TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — After a five year pushback due to COVID-19, the World Baseball Classic (WBC) Qualifiers officially made its way to Tucson.
Sunday was the first day of the 2025 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Tucson is one of only two cities in the world selected to host a qualifier this year, the other being Taipei, Taiwan.
Germany, Brazil, Columbia and China will battle it out for two spots in the 2026 WBC.
Fans from across the world flocked to the Old Pueblo to cheer on their home country.
Caio Parente, a Brazil fan, even made the trip from São Paulo to show his support.
“I’m really close to the players, also to the family of the players. So I love baseball since I believe 2014," says Parente. "We hope that we can reach the World Baseball Classic next year."
He added that Kino Stadium is a big upgrade from where he’s from.
“We don’t have a ball park like this in Brazil. We have so few ball parks over there and what we have is not as beautiful as that," says Parente.
Two young fans, Camilo and Catalina Yanez Escobar, came with their parents from Gilbert, Arizona to cheer on their mom’s home country Columbia, and say baseball has always been part of their life thanks to her.
“Because when I was little, the first sport we played was baseball because she really liked the sport and then we just grew to love it," Catalina said.
Camilo adds that baseball is also exciting to watch.
"You never know what’s going to happen," said Camilo.
Nearly 4,000 fans attended both games, China v. Germany and Brazil v. Columbia.
A fan favorite on the Brazil team is Lucas Ramirez, son of 12-time Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Manny Ramirez.
“He’s the one who taught me my swing. Even though I’m a lefty, I still got his right-handed power and some of the mechanics he taught me," said Lucas.
Lucas currently plays in Tempe for the Arizona Complex League Angels, a Minor League Baseball team competing as a rookie-level affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.
He says playing with Brazil is a whole other experience.
"Here it feels a little bit different since they’re Brazilian. I’ve never played with a Brazilian team before, but I’m from Brazil, my mom’s from Brazil too, so I’m glad being around another Brazilians," continued Lucas.
The former Red Sox star says it doesn't matter what team his son plays for or where he plays, all that matters is that he gets his reps in to become a stronger player.
"Every day that you can go on and step on the field and play, it's going to help you tremendously, because all they need is play, play, play and better the skills. So it's a great experience," Manny said. “He could hit, he could throw, he’s a better outfielder than me, so he’s a good player.”
Germany beat China 12-2 and Columbia pulled away from Brazil 5-0.
The tournament continues through Thursday.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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