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The six teams of the IV Elite League of Cuban Baseball have finalized their rosters and official regulations following the technical congress held on Tuesday at the Miramar Business Center in Havana, with the tournament set to begin this Saturday.
According to the site JIT, the meeting, led by the vice president of INDER, Omar Venegas Echemendía, and the president of the Cuban Baseball and Softball Federation, Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo, was held via videoconference with the management teams of all the invited teams.
The regulations were approved and updated, along with the rosters of each team, following last-minute withdrawals related to personal situations.
Each franchise will have 20 base players and seven reinforcements, for a total of 27 players on the roster.
The six participants are the Matanzas Crocodiles, the Industriales Lions, the Artemisa Hunters, the Mayabeque Hurricanes, the Las Tunas Lumberjacks, and the Holguín Cubs, all qualified from the 64th National Series.
Among the last-minute changes, Matanzas announced that Eduardo Cárdenas will take over the management of the team in place of the experienced Armando Ferrer, who is undergoing medical treatment and is expected to return for the upcoming National Series.
It was also reported that Noelvis Entenza González has been registered on the Matanzas roster of 20 in place of Silvio Bruno Iturralde Herrera.
One of the most notable reinforcements in this edition is Frederich Cepeda Cruz, who makes history as a leader in multiple categories of Cuban baseball and will play for Mayabeque.
Starting this Wednesday, each province will organize the flag-raising ceremonies, which will include the signing of the code of ethics and the disciplinary regulations, previously discussed within each team.
The inaugural ceremonies will pay tribute to the Olympic champion Dany Miranda, who passed away on April 6 at the age of 47 due to complications from an acute intestinal obstruction while serving as the manager of the Ciego de Ávila Tigers.
The tournament is taking place despite the severe economic crisis that Cuba is experiencing, with INDER approving its execution amid what the organizers themselves acknowledge as "known limitations."
The Elite League was created in 2022 as a mechanism to maintain high-level baseball on the island and select the representative for the Caribbean Series.
The previous edition was won by the Tigres de Ciego de Ávila, who swept Las Tunas 4-0 in the final and subsequently represented Cuba in the 2026 Caribbean Series held in Caracas.
The qualifying phase of the IV edition will take place from May 2 to June 19, featuring 40 games per team, followed by the semifinals from June 21 to June 30 and a final from July 2 to July 10, with both series being best of seven games.
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