The UAE’s national baseball team — assembled in just 30 days — put on a stunning performance when they played in their first international tournament at the weekend. During the inaugural Baseball United Arab Classic, the UAE side won five games before finishing as runners-up, losing in the final to the championship’s highest-ranked team, Pakistan. All games were played at Baseball United’s new ballpark at The Sevens, with the UAE defeating India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan en route to the quarterfinals. There, they beat Saudi Arabia — also playing in their first international tournament — and followed that up with a semifinal over Palestine. That was arguably the championship’s most exciting game, with shortstop Chris Beyers hitting a momentum-shifting home run to spearhead the victory. Overall, the UAE outscored their opponents by 23 runs during the tournament, with Beyers (SS), Lorenzo Riddle (RF/P), and Gabriel Reque (DH) winning All-Tournament Team honors. It was a strong and unprecedented debut for a team new to the international scene. The UAE national team was formed after Baseball United’s chairman, CEO and co-founder Kash Shaikh petitioned the Emirates Cricket Board to allow the organization to build, develop and manage a national baseball program. The rights […]