Nicaragua national baseball team

The Nicaragua national baseball team (Spanish: Selección de béisbol de Nicaragua) is the national baseball team of Nicaragua. Considered the best in Central America along with Panama, it represents Nicaragua in international tournaments.

Nicaragua National Baseball Team
Information
Country	Nicaragua
Federation	Nicaraguan Baseball Federation
Confederation	COPABE
Manager	Marvin Benard
WBSC ranking
Current	20 (18 December 2023)[1]
Highest	12 (June 2021)
Lowest	17 (December 2022)
World Baseball Classic
Appearances	1 (first in 2023)
Best result	19th (1 time, in 2023)
Olympic Games
Appearances	2 (first in 1984)
Best result	4th (1 time, in 1996)
World Cup
Appearances	30 (first in 1939)
Best result	2nd (5 times, most recent in 1990)
Pan American Games
Appearances	5 (first in 1983)
Best result	2nd (2 times, most recent in 1995)

Nicaragua has a long history of international baseball, making its first appearance at the second Baseball World Cup (then called the Amateur World Series) in 1939; it hosted the BWC/AWS hosting five times and earned five second-place finishes, the last in 1990. It has participated in the Olympic Games twice, in 1984 and 1996. Nicaragua qualified for the World Baseball Classic for the first time in 2023.

In regional competitions, Nicaragua has qualified for the Pan American Games five times, in 1983, 1995, 2007, 2015, and 2019. It is a regular competitor at the Central American and Caribbean Games, and has historically dominated the Central American Games.

History

The team tried but failed to qualify for the 2020 Olympics at the eight-team Americas Qualifying Event on May 31 through June 5, 2021. The team competed in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in March 11-15, 2023 in Miami, Florida, against Team Israel, Team Puerto Rico, Team Dominican Republic, and Team Venezuela.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of professional baseball match results currently active in the latest version of the WBSC World Rankings, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.^[2]

Legend

  Win   Lose   Void or postponed   Fixture

2019

Pan American Games Q	January 30	Nicaragua	12–4	Mexico	Estádio Nishi, Brazil
	10:00 BRT		Boxscore

Pan American Games Q	January 31	Dominican Republic	10–3	Nicaragua	Estádio Nishi, Brazil
	10:00 BRT		Boxscore

Pan American Games Q	February 1	Nicaragua	6–2	Brazil	Estádio Nishi, Brazil
	14:30 BRT		Boxscore

Pan American Games Q	February 2	Colombia	5–4	Nicaragua	Academia CBBS, Brazil
	14:30 BRT		Boxscore

Pan American Games Q	February 3	Canada	12–14	Nicaragua	Academia CBBS, Brazil
	10:00 BRT		Boxscore

Pan American Games GS	July 30	Puerto Rico	7–3	Nicaragua	Campo de Béisbol, Peru
	10:05 PET		Boxscore		Attendance: 1,059

Pan American Games GS	July 31	Nicaragua	4–2	Dominican Republic	Campo de Béisbol, Peru
	10:05 PET		Boxscore		Attendance: 577

Pan American Games GS	August 1	Peru	0–10 (F/7)	Nicaragua	Campo de Béisbol, Peru
	19:05 PET		Boxscore		Attendance: 1,994

Pan American Games SR	August 2	Nicaragua	1–11 (F/7)	Colombia	Campo de Béisbol, Peru
	19:05 PET		Boxscore		Attendance: 1,513

Pan American Games SR	August 3	Nicaragua	0–10 (F/7)	Canada	Campo de Béisbol, Peru
	15:05 PET		Boxscore		Attendance: 1,979

Pan American Games 3rd	August 4	Colombia	0–6	Nicaragua	Campo de Béisbol, Peru
	11:05 PET		Boxscore		Attendance: 0

2022

World Baseball Classic Q	October 1	Brazil	4–1	Nicaragua	Rod Carew Stadium, Panama
	12:00 CT	WP: Felipe Sales Sv: Enzo Sawayama (1)	Boxscore	LP: J. C. Ramírez	Attendance: 695 Umpires: HP: Dane Poncsak. 1B: Juan Manuel Rodriguez. 2B: Anthony Perez. 3B: Lisa Turbitt

World Baseball Classic Q	October 2	Pakistan	0–12 (F/7)	Nicaragua	Rod Carew Stadium, Panama
	12:00 ET	LP: Muhammad Zohaib	Boxscore	WP: Osman Gutierrez HR: Isaac Benard (1)	Attendance: 495 Umpires: HP: Juan Manuel Rodriguez. 1B: Anthony Perez. 2B: Austin Jones. 3B: Mark Stewart

World Baseball Classic Q	October 4	Argentina	5–6	Nicaragua	Rod Carew Stadium, Panama
	12:00 CT	LP: Franco Perez HR: Lucas Stalman (1)	Boxscore	WP: Berman Espinoza Sv: Roniel Raudes	Attendance: 185 Umpires: HP: Mark Stewart. 1B: Michael Ulloa. 2B: Dane Poncsak. 3B: Juan Manuel Rodriguez

World Baseball Classic Q	October 5	Nicaragua	3–1	Brazil	Rod Carew Stadium, Panama
	19:00 CT	WP: Osman Gutierrez Sv: Joaquin Acuna (1)	Boxscore	LP: Heitor Tokar	Attendance: 769 Umpires: HP: Anthony Perez. 1B: Dane Poncsak. 2B: Mark Stewart. 3B: Lisa Turbitt

2023

Central American & Caribbean Games Q	February 6	Honduras	0–7	Nicaragua	Martínez Stadium, Nicaragua
	18:30 CT		Boxscore		Attendance: 560

Central American & Caribbean Games Q	February 7	Nicaragua	13–0 (F/7)	Costa Rica	Martínez Stadium, Nicaragua
	18:30 CT		Boxscore

Central American & Caribbean Games Q	February 9	El Salvador	0–8	Nicaragua	Martínez Stadium, Nicaragua
	18:30 CT		Boxscore

Central American & Caribbean Games Q	February 10	Nicaragua	21–0 (F/7)	Guatemala	Martínez Stadium, Nicaragua
	18:30 CT		Boxscore

Central American & Caribbean Games Q	February 12	Honduras	1–13	Nicaragua	Martínez Stadium, Nicaragua
	18:30 CT		Boxscore		Attendance: 5,000

World Baseball Classic GS	March 11	Nicaragua	1–9	Puerto Rico	loanDepot Park, United States
	12:00 ET	LP: J. C. Ramírez (0–1) HR: Elian Miranda (1)	Boxscore	WP: Nicholas Padilla (1–0)	Attendance: 35,399 Umpires: HP – Mike Estabrook, 1B – Alejandro Pecero, 2B – Ángel Hernández, 3B – Chris Graham

World Baseball Classic GS	March 12	Nicaragua	1–3	Israel	loanDepot Park, United States
	12:00 ET	LP: Jonathan Loáisiga (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: Richard Bleier (1–0) Sv: Robert Stock (1)	Attendance: 19,955 Umpires: HP – Maikol Tibabijo, 1B – Ron Kulpa, 2B – Tim Meyer, 3B – Andy Fletcher

World Baseball Classic GS	March 13	Dominican Republic	6–1	Nicaragua	loanDepot Park, United States
	12:00 ET	WP: Cristian Javier (1–0) HR: Juan Soto (1), Manny Machado (1)	Boxscore	LP: J. C. Ramírez (0–1)	Attendance: 31,696 Umpires: HP – Chris Graham, 1B – Mike Estabrook, 2B – Maikol Tibabijo, 3B – Ángel Hernández

World Baseball Classic GS	March 14	Nicaragua	1–4	Venezuela	loanDepot Park, United States
	12:00 ET	LP: Rodney Theophile (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: José Ruiz (1–0) Sv: José Alvarado (1)	Attendance: 21,873 Umpires: HP – Ángel Hernández, 1B – Chris Guccione, 2B – Alejandro Pecero, 3B – Tim Meyer

Current roster

Nicaragua roster - 2023 World Baseball Classic
Players				Coaches
Pitchers 79 Joaquin Acuna 94 Leo Crawford 30 Fidencio Flores 18 Kevin Gadea 41 Osman Gutierrez 62 Duque Hebbert 43 Jonathan Loáisiga 36 Ronald Medrano 61 Erasmo Ramirez 66 J.C. Ramirez 55 Roniel Raudes 12 Carlos Rodriguez 88 Carlos Teller 77 Juinor Tellez 14 Rodney Theophile		Catchers 85 Rodolfo Bone 91 Melvin Novoa Infielders  1 Benjamin Alegría 10 Alex Blandino  24 Cheslor Cuthbert  5 Steven Leyton 8 Ivan Marin 28 Elian Miranda 17 Milkar Perez 38 Wuillians Vazquez 99 Juan Montes Outfielders 44 Isaac Benard 9 Sandy Bermudez  3 Dwight Britton 19 Norlando Valle		Manager  7 Sandor Guido Coaches 26 Julio Sanchez (Bench) 18 Luis Alen Hitting) 57 Jorge DePaula (Pitching) 4 Cairo Murillo (Bullpen) 59 Jenrry Roa (Pitching) 2 Franklin Lopez (Third Base) 23 Yader Roa (Batting Practice)

Tournament results

World Baseball Classic

World Baseball Classic record								Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	W	L	RS	RA		W	L	RS	RA
2006	did not enter							No qualifiers held
2009
2013	did not qualify							0	2	3	14
2017								2	2	13	33
2023	Group stage	19th	0	4	4	22		3	1	22	10
2026	To be determined							To be determined
Total	Round 1	1/5	0	4	4	22		5	5	38	57

Olympic Games

Summer Olympics record									Qualification
Year	Round	Position	W	L	%	RS	RA
1984	Preliminary	5th (tied)[lower-alpha 1]	1	2	.333	11	29		1983 Pan American Games
1992	Did not qualify								Did not qualify
1996	Bronze Match	4th	4	5	.444	48	48	1995 Pan American Games
2000	Did not qualify							Did not qualify
2004
2008
2020
2028	To be determined							To be determined
Total [lower-alpha 2]	1/5		4	5	.444	48	48

1. No medals awarded; tournament was a demonstration sport only
2. Totals only include years 1992 to 2008, during which baseball was an official medal sport.

The team tried but failed to qualify for the 2020 Olympics at the Americas Qualifying Event on May 31 through June 5, 2021.^[3]

Baseball World Cup

Amateur World Series and Baseball World Cup record
Year	Host	Round	Position		W	L	RS	RA		Year	Host	Round	Position		W	L	RS	RA		Year	Host	Round	Position		W	L	RS	RA
1939	Cuba			2 of 3	3	3				1961	Costa Rica			7 of 10						1984	Cuba			7 of 13
1940	Cuba			2 of 7	9	3				1965	Colombia			6 of 9						1988	Italy			7 of 12
1941	Cuba			7 of 9	2	6				1969	Dominican Republic			5 of 11						1990	Canada			2 of 12
1944	Venezuela			7 of 8						1970	Colombia			8 of 12						1994	Nicaragua			4 of 16
1945	Venezuela			4 of 6						1971	Cuba			3 of 10						1998	Italy	Finals		3 of 16
1947	Colombia			3 of 9						1972	Nicaragua			3 of 16						2001	Taiwan	Round 1		9 of 16
1948	Nicaragua			7 of 8						1973	Nicaragua			2 of 11						2003	Cuba	Finals		6 of 16
1950	Nicaragua			5 of 12						1974	United States			2 of 9						2005	Netherlands	Finals		6 of 16	7	4
1951	Mexico	Round 1		5 of 11	6	4				1976	Colombia			4 of 11						2009	Italy	Round 2		6 of 16
1952	Cuba			5 of 13						1978	Italy			5 of 11						2011	Panama	Round 1		14 of 16	1	6	18	47
1953	Venezuela			3 of 11																Total	30/39	5   5			-	-	-	-

Pan American Games

• 1983 : 2nd
• 1995 : 2nd
• 2007 : 3rd
• 2019 : 3rd

Intercontinental Cup

• 1973 : 4th
• 1975 : 3rd
• 1977 : 4th
• 1979 : 4th
• 1983 : 6th
• 1985 : 7th
• 1987 : 7th
• 1989 : 3rd
• 1991 : 3rd
• 1993 : 4th
• 1995 : 3rd

Central American and Caribbean Games

• 1935 : 2nd
• 1938 : 3rd
• 1950 : 3rd
• 1978 : 2nd
• 1998 : 2nd
• 2010 : 3rd
• 2014 : 2nd

Central American Games

• 1977 : 1st
• 1986 : 1st
• 1990 : 2nd
• 1994 : 1st
• 1997 : 2nd
• 2001 : 1st
• 2006 : 1st
• 2010 : 2nd
• 2013 : 1st
• 2017 : 1st

References

1. "The WBSC World Ranking". WBSC. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
2. "Nicaragua in the WBSC Ranking (Men's baseball)". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
3. "2020 Baseball Americas Qualifier - The official site - WBSC". olympicbaseball.wbsc.org. Archived from the original on 2020-03-20.