Page 17 - ARUBA TODAY

LocaL sports Friday 2 March 2018
A17

7-year hitch

Catcher Nigel Calmes signs with the Tampa Bay Rays

game. His arm caught the eye of
In the recent past, the Balti- several scouts.
more Orioles followed Nigel Due to the sociopolitical cli-
as well during several try- mate in en Venezuela has
outs but apparently, they 30 professional baseball or-
were not convinced about ganizations prefer to come
his skills. to give tryouts to the best
For young baseball pros- prospects from Venezuela
pects July 2nd is consid- residing in Aruba. Thanks
ered D-Day. Pro teams to the quick thinking of
can sign any player that Calmes’ father Rudolph, Ni-
is 16-years of age on that gel took advantage of the
day to a contract, but after Venezuela Showcase last
that the chances are slim December 1st, 2017. He
that you will ever get big made an impression with
league contract. the scouts from the Tampa
Knowing this, Nigel never Bay Rays who later asked
gave and with and the for a private workout on
constant support of his fa- the following day.
ther he kept training. Wednesday, December
But eventually, at the age 27th, 2017 surrounded by
of eighteen, he had an- family and friends and Tam-
other chance when the pa Bay Rays scout Chairon
High Profile Player tour Isenia who came from Cu-
showcase from Venezuela racao fo the official signing.
landed on Aruba in No- It is not known yet where
Newly-signed Tampa Bay Rays prospect Nigel Calmes. vember. He grabbed this Nigel will start his profes-
ORANJESTAD – Another Nigel Calmes began his sole purpose of becoming (last) straw and left a very sional career, but it is very
dream has just come true. journey playing with the a professional ballplayer. good impression. Even this likely he will start in the DSL
The Tampa Bay Rays signed Little League for the Aruba He moved in with his grand- good, the Rays signed him. or GCL.q
catcher Nigel Calmes to a Giants organization. mother Mrs. Irene Nassy,
seven-year contract. His Little League team and at once began play-
Calmes has been chas- Benjamin Security Services ing with team Trai Seru with
ing his personal `field of under the guidance of manager Lando Chirino.
dreams’ for the last three Benjamin Francees. With He would then go on to be
years. The road has been Nigel behind the plate, the become the star catcher
long and winding to the team became a power- for the Liga Pairba team
point Calmes was wonder- house winning several Little from Curacao. On the is-
ing if he’d ever make it. But League championships land of Curaçao, he pre-
with the support of his fa- During these years he also pared himself for two years
ther Rudolph Calmes, Nigel was part of several teams to become a pro.
worked even harder to pur- representing Aruba in in- From there Nigel went to a
sue his dream. ternational competition, baseball academy in the
With an invitation from his where Calmes’ play was Dominican Republic where
cousin Shaquille Calmes to outstanding and was the he fell short of his goals of
play at the baseball field best backstop in the tour- a Major League Baseball
at Weg Seroe Preto in San nament. contract. He learned quite
Nicolas. Nigel became At the age of fifteen, Nigel bit and realized what he
hooked on baseball. left for Curaçao with the needed to strengthen his Nigel Calmes with former Aruban MLB outfielder Eugene King-
sale
Tennis anyone

Aruba’s Table Tennis looks to classify for the Central American Games

Oranjestad - In a few months needs to beat out 14 other teams
Aruba will send athletes from vari- within the Caribbean and Venezu-
ous sports to the Caribbean and ela to be seeded in Colombia. The
Central American Games in Bar- undertaking will not be easy see-
ranquilla, Colombia. In the weeks ing the level of talent in Table Ten-
leading up to the competition sev- nis has grown exponentially. None-
eral athletes still have to qualify to theless the team has been in inter-
compete on an international level. national battle and already knows
The Table Tennis team is one that is what lurks beyond the shores of
in the hunt for classification. the island.
The young, 4-man squad, coached As recently as 2017, the two-man
by Ruddy Ragga, is comprised of squad of Ching Ho Chung and Je-
Ching Ho Chung, Jeandry Mathil- andry Mathilda competed in the
da, Johnatan Paredes and Jean South American Youth Games in
Claude Hoek. The team is and Santiago, Chile.q