De Wills Crowned Super Five Baseball Champions, Defeat Delta

De Wills Baseball Club of Bayelsa have emerged champions of the 2026 Super Five Baseball Championship after defeating defending champions Delta State in the final at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

The Bayelsa side claimed the national title at the climax of a league season which featured 17 clubs competing across centres in Kwara, Rivers and other parts of the country.

The top five teams from the league were subsequently invited to Abuja to contest the Super Five Championship for the 2026 national title.

President of the Nigeria Baseball and Softball Federation (NBSF) and the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Africa, Uche Odozor, said the championship was designed to bring together the leading teams from the national league.

He said the competition also provided an opportunity to identify players with the potential to represent Nigeria at international level.

Odozor disclosed that Japanese analysts were brought in to assess players during the championship, with some of the best performers expected to travel to Japan in November for further training ahead of Nigeria’s bid to qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

“We also have some analysts from Japan who are here to assess the players based on their skills and some of these players will be taken to Japan in November for further intensive training,” Odozor said.

He said the federation was working with the National Sports Commission to expand baseball across the country, particularly through schools and military barracks, while also using the sport to create opportunities for young Nigerians.

Odozor added that baseball had significant economic potential and said the federation was introducing a Baseballership programme, while efforts were also being made to strengthen the sport’s presence in Nigerian universities.

Nigeria’s national team head coach, Shinya Tomonari, said his immediate objective was to build a team capable of becoming the strongest and most respected baseball side in Africa.

Tomonari, who was appointed on 8 June, said the Super Five provided his first major opportunity to assess a wide pool of Nigerian players.

Working alongside Japanese analysts Daisuke Hoshikawa and Takumu Yamada, he said the players were assessed using the TrackMan system, which measures and quantifies performance.

“Based on these data, we will select 23 national team candidates and create individualised development plans,” Tomonari said.

He added that several Nigerian players would be invited to Japan in November to train with professional clubs and leading university programmes as preparations intensify for the African Championship scheduled for next July.

Tomonari, who has previously coached in Ghana, Tanzania and South Sudan, said he had spent about 30 years working in African baseball and was implementing the Baseballership Education programme in 13 African countries.

De Wills captain Adebisi David expressed delight at winning the championship, saying the title had come after several days of intense competition.

“I feel so good because the selections for the national team to play through the qualifiers for Olympics 2028 are on, so I feel good to be the champions of this league,” David said.

He credited his teammates, coaches and management for the victory and expressed confidence that continued investment in the sport would produce more Nigerian players capable of reaching Major League Baseball.

Delta captain Suleman Abdulrahman Bala, meanwhile, questioned the change in competition format following his side’s defeat.

Bala said the competition was initially expected to be decided by accumulated league points before the format was changed to championship games.

He, however, maintained that Delta’s defeat did not mean the team’s standard had declined.

“We’ve been the champion for years, so for them to win us today doesn’t mean we have dropped in standard. It only means they are working,” he said.

NBSF Secretary-General Robert Anthony said Nigeria still faced several hurdles on the road to Los Angeles 2028, including the African qualifying tournament and a subsequent playoff in Oceania.

He also disclosed that baseball gloves were now being produced locally in Nigeria in an effort to reduce costs and eventually supply other African countries.

Executive Director of Arnold Sports International Foundation, Adeyinka Adewusi, said the second phase of the Honor International Baseball Elite competition began in Abuja on 20 September after the opening phase in Ilorin.

He said teams played a single round-robin series before the semi-finals, with Kwara defeating Niger to finish third.

Adewusi said the foundation was also taking baseball to schools and engaging the National Sports Commission on ways to expand the sport and develop a wider talent pool across Nigeria.