The Bulgarian Baseball and Softball Federation has merged ©WBSC

Youri Alkalay has been elected President of the newly merged Bulgarian Baseball and Softball Federation.

The Bulgarian Baseball and Softball Federation had initially been formed in 1988 but split 10 years later.

A decision has now been taken to combine the two national governing bodies again to establish a joint organisation.

Alkalay has been elected to serve a two-year term as Bulgarian Baseball and Softball Federation President.

He will be supported by eight vice-presidents who will form the Executive Board.

The vice-presidents are Yasen Nedelchev, Gergana Handjiyska, Yavor Andreev, Ilian Dragoev, Georgi Lachev, Lyudmil Trenev, Nykolav Pilev and Stefan Beshkov.

Bulgaria held its first national baseball championships in 1992, with the inaugural softball event held the following year.

The Bulgarian men’s national baseball team are currently ranked 57th in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) rankings.

The women’s national softball team are ranked 56th in the world.

Bulgaria has introduced Baseball5, an urban-friendly version of baseball introduced by the WBSC where batters strike the ball with their hand rather than a bat.

There are five players on each team and each team has five innings.

Bulgaria are the current Balkan champions.