Ortiz: “Panama was the surprise of his group at the World Cup”

Luis Ortizhead of selection Panama in it classic 20th World Baseball Championship23, praised the performance of his players this Wednesday and claimed they were the “surprise” of Group A which ended with a surprising quintuple.

“Panama was the surprise of the group. Everyone was amazed by the level of play of our boys. Several people said that they would like to see that team with three or four more reinforcements, which is what we thought at first, but they couldn’t come,” the manager told EFE.

He added that he was satisfied with the campaign, which brought the first two victories in the three participations in the tournament so far, and left the ninth with Istmo in fourth place.

“I am completely satisfied with the boys’ game, we were the least The big leagues “We had and when you put two teams on the field, we were in deficit, although that is not the cause of the defeat,” he commented.

He emphasized that what was achieved in the tournament was positive because they played “for 500, like everyone in the group and that is something positive, already from scratch, now we managed to have two wins and qualify directly for the next classic”.

“To be in another tournament without playing the knockout phase. Those are the positive things that this tournament has left us and that we should all be satisfied with,” he said.

about the level of play Group A, from which they advanced to the quarterfinals Cuba as the leader and Italy as the second, and the Netherlands finished them as the third and last Taiwan.

He stated that the level of play was “very high”.

“The level was very high, because other teams had players who are there The big leagues. This tournament is for guys who are in the Major Leagues,” said Ortiz, who also works as a scout for the Kansas City Royals.

“I would like to have all the best, it gives the team more depth, but they weren’t there, we played with the best we have and I think we played well,” he added.

The Panamanian coach left open the possibility of continuing to serve, if the managers so suggest.

“I don’t know what will happen in three years. I’m here to help baseball in Panama, if that time comes and Panama calls me, let’s see,” he said with a smile.

For Ortizthe tournament left many lessons for the future.

“We need the boys playing baseball in the United States to continue to develop and improve, to have the opportunity to grow because we need more players at that level so we can continue to win more in this tournament,” he concluded. .