2016 U-23 Baseball World Cup

The 2016 U-23 Baseball World Cup was the first edition of the U-23 Baseball World Cup . Participating were Panama, Austria, Nicaragua, Argentina, Taiwan, Venezuela, Czech, Mexico, Japan, South Africa, South Korea and Australia. It was held in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.

Rosters

South Africa

P - Stuart Baron, Garth Cahill, Cameron Fortuin, Devon Clarke, Jordan King, Terence Le Roux, Timothy Lee, Robert Lewis-Walker, Kieran Moore, Damian Perkins, Liam Vincent. C - Bradleigh Peeters, Keenan Clarke. IF - Nicholas Eagles, Brenton Faulds, Wesley Greeff, Tlou Ngoepe, Tyler Smith, Cameron Van Niekerk OF - Kyron Bibis, Rowan Ebersohn, Cameron Ellis, Aiden O'Connor, Keagen Palmer. Mgr. - Glen Buckley. Coaches - Gary Maree, Darryn Smith, Gavin Bennett

Japan

P - Daiki Aoyama, Daiki Tajima, Akiyoshi Katsuno, Atsuya Horie, Tomohiro Anraku, Taiga Kasahara, Junki Kishimoto, Keisuke Honda, Hiroaki Saiuchi, Kyosuke Ono, Nobuaki Nagatani. C - Tomoya Kakinuma, Hiroki Sano, Takahiro Shimotsuma. IF - Ryota Yoshimochi, Taishi Hirooka, Kai Ueda, Tatsuya Maruko, Kouki Yamashita, Takumi Miyoshi OF - Yusuke Masago, Tomo Otosaka, Kengo Takeda, Kotaro Yamasaki. Mgr. - Masaki Saito. Coaches - Akinori Otsuka, Takashi Miwa, Tsuyoshi Ando

Panama

P - Javier Garcia, José Gómez, Alberto Guerrero, Gabriel Henry, Humberto Mejía, Luis Ramos, Jose Regalado, Hector Salazar, Cristhopher Santamaria, Abdiel Velasquez. C - Victor Moscote, Rodrigo Vigil, Carlos Sanchez. IF - Rodrigo Ayarza, Belarmino Campos, Gerald Chin, Allen Córdoba, Luis Madrid, Ibrahim McKenzie, J.C. Rodríguez OF - Anthony Amaya, Luis Barahona, Carlos Mosquera, Rodrigo Orozco. Mgr. - Aristides Prado. Coaches - Rigoberto Blanco, Alfonso Brown, Carlos Gonzalez

Mexico

P - Fabián Anguamea, Erick Casillas, Carlos De Leon, Omar Basulto, Jorge Gonzalez, Jose Grijalva, Francisco Haro, Jorge Quinones, Uriel Perez, Edgar Sanchez, Misael Verduzco, Samuel Zazueta. C - Manuel Cruz, Carlos Mendivil. IF - Luis Medina, Bryan Araiza, Gilberto Carrera, Kristian Delgado, Carlos Diaz, Aldo Flores, Moisés Gutiérrez, Jose Urena OF - Norberto Obeso, Héctor Ponce. Mgr. - Miguel Flores. Coaches - Juan Nunez, Mike Brito, Rogelio Ibarra

Taiwan

P - Yen-Ching Lu, Cheng-Che Wu, Chi Tseng, Chun-Kai Chang, Chih-Yuan Lai, En-Sih Huang, Tzu-Chien Shih, Jung-Hung Sen, Yi-Chung Liao, Ping-Hsueh Chen, Kai-Hsiang Hsu. C - Po-Yi Wu, Ming-Hung Wu, Yu-Chieh Kao. IF - Hao-Wei Chang, Ching-Wei Huang, Tzu-Wei Lin, Yi-Hung Chen, Kuan-Yu Shih, Chung-Ting Chen., Tung-Hua Yueh OF - Chung-Yu Chen, An-Ko Lin, Po-Hao Chiang. Mgr. - Chien-Fu Kuo Lee. Coaches - Tsung-Yi Lin, Shih-Yang Lee, Min-Shun Chiu

Australia

P - Christopher Horne, Conor Lourey, Mitch Neunborn, Daniel Nilsson, Brandon Stenhouse, Nicholas Veale, Matthew Wilson, Bradley Simon. C - Liam Bedford. IF - Jared Cruz, Jye Deeble, Guy Edmonds, Josh Guyer, Samuel Holland, Josh Hendrickson, Nicholas Hutchings, Ben Leslie, Samuel Kennelly, Connor Macdonald, Lachlan Madden, Robbie Perkins, Zachary Shepherd, Jacob Younis. OF - Aaron Whitefield. Mgr. - Tony Harris. Coaches - Jason Pospishil, Luke Prokopec, Jon Deeble。

Czech

P - Matej Brabec, Štěpán Havlíček, Ondrej Satoria, Marek Minařík, Daniel Vítek, Lukáš Ercoli, Jan Novák, Tomáš Ondra, Ondrej Furko, Josef Cihlár, Svatoslav Kraut. C - Lukáš Trunkát, Michael Vykoukal, Martin Mužík. IF - Martin Cervinka, Filip Smola, Michal Zýma, David Vohanka, Jakub Ondráček, Tomáš Junec. OF - Ivan Aubrecht, Adam Hajtmar, Richard Sázavský, Marek Chlup. Mgr. - Pavel Chadim. Coaches - Kristopher Richards, Ján Jablonka, Richard Dvorák

Venezuela

P - Geremi Azcarate, Jose Berroteran, Miguel Caigua, Francisco Chaparro, Jhonny Diaz, Alexander Diaz, Alvaro Lugo, Michael Molina, Leonardo Mota, Melvin Salazar, Juan Vegas. C - Jonathan Linares, Francisco Martinez, Wilfredo Petit, Kervin Santiago. IF - Rauze Bidau, Wilfre Franco, Luis Monasterio, Daniel Ugueto. OF - Joscar Alvarez, Carlos Cartagena, Julio Martinez, Henry Rodriguez, Frank Tineo. Mgr. - Carlos Torres. Coaches - Héctor Machillanda, Jesús Cartagena, Carlos Leal

Nicaragua

P - Jaysson Aburto, Marlon Altamirano, Shendell Benard, Adolfo Flores, Jesus Garrido, Darrel Leiva, Walter Lopez, Osman Manzanares, Wilfredo Piner, Pedro Torres. C - Rafael Estrada, Ronald Rivera, Alvaro Rubi. IF - Benjamin Alegria, Kenni Alegría, Jacksell Mairena, Enmanuel Meza, Holman Miranda, Johnny Trewin. OF - Sandy Bermudez, Cesar Diaz, Jorge Narvaez, Javier Robles, Norlando Valle. Mgr. - Jorge Avellán. Coaches - Jose Quiroz, Franklin López, Jose Christi

Argentina

P - Nicolas Coria, Lucas Palazzo, Benja Pardo Rebosolan, Mariano Pérez, Franco Pérez, Bautista Ramón, Lucas Ramón, Kevin Riello, Federico Robles, Jorge Schiavoni, Federico Schultze, Matias Silvera, Agustín Tanco. C - José Gerez, Ramiro Milar. IF - Facundo Pizarro, Elián Sánchez, Sebastian Schultze, Exequiel Talevi, Agustín Tissera. OF - Franco Arce, Jorge Gómez, Julián Pedrouzo, Matías Robles. Mgr. - Manuel Villa. Coaches - Dario Martin, Gabriel Sanso, Amaro Costa

South Korea

P - Jung-soo Park, Joong-hyun Yoon, Se-jin Park, Sung-gon Jung, Seo-jun Im , Ji-seob Lim, Hui-woon Ryu, Sang-hyeon Jeon, Chae-heung Choi, Seung-jin Lee, Jin-su Byeon. C - Hyo-Sang Joo, Jun-tae Kim, Won-tak Ra. IF - Tae-jin Kim, Woo-jun Shim, Dae-in Hwang, Seung-kyu Lee, Hyun Jung, Tae-hoon Lee. OF - Hyeok-jae Won, Woo-seong Lee, Byeong-wook Lim, Chang-ki Hong. Mgr. - Chae-keun Jang. Coaches - Chun-juu Ko, Jae-wook Nam, Chi-wang Park

Austria

P - Lukas Bickel, Adrian Bleyer, Fabian Hirnschal, Michael Koller, Sascha Kotrba, Alexander Lambauer, Moritz Scheicher, Omar Luis Duenas Hidalgo. C -Michael Jäger, Martin Proksch, Daniel Walenta. IF - Jan Alteneder, Tobias Dorffner, Marc Seidl, Severin Schütz, Claus Seiser, Felix Zimmerle. OF - Richard Alzinger, Martin Gruber, Samuel Hackl, Amin Many, Raphael Mayr, Ferdinand Obed, Felix Wilhelm. Mgr. - Robert Buchelt. Coaches - Hiroyuki Sakanashi, Clemens Cichocki, Danny Hall, Adrián Quirantes

Games

October 28

• Australia 8, Austria 1. Zachary Shepherd was 3-for-3 with a 3-run dinger, Guy Edmonds and Connor Macdonald both added solo shots and Australia took the win in the historic first game of the U-23 Baseball World Cup. Ferdinand Obed drove in the only run for Austria.
• Taiwan 10, Argentina 0. Yi-Chung Liao fanned 8 in 5 shutout innings, and Tzu-Wei Lin hit a solo home run with 2 walks. Taiwan completed a 8-inning mercy-ruled shutout to get their first win.
• Japan 6, Nicaragua 1. Keisuke Honda performed 7 strong innings with only 2 runs allowed, and Kouki Yamashita went 2-for-5 with a triple. Rafael Estrada knocked in the only run for Nicaragua.
• Venezuela 14, South Africa 1. Francisco Martinez was 4-for-4 with 3 RBI, and Jonathan Linares hit a 3-run dinger to help Venezuela mercy-rule their opponent.
• South Korea 6, Czechia 1. Woo-jun Shim was 3-for-3 with 3 RBI, and Chae-heung Choi struck out 8 in 6 2/3 innings. Marek Chlup's RBI single gave Czechia their only run of the game.
• Panama 3, Mexico 1. Future Major Leaguer Humberto Mejía completed 7 shutout innings to get the win, and Carlos Sanchez's solo shot helped Panama get the win in their opener.

October 29

• Argentina 13, Austria 3. After losing in a mercy-ruled game, Argentina called this game early in the 7th inning with a 7-run inning. Federico Robles completed the game with 5 Ks.
• Japan 15, Taiwan 3. Yusuke Masago was 4-for-5 with 4 RBI, and Kengo Takeda crushed a homer with another 4 RBI. The winning pitcher was Tomohiro Anraku, who fanned 8 in 6 innings.
• Australia 6, Nicaragua 5. Australia preserved a lead until the 8th inning, but Cesar Diaz tied the game with a clutch RBI single. In the 9th inning, Jacob Younis walked, Zachary Shepherd sent him to third with a single and Connor Macdonald was intentionally walked. Adolfo Flores then walked Guy Edmonds, and Australia got their second straight win.
• Panama 17, Czechia 3. Two European countries suffered a massacre today. Allen Córdoba and Gerald Chin both knocked in 4 runs with a homer, and Rodrigo Vigil went 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and a dinger. Panama ended the game in the 7th inning.
• South Korea 17, South Africa 3. The Africans were completely defeated again. Tae-hoon Lee hit a homer with 3 RBI, and Jun-tae Kim also drove in 3 runs in a 7-inning mercy-ruled win for South Korea.
• Mexico 4, Venezuela 0. The hosts got their first win thanks to Fabián Anguamea's 6 shutout innings with 11 strikeouts and a hit allowed. Alexander Diaz also pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings with 7 Ks after Jose Berroteran surrendered 4 runs.

October 30

• Nicaragua 15, Austria 0. Javier Robles went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and a dinger, and Jesus Garrido shut out his opponent with 6 Ks and only 2 runs allowed. The Austria lost their second straight mercy rule game.
• Australia 8, Taiwan 7. Australia scored 4 in the first inning, but Taiwan soon came from behind and scored 5 runs in the 2nd inning thanks to Chung-Yu Chen's homer. Taiwan held their lead until the 8th inning, but Jacob Younis tied the game with a clutch solo shot against Ping-Hsueh Chen to tie it. In the 10th inning, Zachary Shepherd drew a bases-loaded walk, and Josh Guyer closed the door.
• Panama 11, Venezuela 3. Rodrigo Vigil hit another homer with 3 RBI, and Abdiel Velasquez pitched 6 innings without surrendering a earned run to get the win.
• Czechia 12, South Africa 4. It's the third straight game that South Africa allowed double-digit runs. Adam Hajtmar knocked in 4 runs, and Ondrej Satoria got the win although he walked 6 in 6 innings.
• Japan 10, Argentina 2. Yusuke Masago crushed a game-winning 2-run shot, and Daiki Aoyama fanned 6 in 6 innings. Japan remained unbeaten.
• South Korea 6, Mexico 1. Ji-seob Lim collected 5 Ks in 6 innings with only a run allowed due to Moisés Gutiérrez's sacrifice fly, and South Korea got the winning run thanks to Samuel Zazueta's wild pitch.

October 31

• Panama 9, South Africa 1. South Africa finally allowed fewer than 10 runs, but Panama still took the win with Gabriel Henry's 7 strong innings.
• Nicaragua 10, Taiwan 5. Cesar Diaz went 3-for-5 with 5 RBI, and Nicaragua got their second win. Taiwan's Chung-Yu Chen hit a dinger.
• South Korea 7, Venezuela 2. It was a close game until Byeong-wook Lim broke the ice with a pinch-hit 3-run double, and South Korea got their 4th straight win.
• Australia 15, Argentina 2. Last game's hero, Jacob Younis, hit another homer, and Ben Leslie drove in 3 runs with 2 walks in a mercy-ruled 7 inning win for Australia.
• Japan 16, Austria 0. Akiyoshi Katsuno and Atsuya Horie completed a 2-hit, 5-inning mercy rule shutout, and Kouki Yamashita was a homer shy from hit for a cycle.
• Mexico 14, Czechia 4. European countries faced mercy-ruled losses in the same day again. Héctor Ponce and Gilberto Carrera both went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI, and Bryan Araiza hit a homer.

November 2

• Nicaragua 6, Argentina 0. Walter Lopez fanned 9 in 6 shutout innings, and Kenni Alegría hit a homer to help Nicaragua complete a shutout win.
• Panama 5, South Korea 4. South Korea nearly took the win after Chae-heung Choi's 7 2/3 strong innings with 8 Ks, but closer Jin-su Byeon faced some problems in the 9th inning. He allowed 3 straight singles, then Gerald Chin tied the game with a 2-run double. Ibrahim McKenzie then added a RBI double, and Panama completed the miraculous rally.
• Japan 11, Australia 2. It was the 4th consecutive game that Japan scored more than 10 runs, and Yusuke Masago extended his elite performance as he hit another homer with 2 RBI. Taiga Kasahara struck out 9 in 6 2/3 innings to get the win.
• Venezuela 13, Czechia 12. It was a batter's contest as both teams scored 11 in regular 9 innings. Venezuela's Henry Rodriguez was 2-for-6 with 4 RBI, and Richard Sázavský went 4-for-5 with 4 RBI for the Czechs. Michal Zýma knocked in a run in the top of the 10th inning, but CF Adam Hajtmar then committed a fatal error, and Venezuela walked it off.
• Mexico 15, South Africa 0. Jorge Gonzalez fanned 7 in 5 innings. and Mexico scored 15 to end the game in the 6th inning.
• Taiwan 3, Austria 0. Chi Tseng completed 8 shutout innings with 5 Ks in a 2-hit shutout win for Taiwan. Po-Yi Wu collected 3 hits.

November 4

• Czechia 14, Austria 7. Michal Zýma's grand slam helped Czechia got the first win of the consolation round. The winning pitcher was Tomáš Ondra, who only allowed one run in 6 innings after Marek Minařík surrendered 6 runs in the first inning.
• Taiwan 8, South Africa 0. En-Sih Huang fanned 11 in 7 shutout innings, and Tung-Hua Yueh was 3-for-5 with 5 RBI and a 2-run shot. Taiwan open the consolation round with a shutout win.
• Venezuela 3, Argentina 1. Joscar Alvarez homered in his team's first at-bat of the game, and Venezuela never lost the lead. Miguel Caigua pitched 6 shutout innings to grab the win, and Agustín Tanco completed the game with 4 strikeouts but got the loss.
• Nicaragua 9, Panama 3. Sandy Bermudez collected 3 hits, and Wilfredo Piner pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings to get the win.
• Japan 2, South Korea 1. In a pitcher's duel, Ji-seob Lim pitched 9 innings with 7 strikeouts, but he ended up with a no-decision because Keisuke Honda struck out 12 in 8 innings. Hiroaki Saiuchi forced Tae-hoon Lee to ground into a double play in the 10th inning, then Japan walked it off thanks to Byeong-wook Lim's error.
• Mexico 15, Australia 8. Moisés Gutiérrez was 4-for-5 with 7 RBI including a 3-run shot, and Hector Ponce also drove in 3 runs to help Mexico win the batter's contest. Connor Macdonald collected 3 RBI for Aussies.

November 5

• Australia 9, South Korea 7. Robbie Perkins and Guy Edmonds both collected 3 RBI, and Jacob Younis got 3 hits. Australia scored 6 runs in the first two innings and got the win.
• Taiwan 10, Venezuela 0. Yi-Chung Liao fanned 6 in a 7-inning mercy-ruled shutout, and Kuan-Yu Shih homered.
• Argentina 9, Czechia 2. Jorge Gómez collected 4 hits in 6 at-bats, and Lucas Ramón completed the game with 11 strikeouts.
• Panama 3, Japan 2. Japan scored twice early, but Panama tied the game thanks to J.C. Rodríguez's RBI single. Allen Córdoba's squeeze bunt gave Panama the winning run in the 8th inning, and Tomohiro Anraku got the loss although he completed the game.
• Mexico 7, Nicaragua 4. The hosts got the win thanks to Manuel Cruz's game-winning grand slam in the 7th inning.
• South Africa 9, Austria 3. South Africa finally win their first game of the event. Rowan Ebersohn collected 3 hits, and Robert Lewis-Walker completed 6 innings with 6 Ks to get the win.

November 6

• Australia 8, Panama 4. Australia advanced to the Gold Medal game with a clutch win against Panama. Connor Macdonald hit a game-winning 3-run shot in the 5th inning.
• Japan 3, Mexico 2. Daiki Aoyama fanned 9 in 7 innings, but Samuel Zazueta also completed 8 innings without allowing a earned run. In the 9th inning, Tomo Otosaka reached base due to an error, and Francisco Haro made a fatal throwing error. Otosaka scored, and Japan advanced to the finals.
• South Korea 13, Nicaragua 8. Byeong-wook Lim extended his elite performance as he hit a 3-run shot in the 5th inning, and Chae-heung Choi pitched 6 2/3 innings with 7 Ks to get the win.
• Venezuela 15, Austria 3. Luis Monasterio and Frank Tineo both collected 3 RBI, and Francisco Chaparro completed the game with 5 strikeouts. Federico Schultze knocked in all 3 runs for Austria.
• Taiwan 10, Czechia 0. Taiwan finished the consolation round with 3 straight shutouts. Kai-Hsiang Hsu fanned 8 in 5 innings, and Chung-Ting Chen hit a homer.
• Argentina 15, South Africa 7. Agustín Tissera went 4-for-5 with 4 RBI, and he was a homer shy of a cycle.

November 7

• South Korea 5, Panama 3. Woo-jun Shim drove in 2 runs with a clutch double, and Sung-gon Jung completed the game with 4 strikeouts to help South Korea win the Bronze.
• Japan 10, Australia 3. Yusuke Masago homered again and led Japan, which scored double-digit runs to win Gold; he was named the MVP of the event. Taishi Hirooka also homered with 3 RBI, and Keisuke Honda struck out 5 in 2 shutout innings. Aaron Whitefield was 4-for-4 and drove in 2 of Australia's 3 runs.

Awards

• MVP: Yusuke Masago, Japan OF
• Outstanding Defensive Player: Tae-jin Kim, South Korea

All-World Team

• SP: Ji-seob Lim, South Korea
• RP: Josh Guyer, Australia
• C: Carlos Mendivil, Mexico
• 1B: Connor Macdonald, Australia
• 2B: Tae-jin Kim, South Korea
• SS: Jacob Younis, Australia
• 3B: Tung-Hua Yueh, Taiwan
• OF: Yusuke Masago, Japan
• OF: Byeong-wuk Lim, South Korea
• OF: Kengo Takeda, Japan
• DH: Guy Edmonds, Australia