Mandishona Mtasa

Mandishona Mtasa (Mandi)

Biographical Information

Mandishona Mtasa was the starting shortstop and leadoff hitter for the Zimbabwean national team in the 1999 All Africa Games. He hit .500/?/.750 with 9 RBI, 5 steals and 2 errors in five games. He was second on the team in hits (2 behind Neil Burne) and tied for second in steals (two behind Burne; he was also tied for second in the Games as a whole). He led the team in RBI, two ahead of Lewis Kufazvinei and he had their only homer, taking Teboho Shelile of Lesotho deep. He fielded much better than the shortstops from the non-medal teams - Joshua Amponsah had 7 errors for #4 Ghana, Seatile Putsoa had 12 for #5 Lesotho and Frederick Kisitu had 16 for #6 Uganda. Zimbabwe won the Bronze Medal.

Mtasa later served as president of the Zimbabwe Baseball and Softball Association but it was dissolved under his tenure due to irregularities in how he handled the distribution of funds and equipment.

Sources

• 1999 All Africa Games
• 2016 Newsday article