the upcoming November World Cup Baseball Championship in Mexico.
Wangicho, who also scooped the best coach in Africa, said that the experience in South Africa has given Kenya a better platform to develop Baseball.
Migori County produced six out of eight players that represented the Kenya Baseball team in South Africa, an achievement that portrayed the county as a true sports avenue.
Wangicho said that the game is new in the world, and Kenya has an equal chance to do better during the upcoming November World Cup.
The Baseball Federation of Kenya has also established a branch in Migori to ensure that the rich talent of the sport in the county is tapped and nurtured.
Best Men Player of the tournament, Peter Okinyi, a native of Migori County, said that the tournament was an eye-opener to future tournaments.
Okinyi, who is also the captain of the under-18 Kenya Baseball Team, noted that the tournament will give hope to the future generation as well as nurture youth talents.
The team called upon the county government of Migori to improve the rough surface training ground to enable the team to prepare well for the upcoming World Cup baseball event.
The Kenya team had been doing their practice in Migori before jetting to international championships in South Africa.
Migori County Chief Officer in Charge of Sports Roseline Atieno said that the six players in the Kenyan Baseball team have made the county proud and portrayed it as a baseball hub.
Atieno assured the team that the county will improve their training infrastructure at the team’s training ground to give them a better training environment as they prepare for the November World Cup tournament in Mexico later this year.
By Beryl Akinyi and Makokha Khaoya