Family, pride and power: Elias Valerio's moment shines in Dominican Republic win

The Dominican Republic captain Elias Valerio played a pivotal role in today's win against Japan, 3-2-, in Game 1 of the WBSC Men's Softball World Cup Finals. With the game tied at one in the bottom of the sixth, he smashed a solo homer over the left field fence to give the Dominican Republic the lead.

"He worked me low in my two previous at-bats, throwing drop balls mainly. So I focused on the low pitches," he mentioned after the game. "He threw me one out of the zone, then threw it again — and that’s the one I hit for the home run."

The home run was not only a turning point in the game, but also showed some leadership and motivated his teammates in the late moments of the game. "As captain, I always want to keep these guys focused and maintain harmony. And until the game is over… then came the hit at the right time, and we were able to win the game," he said.

With 11.3 million inhabitants, the Dominican Republic is a country that lives and breathes baseball, ranking second -only behind USA- with more players at Major League Baseball. Most of the kids in the country play baseball. This situation is a key limitation for the Dominican softball program, which lacks of players in the development ages. "In our case, we wait until the kids leave baseball, and then, as coaches and as the Dominican Softball Federation, we recruit them," explained head coach German Taveras. "There are four teams from all the military institutions — the police, the army, the armed forces, and the air force. That’s the current base of softball in the Dominican Republic."

"My first experience was in baseball, and then I joined the Military to play softball. I started playing softball at 19," Valerio said.

The third baseman also said that some people in his country see softball as just a hobby. "But for us on the national team, this is professional… Even if we’re not seen that way. We love representing our country, and we’re going to make it grow through the work we’re doing here at the World Cup."

Playing baseball at a young age is not the only connection Elias has with baseball. His older brother, Charlie, was the starting catcher of the Dominican National Team that won a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. "It’s a source of pride for our family, and I get goosebumps when people ask me about it," he said emmotionaly. "Right before the game, I saw a message from him saying, ‘Let’s go, I’m rooting for you. I love you.’ And that filled me with satisfaction and pride. We’ve always supported each other, always."

Talking again about today's game, the team acknowledges the importance of getting this first win. "Here, every game feels like a final, and beating Japan is a big motivational boost for us to keep pushing forward," said Taveras.

"It means a lot because when you start well, it brings life and positive things to the team. We’ve been building this day by day for several years now, and we’re focused on this tournament," closed Valerio.