The final day of Major League Baseball (MLB) Cup India 2022, came to a close with an enthralling final between the Satara Blue Jays and Pune Mariners on Sunday at the Noida Cricket Stadium.
The defending champions, Satara Blue Jays were beaten by the hard-hitting Pune Mariners, as the final ended 16-6 in favour of the Mariners.
The two teams reached the final after gruelling semi-finals. The Pune Mariners beat the Kolhapur Braves 14-8 in the first semi-final of the day. The second semi-final took place between Ahmednagar Dodgers and Satara Blue Jays ended 8-7 in the Blue Jays favour, as per a press release from MLB Cup India.
Dinesh Patel, a former pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates organization conducted a clinic for the three teams that are a product of MLB First Pitch, a programme designed to implement baseball in school's physical education programs.
Patel said, "I had great fun watching the games today. I was here last year too and the level of these young athletes has gone up considerably. All I can hope now is that they keep improving at this rate because then very soon India will start producing the next generation of baseball stars."
Rick Dell, General Manager of Baseball Development MLB Asia, spoke about the elite displays he saw at MLB Cup India 2022.
"Today's finals were outstanding. You could have come here today and closed your eyes and witnessed today's finals because you could just hear the passion and the excitement and the enthusiasm in the air all day long," he said.
David Palese, Baseball Development Manager, MLB India echoed the sentiment as he said, "I think it was a great example of the level of baseball and the enthusiasm and the excitement that these kids have for playing the game and you know the intensity and the fun as well. This was a perfect display."
He went on to add what he expects from next year's edition of the MLB Cup. "I just hope that more teams are encouraged to play more. Teams are encouraged to train and more teams are looking forward to possibly playing next year."
The Hank Aaron Award, which is presented to the best Hitter at the youth tournament, went to Parth from the Satara Blue Jays. The Cy Young Award, which is awarded to the best pitcher at the youth tournament, was awarded to Om Adsule of the Pune Mariners. Vedant of the Pune Mariners was adjudged to be the Most Valuable Player of MLB Cup India 2022. The team coached by Vinita Tiwari and Jitendra Shinde, Indore Padres was awarded the Sportsmanship Award, for their exceptional conduct on and off the field of play.
( With inputs from ANI )
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