By Matthew Tallarini
World Baseball Network
The brand new Estadio Roberto Clemente in Masaya, Nicaragua, will open its doors on November 24 for the U-23 Baseball Pan American Qualifier.
The U-23 Baseball Pan American World Cup Qualifier will be held from November 24-30 with 12 nations that will have the chance to qualify for next year’s World Cup. Game times have not been announced by the World Baseball Softball Confederation for the U-23 Baseball Pan American World Cup Qualifier.
The U-23 Baseball Pan American World Cup Qualifier will also take place at Estadio Estadio Nacional Soberanía in Managua, Nicaragua.
Host nation Nicaragua will participate in the U-23 Baseball Pan American World Baseball Cup Qualifier. Four nations from the World Baseball Softball Confederation Americas sector will be able to qualify for the U-23 Baseball World Cup in 2024.
The U-23 Baseball World Cup will have teams from each sector of the WBSC, with one nation from Africa, one from Oceania, two from Europe, three from Asia, and one wild card or host country participating in the tournament.
The U-23 Baseball World Cup will be held at the Shaoxing Baseball and Softball Sports Culture Center in Shaoxing, China, in 2024. The dates for the event have not yet been announced.
World No. 20 Nicaragua, No. 12 Puerto Rico, No. 2 ranked Mexico, No. 9 Dominican Republic, No. 20 Argentina, and No. 44 Honduras will participate in Group A of the U-23 Baseball Pan American World Cup Qualifier.
World No. 8 Cuba, No. 6 Venezuela, No. 10 Panama, No. 13 Colombia, No. 28 Curacao, and No. 59 Costa Rica will play in Group B.
Estadio Roberto Clemente started its construction on June 3, 2021, and will have a seating capacity of 4,026. The project of the stadium was 20 million córdobas, with the venue being located at the shore of Masaya Lake. The playing surface is bermuda grass with infield dirt and an automatic sprinkler system.
The facility can comply with Major League Baseball standards, and has modern broadcast booths, a press box, multiple concession stands, and accessible suites for fans.
There will also be a giant scoreboard outfield screen that will be displayed at Estadio Roberto Clemente that measures 14 meters by 4.33 meters.
On Sept. 8, 2023, reporter Nohemy Sandino of el19Digital.com, a Nicaraguan news media website, reported in Spanish, “Masaya Mayor and Executive Director of the Nicaraguan Sports Institute Yanina Noguera mentioned that the investment to date is more than 750 million córdobas along with boosting the local economy, since it will promote job creation, because it will have personnel for care and maintenance and people who will promote their ventures.”
Estádio Roberto Clemente will be home to San Fernando de Masaya of the German Pomares Ordonez spring-summer league which is operated by the Comision Nicaraguense de Beisbol Superior and will play their home games at the new venue during the 2024 regular season.