The fact that the Lithuanian team often had three female players exemplifies the welcoming and open nature of the sport of baseball5.
Lithuania has become one of the sensations of the WBSC Baseball5 World Cup for being a non-traditional baseball or softball nation playing at the best of its powers, including a fantastic performance and victory against powerhouse Japan. This is in spite of the fact that Lithuania has a WBSC Men’s Baseball World Ranking of 37, a WBSC Women’s Softball World Ranking of 46, and a WBSC Men’s Softball World Ranking of 34.
Following their victory over Japan in the Opening Round of the inaugural competition for Baseball5’s showcase event, the European vice-champions have been one of the most spectacular stories of the tournament. That ended up being their best performance, as they went on to lose both of their Placement Round matches, which resulted in them finishing in 11th place overall in the competition, after winning two of their five Opening Round matches (against Japan and Hong Kong).
The youthful Lithuanian team’s success was determined by more than just their performance on the field
According to Anke Paskeviciute, “it is vitally important to highlight that women in sport are not a minority.” [Citation needed] There is no other sport that I am aware of that allows both men and women to participate at the same time. This activity demonstrates that men and women may hold equally important roles.
We are able to be on the same squad as the guys, and this is something that is really significant to us. “We feel that we have a tremendously vital role here,” Nomeda Neverauskaite affirmed.
In the meantime, Ugne Kucinskaite brought to light the fact that despite the fact that a lot of attention has been paid to how welcoming and popular Baseball5 is, particularly due to the fact that it was the first mixed-gender Olympic sport, there is more to the sport that is sweeping the globe than meets the eye.
“At this point in the tournament, reaching the end, having the correct mentality and being focused is pretty crucial,” she added, adding that this was not dependent on the player’s gender. “Baseball 5 is a very distinctive and tense sport, and there are times when strategy is more vital than physical prowess. It is the ideal competition for fans of either discipline.
Neverauskaite believes that one of the best things about practicing Baseball5 is that it is not affected by the weather in any way. “In the winter, we play indoors, and in the summer, we play outside,” she said. We had winter Baseball5 championships for the past two years in a row as part of our preparation for the World Cup.
“In the year 2020, one team competed in Baseball5 outside in the snow while the temperature was zero degrees. Baseball may be played regardless of the weather.
It is allowed to be played in schools. According to Nomeda, this will help to develop it more quickly and throughout the entire year, both indoors and outdoors.
According to Paskeviciute, “in real actuality, you don’t need any equipment other than the ball.” It is therefore quite simple to set up a court and begin playing.
The competition came to an end for the Lithuanian squad on Saturday when they were defeated by Kenya by a score of 2-0; nevertheless, this did not damper their enthusiasm. They were pleased to have made an unforgettable impression on the inaugural edition of the Baseball5 World Cup, one that extends beyond the achievements achieved on the field and demonstrates that Baseball5 is one of the sports with the greatest appeal to young people all over the world.
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