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Baseball Champions League Americas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
BCL Americas
SportBaseball
Founded2023
Organising bodyWBSC Americas
RegionNorth America and the Caribbean
Most recent
champion(s)
United States Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
(1st title)
Related
competitions
Caribbean Series

The Baseball Champions League Americas, or BCL Americas, is an annual international baseball tournament organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It is contested by the champion teams of various leagues in North America and the Caribbean, similar to the Caribbean Series (which is not WBSC-sanctioned).

It is played as a single round-robin tournament, with the first and second-place teams playing against each other in a final championship game.[1] The tournament began as a four-team invitational, but is expected to expand to an eight-team league format by 2028.[2]

The inaugural tournament was held in 2023 in Mérida, Mexico.[3] It was won by the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of the American Association.[4]

Participants

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While the Caribbean Series is generally limited to Latin American winter league teams, BCL Americas includes the champions of the top-level independent (i.e. not affiliated with Major League Baseball) summer leagues in Mexico and the United States.[a]

Country League First edition
 Cuba Cuban National Series 2023
 Colombia Colombian Professional Baseball League 2023
 Mexico Mexican League 2023
 United States American Association of Professional Baseball 2023

Cuba and Colombia had previously participated in the Caribbean Series, but both were dropped after the 2023 edition of the tournament.[5][6]

Winners

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Year Venue Champion Result Runner-up Winning manager
2023 Mexico Mérida United States Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 8–0 Colombia Caimanes de Barranquilla United States Chris Coste

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The Mexican League was previously part of MLB-affiliated "organized baseball", but lost this designation in 2021.

References

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  1. ^ "2023 Baseball Champions League Info". American Association of Professional Baseball. 25 September 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Inaugural Baseball Champions League Americas Tournament To Kick Off In September". Baseball America. August 24, 2023.
  3. ^ Clair, Michael. "Baseball Champions League beginning in Mexico". milb.com. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  4. ^ Peterson, Eric (October 2, 2023). "F-M RedHawks earn 'redeem team' championship at 1st Baseball Champions League event". In Forum. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  5. ^ "¡Nuevo torneo! Anuncian la creación de la Baseball Champions League" (in Spanish). Mediotiempo. June 10, 2023.
  6. ^ Enrique Rojas (July 24, 2023). "¿Por qué Colombia se quedó fuera de Serie Caribe 2024?". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish).