Caribbean Cup to Return to The Bahamas

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Bahamas baseball has another opportunity to rise in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) rankings when it hosts the top teams in the region.

The Bahamas Baseball Association will host the sixth edition of the senior mens COPABE Caribbean Cup, October 23-28 at the Andre Rodgers National Stadium.

In addition to The Bahamas, other participating teams will include Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Curaçao, the U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Maarten. 

The Bahamas will play the feature game each night at 7pm, beginning on the 23rd against the USVI, followed by matchups against St. Maarten, Curaçao, Cuba, and will complete the group stage against the Dominican Republic.

Medal games are scheduled for the 28th.

According to WBSC, The Bahamas is currently the fastest growing men’s baseball program in the world.

The senior men are now ranked number 47 on the latest edition of the WBSC rankings presented by Konami.

They were also the top climbers of the period, rising 12 spots in the standings with 70 points.

The last appearance for the senior men was the 4th Caribbean Cup, when they finished in fourth place. 

It was the first tournament hosted at the Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium.

Track and Field

A season of milestone moments, national records, and one world record has come to an end and we have an opportunity to see where Bahamians stack up on the final World Athletics rankings.

Several Bahamians were among the top 100 athletes in their respective disciplines.

Sixty hurdles world record holder Devynne Charlton tops the list of Bahamians on the rankings, fourth in the 100m hurdles with 1,424 points.

Charlton is also ranked number 33 overall among women across all disciplines.

Also in the 100m hurdles rankings is a pair of Olympians, Charisma Taylor – 24th at 1,273 points and Denisha Cartwright 41st with 1,237 points.

The versatile Taylor is also ranked 18th in the triple jump with 1,206 points.

NCAA Champion, national record holder and another first time Olympian, Rhema Otabor is ranked number 18 in the javelin with 1,187 points.

Javonya Valcourt is ranked number 92 in the 400m with 1167 points.

Among the men, Donald Thomas is the top ranked Bahamian in his discipline, 14th in the high jump with 1,243 points.

Three Bahamians are among the top 100 in the 400m, led by Steven Gardiner – 16th with 1,307 points, Wendell Miller – 66th with 1,198 points and Alonzo Russell – 90th with 1,176 points.

Wanya McCoy is ranked number 38 in the 100m with 1,239 points and number 30 in the 200m with 1,229 points

Ian Kerr is also 28th in the 200m with 1,234 points.

In the 110m hurdles, Antoine Andrews is ranked 54th with 1222

Closing things out in the field – in the long jump, Laquan Nairn is 57th with 1,167 points and Kaiwan Culmer is 44th in the triple jump with 1,161 points.

World Athletics created the global ranking system where athletes score points based on a combination of result and place depending on the level of the competition where those results are achieved. 

The rankings are then based on their average score over a certain number of competitions in a defined period of time. 

Basketball

The French Pro B League – the second tier in France – is officially underway and several Bahamians made their debut.

Aaron Levarity was the top performer in the group for Alm Evreux basket. 

The 6’8″ forward finished with 17 points and a game high 21 rebounds in an 85-75 loss to fos-sur-mer.

Levarity is the second Bahamian pro last offseason to progress from the NM1 League to the Pro B League – the highest level of his pro basketball career.

Last season with Boulogne, Levarity had a career year in the nm1 league and earned MVP honors.

He averaged 12.3 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. He also led the league in efficiency and double doubles.

At the national team level, Levarity also suited up for Team Bahamas at the FIBA Americup qualifiers in the home and away series against Puerto Rico.

NCAA Football

Bahamian football player Mazio Randall made the move from the Juco level to NCAA Division I with the Towson Tigers.

The 6’5″ 300 pound junior defensive lineman joined a Tigers roster projected to finish 9th in the Colonial Athletics Association.

Towson is currently 1-3 on the season.

They opened the season with a 38-20 loss to Cincinnati, followed by a 14-9 win over Morgan state and a 14-13 loss to Villanova.

Prior to Towson, Randall played two years at Dodge City Community College in Kansas. In 18 games, he posted 30 tackles and 3.5 tackles for losses.

He’s the first ever Towson football player from The Bahamas.

At the high school level, Randall played at Miami International Academy (MIA), competing on both the defensive and offensive line.

Coming out of MIA, he also received offers from South Alabama in the Sun Belt Conference, Kentucky Christian, and Webber International University in the NAIA.