Friday the 19th of February 2021 is the opening day of the First Division Baseball Championship known officially as The Germán Pomares Ordóñez Superior Baseball National Championship of Nicaragua. Baseball in Nicaragua is back again and the barrios will be full of the sounds of Nicaragua’s national game as friends and neighbors gather to listen to live broadcasts.
All 15 departments and both autonomous regions that make up the Republic of Nicaragua are represented in the league (with Managua having two teams).
Season Opener is from the Dennis Martínez National Stadium in Managua and features the two rival teams from Managua; the designated home team Boer (2020 Champions) who welcome Dantos de Managua (2020 Runner Up) and the designated visitor’s for a regular 7 innings game starting at 6:00 PM on Friday 19th February 2021.
The Schedule of Games or Calendario can be found at BeisbolGPO, the Official Web Site of the CAMPEONATO GERMÁN POMARES ORDOÑEZ 2021 and also shows which games will be televised on Viva Nicaragua – Channel 13.
The site contains the official communications from the Nicaraguan Superior Baseball Commission (CNBS) including informative articles, team positions, results and statistics of the championship league.
The 18 teams that make up the league are:
Productores de Boaco, Boer de Managua, Cafateros de Carazo, Costa Caribe, Tigres de Chinandega, Toros de Chontales, Dantos de Managua, Esteli, Tiberones de Granada, Brumas de Jinotega, Leones de Leon, Fieras del San Fernando (Masaya), Indígenas de Matagalpa, Cañoneros de Madriz, Guerreros de Nueva Segovia, Frente Sur Rivas, Defensores de Rio San Juan, Gigantes de Zelaya Central.
Kwik Facts: A wooden bat is used in the league and the designated hitter rule applies. Each team can have one nationalized foreign player per team. The player must have completed one year of being a Nicaraguan citizen.
Championship League Format 2021
The official competition system has been approved by the Nicaraguan Superior Baseball Commission (CNBS) an is the system that will govern the XIII First Division Baseball Championship 2021
In the first half of the season, the eighteen (18) teams will all play in one group against each other. There will be four games per week, double header games, Saturdays and Sundays until each team has played sixty-eight (68) games.
At the end of the first stage, the twelve (12) teams with the best win loss average will qualify for the Second Stage. In that stage, all 12 will play in a single group “ALL AGAINST ALL” in a Round Robin, series of four games per week, double headers, on Saturdays and Sundays until each team completes forty-four (44) games.
At that point, the eight (8) teams with the best win loss average at the end of the second stage will go forward to the Playoff Series (Quarterfinals).
The Playoff Series games will be best of 5 games:
Series I: 1st. Place vs. 8th. Place
Series II: 2nd. Place vs. 7th. Place
Series III: 3rd. Place vs. 6th. Place
Series IV: 4th. Place vs 5th. Place
The four (4) winners will go on to play the Semifinal Series where all games will be best of 7. Home team advantage goes to the team with the best total victories by adding together the wins from the first and second stage.
Winner of Series I vs. Winner Series IV
Winner of Series II vs. Winner Series III.
The winners play in the Grand Final of the GPO 2020 , they will play a series of best of seven (7) games to decide the championship with home team advantage going to the team with the most victories when adding together the wins from the first and second stage.
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Germán Pomares Ordóñez was a famous revolutionary, granted the title “National Hero” in 1981.
