Shepherd Sibanda

Shepherd Sibanda

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 183 lb.

• High School Milton High School

• Born October 4, 1985 in Bulawayo Zimbabwe

Biographical Information

Shepherd Sibanda played for the Kagawa Olive Guyners in 2006-2007 in the Shikoku Island League, presumably one of the first professional players from Zimbabwe. He hit .163/.180/.204 in '06 and .108/.233/.189 in '07. He was with another independent Japanese team in 2008, batting .214/.327/.286. He later worked in construction in South Africa.

He starred for the Zimbabwean national team that finished 3rd in the 2019 Africa Cup Baseball Championship. He finished the event at .625/.625/1.313 with 5 runs and 9 RBI in 5 games. In the 3rd/4th place game, he hit a 3-run homer against Burkina Faso. He was 4th in the event in average (between Dayle Feldtman and Paul Wafula), tied Darren Boltman for the hit lead, led with two triples, tied MVP Kyle Botha for 2nd in homers (2, one behind Rowan Ebersohn), led in total bases (21, 2 ahead of Ebersohn), was 2nd in slugging (.270 behind Ebersohn), tied Benjamin Smith for 3rd in RBI (one behind Botha and Charl Cordier), was 10th in OBP (between Hamidou Kafando and Brandon Bouillon) and was 3rd in OPS (after Ebersohn and Boltman). He easily led Zimbabwe in OPS, 700 ahead of Emmanuel Moyo.

Primary Sources: Extra Innings, Japanese Wikipedia