Canadian men to play Olympic baseball qualifier in June at Florida

Canada's quest to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic baseball tournament this summer will take the national men's team to Florida in three months.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation said Tuesday the eight-nation Americas Qualifier is expected to be contested in June at sites to be announced.

The Canadians are grouped with Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela while the United States is grouped with Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

The tourney was to begin March 22, 2020 in Surprise and Tempe, Ariz., before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the sports world and forced the postponement of last year's Olympics.

"Our pitching was outstanding all tournament, but you have to score runs to win games and we failed to do that," Canadian manager Ernie Whitt told reporters following a 3-1 loss to the Aussies.

WATCH | Canada eliminated at Premier 12 Olympic qualifier:

Game Wrap: Late triple eliminates Canada from Olympic baseball qualifier

5 years ago

Duration 1:53

Logan Wade smacked a 2-run triple in the 8th inning to give Australia a 3-1 victory over Canada at the WBSC Premier 12 Olympic Qualifier. Canada will have another chance to qualify for the Olympics at the Americas qualifying event in March.

The Canadians will attempt to qualify for the Olympics for a third straight time in hopes of winning its first medal after baseball was dropped from the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

Top 2 teams in each group move to super round

In June, the top two teams from each group advance to a super round, with head-to-head group results carrying over. The super round winner joins host Japan, Israel, Mexico and South Korea in the six-nation Olympic field.

While only players not on 40-man major league rosters were available for the Premier12, Major League Baseball and the players' association agreed in February 2020 players not on 26-man major league rosters would be available for the Americas tournament.

The change made the roster rule like the one in place the last time baseball was included in the Olympics.

Baseball was an Olympic event from 1992-2008. Cuba won three gold medals, the U.S. one (2000) and South Korea one (2008). The sport is being dropped again for 2024 in Paris.

This year's Olympic event will be played at Fukushima and Yokohama from July 28 to Aug. 7.