Joshua Amponsah

Joshua Okyere Amponsah (Stone)

• Born ~1980
• Died November 2005

Biographical Information

Joshua Amponsah starred for the Ghanaian national team in the 1999 All Africa Games. In their first contest, he started on the mound and hit 3rd. He worked 2 1/3 IP and allowed 3 hits, 6 walks and 5 earned runs while fanning three; Ishmael Abayaa relieved and Amponsah took the loss against Lesotoh. Amponsah was 2 for 5 with a triple and RBI at the plate, staying in to play the field after exiting the mound. For the remainder of the Games, he hit 3rd and manned short for Ghana. He batted .333/?/.571 with 11 RBI in 5 games, making 7 errors in the field. While the error total sounds high, it was well back of Uganda's Frederick Kisitu (16) and Lesotho's Seatile Putsoa (12) among the shortstops in the event. He had the game-winning RBI in both of Ghana's wins, against Bronze Medal winner Zimbabwe and Uganda. He finished second on the team in RBI, one behind Paul Manoma and tied Victor Bentum for third in hits (7).

Amponsah was MVP of Ghana's league in 2001. He and Manoma tried out for the Anaheim Angels in 2001. In 2004, he and Manoma traveled to Japan to train with the Hiroshima Carp. Sadly, Amponsah died the next year of a bleeding ulcer; his son Joshua Jr. was 4 or 5 years old.

Sources

• 1999 All African Games
• 2002 article on Ghanaian baseball
• 2007 article on Ghanaian baseball
• Article on his tryout for the Angels