Kitchener Sends Two to International Tournament

KITCHENER - Jasvir Rakkar and Yoennis Yera are teammates on the Kitchener Panthers, but later this month, they’ll be opponents playing for their separate countries.

Both pitchers have been selected to pitch in the 2019 WBSC Premier 12 Tournament, in Korea.  Jasvir Rakkar with Team Canada and Yoennis Yera with Team Cuba.

Canada and Cuba will joined by Korea and Australia in Group C. The winner of this Group receives a spot in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, as does the winner of the Americas Grouping.

 Rakkar and Yera will not have to wait long to see each other, as Team Canada meets Team Cuba in Game 1 of this Grouping, on November 6^th, in The Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul,  South Korea. The top 2 teams in Group C will advance to a Super Round in Tokyo, November 11th-16th.

Rakkar, a former Chicago Cubs prospect, was a member of the Canadian Team that won Gold at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, and Silver at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima Peru.

Yera, an IBL All Star in 2019, is an 11 year veteran with the Matanzas Crocodiles in Cuba’s National Series, and has pitched in many International Tournaments with Team Cuba during the past decade.

 Former Panthers pitcher, Daniel Procopio, now a member of the Los Angeles Angels organization, is also a member of Team Canada.

 “We are very proud of Jas Rakkar, Yoennis Yera, and Daniel Procopio for being selected to pitch for their National Teams, in this important international tournament.

This reflects very positively on the calibre of play in the IBL”, said Panthers General Manager Mike Boehmer.