Representatives from 17 nations were honoured at the WBSC Congress Gala held in the Gaborone International Convention Centre.

Triston Casas of the United States took the Baseball Player of the Year award for 2017 after he was named Most Valuable Player at the recent Under-18 Baseball World Cup in Thunder Bay, in which the Americans won their fourth title in a row.

Cuba's Loidel Chapelli claimed the same prize for 2016 while Japanese duo Shohei Otani and Ayami Sato took the honours for 2015 and 2014 respectively.

Nathan Nukunuku of New Zealand claimed the Softball Player of the Year for 2017.

He has represented Softball New Zealand in six senior WBSC World Championships, winning four golds and one silver including the title in Whitehorse earlier this year.

Jessica Moore of the US took the title in 2016 while Canada's Sean Cleary and Yukiko Ueno of Japan were victorious in 2015 and 2014.

Mark Sorenson, who led New Zealand to victory in Whitehorse, claimed the Softball Coach of the Year, while Andy Stankiewicz of the US took the baseball equivalent.

Gerty Damián of Cuba was honoured with the Baseball Coach of the Year prize in 2015 while South Korea's In Sik Kim and Koichi Okura of Japan were winners for 2015 and 2014 respectively.

Ken Eriksen of the US preceded Sorenson as Softball Coach of the Year, with Canada's John Stuart and Reika Utsugi of Japan named winners in 2015 and 2014 respectively.

The Botswana Softball Association and New Zealand Softball Association shared the sport's National Federation of the Year prize for 2017.

The host of the Congress was honoured for “providing an excellent world stage that united baseball’s and softball’s leaders”.

The Nicaraguan Federation of Baseball won the baseball award for this year.

The Mexican Baseball Federation and USA Softball won the National Federation awards respectively for 2016, while the Hong Kong Baseball Association and Softball Canada were named winners in 2015.

Prizes in 2014 went to the Czech Baseball Association and the Peruvian Federation of Softball.

The final category of the evening was Umpire of the Year.

Cuba's Jorge Niebla took the baseball prize for 2017 with Panama's Edgar Estivison, Chinese Taipei's Hua Wen Chi and Venezuela's Maite Bullones named winners for 2016, 2015 and 2014.

Canada's Scott McLaren was rewarded for his performances with the softball prize for 2017.

Italian Gianluca Magnani took the title for 2016 while Jose Chaparro of Puerto Rico and Hideko Okano of Japan were winners in 2015 and 2014.