You can attract police attention for practicing journalism in either place.

I went to Cuba in 2014. Among the things I did there was to attend three baseball games - two in Bayamo, and one in Havana - and write stories about them. I needed some pictures to accompany the stories, so at the first one, in Bayamo, I asked one of the assistant coaches of one of the teams if I could go onto the field and shoot some pictures of his players during the pre-game warmup. He said it was OK, so onto the field I went.

Unfortunately, I caught the attention of an inmigración policeman. His job was to keep an eye on tourists, and since Bayamo doesn't get a lot of them, he had plenty of time on his hands. He disapproved of me communicating with the coaches and players; perhaps he thought I was a scout for the Mariners. He escorted me to a room under the bleachers, and, after consulting with his superior, demanded that I sign a statement acknowledging that I was in Cuba on a tourist visa, not a journalist one, and I was not to practice journalism in Cuba. (I didn't know about this distinction at the time, but had I applied for a journalist visa, it's unlikely they would have given it to me.) I had to repress the desire to tell this cop to take a long walk off of a short pier, but the reality was, had I been arrested for shooting pictures at a baseball game, no cavalry would be coming to rescue me.

There's a saying that no good deed goes unpunished. The sad thing about this incident was, my intention was to promote baseball tourism in Cuba, and then as now, Cuba is in desperate need of tourism revenue.

There's another old saying that history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes. A classic example of this happened to me on May 26, 2025, Memorial Day. Not in Cuba, but in Lewiston, Idaho.

The occasion was the NAIA Baseball National Championship tournament, an annual competition of small colleges that takes place in a ballpark on the campus of Lewis-Clark State College. I started attending these and writing stories about them sometime around 2004. I did so because NAIA baseball is high quality and worthy of more attention from baseball fans, and because there were stories that deserve to be told. I have been publishing the stories on a variety of platforms over the years. The current one is the Pacific Northwest College Baseball Report, https://pnwcbr.com

Read more: Civil rights in Cuba and Idaho

From the second day of the NAIA Baseball National Championship in Lewiston, ID:

Southeastern 15, Webber International 2. Halted by the run rule after seven innings. These two teams played five times during the regular season (the Fire won three of them), and traveled most of the way across the continent to play each other again.

Everything went the Fire's way this time, and two Canadians in their lineup, Connor Hicks and Alfonso Villalobos, were a big part of it. Hicks got it started with an RBI double in the top of the first inning. Villalobos was next in the batting order; he hit a home run, and the Fire led 3-0. They added three runs in the third inning, one of them with Villalobos scoring on a wild pitch. In the fourth inning, Hicks got an RBI on a ground out, Villalobos hit an RBI single, and James Strom hit a two-run home run. The Fire led 11-0. John Rossi hit a two-RBI single in the sixth inning, and Hicks hit a solo home run in the seventh inning.

Reece Wissinger went the seven inning distance for the Fire, allowed one run on three hits, struck out four. Two of the strikeouts were the last two batters he faced. Wissinger also started a double play in the bottom of the third inning; he snagged a line drive, then threw to first to catch a baserunner who didn't get back fast enough.

Villalobos finished 3-for-4 with four RBI and three runs scored. Camren Carrol went 2-for-2 for the Warriors. Blayne Huter got the loss. box score recap

U. of the Cumberlands 8, Grand View 6 (Grand View eliminated). This game was close all the way. The Patriots led 6-3 after six innings. The Patriots got two runs in the bottom of the third inning; they loaded the bases with two out, and Pedro Vasquez hit a ball that got by the third baseman. Two runs scored, but a possible third run was out at the plate. In the top of the fifth, two errors by Patriot shortstop Alec Gonzalez led to runners on first and second with one out. The Patriots got the second out on a good catch of a fly ball in foul territory on the left field side by Christian Thompson. However, Hank Himrich hit an RBI double to score two runs.

Read more: NAIA Baseball National Championship, day 2

Schedule for the first two days of the 68th NAIA Baseball National Championship, Friday-Saturday, May 23-31, Harris Field, Lewiston, ID (all times PDT):

Friday, 8:30 AM: #4 seed Hope International (46-8) vs. #7 U. of the Cumberlands (48-10)

Hope International (Fullerton, CA) is the defending champion. This is their third appearance in the Baseball National Championship. They won the Great Southwest Athletic Conference (formerly the Golden State Athletic Conference) championship; they won the regular season championship by six games. Twitter: @HIURoyals

Nickname: Royals
Rankings: Coaches' poll: #4 Boyd Nation's Iterative Strength Rating (ISR): #5 Strength of Schedule: #14
Quality wins: 2-0 vs. Oregon Tech, 6-0 vs. Arizona Christian, Lewis-Clark State, Wayland Baptist
Top position players: UTL David Shackelford (.416, 7 HR, 45 RBI), 1B Colby Moran (.396, 11 HR, 66 RBI), IF Julian Francois (.385, 7 HR, 54 RBI), OF Branden Chun-Ming (.371, 40 RBI), C Josiah Chavez (.365, 9 HR, 44 RBI), RHP/IF Matthew Pinal (.359, 10 HR, 57 RBI), OF Amari Bartee (.354, 14 HR, 42 RBI), SS Trotter Boston (.338, 11 HR, 50 RBI), UTL Mario Tostado (.333, 10 HR, 22 RBI)
Top pitchers: RHP Trey Seeley (12-1, 1.49 ERA, 116 K), LHP Josh Landry (11-0, 1.82 ERA, 91 K), RHP Jesus Munguia (7-2, 4.63 ERA, 63 K), RHP Boom Ward (2-1, 4.70 ERA, 14 K, 6 saves), RHP Gio Besio (2-0, 4.50 ERA, 36 K). Seeley has the second-lowest ERA in the NAIA, and Landry is the third-lowest. Seeley is tied for fourth in strikeouts.
Coach: Larry Mahoney, fourth season
Outlook: The Royals have lights out pitching; Seeley got two wins in last year's tournament. They have a good chance of becoming repeat champions.

University of the Cumberlands (Williamsburg, KY) is making their third consecutive appearance in the Baseball National Championship. They finished 1-2 last year. They won the regular season championship of the Mid-South Conference. Twitter: @PatsBaseballUC

The Patriots beat out Southeastern for this year's United Nations Award. Their full roster has three Australians, four Puerto Ricans, three Dominican Republicans, and a Canadian.

Nickname: Patriots
Rankings: Coaches' poll: #8 ISR: #13 SoS: #63 (lowest in tournament)
Quality wins: 2-0 vs. Missouri Baptist, 1-1 vs. Tennessee Wesleyan
Top position players: C Charlie Muñiz (Naranjito, Dominican Republic; .445, 34 HR, 91 RBI), OF Christian Thompson (.355, 35 RBI), IF Alec Gonzalez (.355, 8 HR, 69 RBI), IF Caden Petrey (.337, 17 HR, 55 RBI), IF Max Harper (.409, 12 HR, 55 RBI), IF Edwin Martinez (.376, 42 RBI), OF Derick Andiarena (Añasca, Puerto Rico; .369, 13 HR, 61 RBI), IF Pedro Vasquez (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; .347, 11 HR, 53 RBI), OF/LHP Trent Prokes (.314, 7 HR, 51 RBI). Muñiz leads the NAIA in home runs and RBI for the second straight year.
Top pitchers: RHP Knicko Billings (9-1, 3.67 ERA, 78 K), LHP Kailem Hamson (Gold Coast, Australia; 11-0, 2.54 ERA, 121 K), LHP Wesley Culley (4-1, 2.73 ERA, 50 K), LHP Cooper Morgan (Canberra, Australia; 5-1, 3.86 ERA, 55 K), RHP Nolan Wilson (3-1, 2.34 ERA, 45 K). Hamson is third in the NAIA in strikeouts.
Coach: Brad Shelton, 24th season
Outlook: The Patriots' regular season and playoff record is unimpressive; they will have to take it up a notch to be competitive in this field.

Read more: NAIA Baseball National Championship preview for 2025

The third day of the Cascade Collegiate Conference 2025 tournament at Tourmaline West Stadium on the University of British Columbia campus. Lewis-Clark State won the championship.

#1 seed British Columbia 9, #3 Oregon Tech 6 (Oregon Tech eliminated). The Thunderbirds led 5-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. The Hustlin' Owls opened the inning by sending in Jacob Cook to pinch hit, and he was walked by Thunderbird starter Daniel Orfaly. Orfaly struck out the next batter, then walked Korrey Siracusa. He was relieved by James Brock. Brock hit Patrick Barry to load the bases. Tyler Horner then hit a two-RBI single. Julien Jones was hit by a pitch to load the bases again, and Logan Macy drew a walk to tie the game 5-5. It was one out, and the bases were loaded. Brock proceeded to strike out Keanu Mizuta and Ka'ala Tam to get out of the inning.

David Krahn opened the top of the eighth with a home run. The Owls brought in Kaden Melzer to pitch, and he hit Kyle Yip. Yip moved to second on a wild pitch, and to third on a ground out by Russell Young. He then scored the winning run on a failed pickoff attempt. Trent Lenihan then hit a ball to right field that was misplayed, and two runs scored to put the Thunderbirds ahead 9-5.

Barry made a good play at shortstop in the top of the ninth. Julien Jones hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth to make it 9-6, but Brock got a strikeout, a ground out , and another strikeout to end the game.

Read more: Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament, third day

The second day of the Cascade Collegiate Conference 2025 tournament at Tourmaline West Stadium on the University of British Columbia campus.

#3 seed Oregon Tech 6, #4 Bushnell 5 (Bushnell eliminated). Logan Macy hit his first home run of the season, and it was a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning for the winning run.

Bronson Chapple nearly went the distance for the Hustlin' Owls. He struck out the first batter he faced in the ninth inning. However, he hit the next one. The Beacons sent in Chase Nye to pinch hit, and he hit a single. Chapple walked the next batter, and the Beacons had the tying run at first base. Chapple was relieved by Riley Cronin, and he was met by another pinch hitter, Kolby Amaral. Amaral hit a single, and the Owls' lead was cut to 6-4. The next batter, Jordan Wilson, hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 6-5, but it was also the second out of the inning. The next batter, Albert Jennings, hit a ground ball to first base, and it was the final out.

The Beacons got on the board in the top of the first inning. They got runners on first and third as a result of two errors, and Jennings hit a sacrifice fly. They missed a chance to score another run in the top of the second. Cade Crist hit a single, and went to second on a wild pitch. He attempted to go home on a single by Chase Nye, and was out at the plate, ending the inning.

The Owls got on the board in the bottom of the second. Keanu Mizuta reached second on a bad throw to first, and was bunted over to third. He went home when Ty Blakely reached on a fielder's choice.

In the top of the fifth, Nate Stevens was out on a good play by Korrey Siracusa at second base. The Owls scored the rest of their runs in the bottom of the fifth. Korrey Siracusa hit an RBI double, and a hit batter loaded the bases for Macy's grand slam. The Beacons got back in it with a two-run home run by Will Hudler.

Chapple's numbers were 8 1/3 innings pitched, four earned runs on six hits, ten strikeouts, two walks, two hit batters, 135 pitches thrown. Beacon starter Kai Keamo got the loss. He pitched five innings, allowed five earned runs on six hits, struck out seven. Tyler Biddinger went the rest of the way for the Beacons, held the Owls to only one hit. Patrick Barry was the only Owl with two hits. None of the Beacons had more than one hit. box score

Read more: Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament, second day

The first day of the Cascade Collegiate Conference 2025 tournament at Tourmaline West Stadium on the University of British Columbia campus.

#5 seed College of Idaho 8, #4 Bushnell 3. Oliver Massie started for the Coyotes, pitched seven innings, allowed two runs (only one of them earned) on three hits, struck out seven, didn't walk a batter, threw 103 pitches. The Coyotes scored three runs in the top of the first inning on a two-RBI single by Connor Olson and a sacrifice fly by Trevor Watkins. They got the winning run in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly by Jack Ingraham. They added an RBI single by Cannon Morgan in the top of the fourth. The Beacons ended the shutout in the bottom o the fifth with a two-RBI double by Reece Carganilla that was set up by z hit batter and an error. They didn't score again until the eighth inning, on a sacrifice by by Jordan Wilson.

Ben Gaff finished 4-for-5 with three doubles, an RBI, and three runs scored. Braden Proud, the starter for the Beacons, lasted only two innings, allowed four runs on five hits, got the loss. box score

Read more: Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament, first day

Jamie Womack is the interim Head Coach of the Bushnell University Beacons. He has been a part of Bushnell's program since its inception.

Bob Broughton, PNWCBR: Why does Bushnell have a baseball team? What's the story behind getting the baseball program started?

Jamie Womack: There was, pre-COVID, three pretty prominent people within town; the President of our university, Ike Olsson, Kelly Richardson, some local business guys who are big baseball fans, wanted to get more baseball in the area, we kind of had a three-tier group we got together, Bushnell University, the Springfield Drifters, which is a team in the West Coast League, and the Springfield School District. Guys like Brett Yancey [Springfield School District Assistant Superintendent], who have been really helpful in putting this whole project together, all three heads came together, we built a beautiful facility that all three of us get to utilize, and that's a really good thing.

BB: It helps that you've got a really good field to play on, so much so that they had to move the conference tournament there.

The Bushnell program has had remarkable success for the four years that you've had a team. What is the reason why you've done so well?

JW: I think there's a lot of reasons. I think we got really lucky. Our first recruiting class, we just got some special guys that have stuck around. They're seniors now. We dealt with the losses, learned how to win, learned how to lose correctly, how to grow and learn from it. We've been really blessed with a lot of support from our university from top to bottom, and some really special people in the community that wanted us to succeed and have been helpful throughout that process.

Read more: Interview with Bushnell Coach Jamie Womack

British Columbia completed a four-game sweep of Bushnell at Tourmaline West Stadium on the UBC campus on April 13, 2025.

British Columbia 7, Bushnell 1 at Vancouver, BC. Ryan Beitel pitched eight innings, and allowed only two hits, one of them a home run by Jordan Wilson in the fourth inning. Beitel threw 103 pitches, struck out ten, didn't walk a batter, hit one.

Beacon starter Max Chapman hit the first two batters he faced. The next batter, Trent Lenihan, hit into a double play. The Thunderbirds proceeded to score three runs with two out, on RBI singles by Mitchell Middlemiss and Kellen Bourne, and Middlemiss scored on a failed pickoff attempt. The Thunderbirds scored with an RBI triple by Jonny McGill in the second inning, an RBI double by Aidan Rose in the third inning, an RBI single by Rose in the fifth inning, and an RBI double by Russell Young in the eighth inning.

Lucas Huynh pitched the ninth inning for the Thunderbirds, allowed two hits, struck out two. Chapman got the loss. Loreto Siniscalchi (Burnaby, BC) pitched the sixth through eighth innings for the Beacons, allowed one run (unearned) on one hit, struck out one. Bourne finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI, and two runs scored. Wilson got two of the Beacons' four hits. box score

Read more: British Columbia 7, Bushnell 1; British Columbia 8, Bushnell 1

British Columbia swept a doubleheader vs. Bushnell before a good crowd on a nice day at Tourmaline West Stadium on the UBC campus on April 12, 2025.

British Columbia 10, Bushnell 9 at Vancouver, BC. In a back-and-forth game, the Beacons took a 9-8 lead in the top of the eighth with a two-RBI double by Will Hudler. However, Thunderbird reliever Evan Hoegler retired the Beacons in order in the top of the ninth. Kaden Zarowny opened the bottom of the ninth with a double. The Thunderbirds sent in Hilo Yamamoto to pinch-hit, and he bunted Zarowny to third base. Jonny McGill hit a double to score Zarowny and tie the game. The next batter was Trent Lenihan, and he hit a single to score McGill and win it.

Austin Wolfe started for the Beacons, and held the Thunderbirds hitless for three innings. The Beacons got on the board in the top of the second inning with a two-RBI single by Reece Carganilla. In the top of the fourth, courtesy runner Caleb Richter tried to go home on a single by Carganilla, and was gunned down with a throw from Middlemiss in right field to Aidan Rose at second base to catcher Russell Young. The Thunderbirds took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single by Trent Lenihan and a two-run home run by Mitchell Middlemiss. They added three more runs in the fifth with a home run by Kaden Zarowny and a two-run home run by Jonny McGill. In the top of the sixth, Richter was caught stealing with a throw from Young to second base.

Read more: British Columbia 10, Bushnell 9; British Columbia 9, Bushnell 7

Players from NAIA schools taken in the 2024 Major League Baseball draft: