The names of 20 amateur players who will compete in the Asian baseball championship next month were announced Monday, officials of Japan's baseball governing body said.
The May 19-22 tournament, which doubles as a qualifier for the World Cup this fall, is being held at Miyazaki prefectural park and will feature six teams -- Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China, the Philippines and Thailand -- consisting only of amateur players.
Pitcher Toshiyuki Takebayashi of the University of East Asia will be the only college student taking part from Japan, with the bulk of the players coming from corporate league teams.