2025 U-18 Baseball World Cup

The 2025 U-18 Baseball World Cup began September 5, 2025 in Naha, Okinawa Japan. Participating were Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Panama, the US, Germany, China, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Cuba and Italy.

Games

September 5

• USA 9, Panama 0. Giovanni Rojas, Kaden Waechter and Cole Koeniger combine on a six-hitter. SS Aiden Ruiz has 3 hits and CF Anthony Murphy 3 runs. José Serva takes the loss.
• Germany 5, Australia 4. C Felix Ströll had 3 hits and Samuel Redle defeated Riley Puckett.
• South Korea 5, Puerto Rico 2. LF Ji-ho Park goes 3-for-3 with 3 RBI from the 9th spot and Yo-han Choi goes 4 2/3 hitless innings of relief (8 K) for the win, saved by Tae-yang Lee. 1B Emanuel Hernandez hits a two-run homer as the second batter of the game but that's it for Puerto Rico. Ethan De Jesus gets the decision.
• Cuba 10, South Africa 0. Leandro Forteza flings a one-hitter in a five-inning mercy rule win. RF Joshua Botha gets the lone hit for his team, while Aiden Mckenzie is handed the defeat.
• Japan 4, Italy 1. Shota Morishita and Saku Hayase strike out 9 and SS Hyuma Okabe (1 for 1, 3 BB, 2 R) provides the spark at the top of the order. 2B Pablo Suarez drives in LF Federico De Cristan with Italy's lone run. Filippo Brunelli is the losing pitcher.
• Taiwan 7, China 0. I-En Chung, Chien-Fan Lai and Lan-Hong Su strike out 15 in a two-hitter, topping Weiyi Liu. 2B Cheng-Hao Wu has 3 walks and 3 runs.

September 6

• Australia 4, Panama 1. Ethan Bickel saves Damien Wilson's win over Roderick Medina. 1B Josh Nati produces three of Australia's four runs while 1B Caleb Rivera drives in SS William Cutshall with the lone Panamanian run.
• Puerto Rico 9, South Africa 1. DH Adniel Quiles scores 3 times and Richard De Jesus and Yandiel Reyes strike out 13. 2B Jordan Pinto drives in C Aydee Osman with South Africa's first run of the event. Jaden Du Perez got the loss.
• Cuba 8, Italy 0. SS Jonathan Moreno and DH Juan Gutierrez each have 3 hits, which is the same number Italy manages off Edenis Cruz and Richard Bouquet. Alessandro Gamberini is the losing hurler, while 1B Daniele Di Persia has two of Italy's three hits.
• Germany 9, China 3. Jona Widmann and Pepe Stockhaus team up on a one-hitter and SS Alessandro Carrasquilla raps three hits. Yuchang Hu gets the decision for China and PH Wenlong Liu has their hit.
• Japan 4, South Korea 2. 1B Kazuki Takahata goes 3-for-3 while Genki Ishigaki saves Ryosuke Sueyoshi's win over Jun-hyun Park.
• USA 4, Taiwan 0. Carson Bolemon and Jared Grindlinger strike out 13 in a combined no-hitter against the defending Silver Medal winners. 1B Coleman Borthwick produces three runs without a hit. Jen-Yu Liu gets the defeat.

September 7

• Puerto Rico 6, Italy 2. Keniel Miranda throws four shutout innings and 2B Juan Carlos Pacheco Jr. draws 3 walks from the leadoff spot, scoring twice. The teams combine for 17 walks and 7 hits. DH Alessandro Garavaglia has two of Italy's three hits and Mattia Muscio gets the loss.
• Australia 15, China 3. Nate Quigg saves Deakin Filko's win over Weiyu Liu. 2B Eita Samukawa scores four runs and 1B Matthew Trainor drives in four.
• Japan 3, Cuba 0. After two blowout wins, Cuba goes down to two-hit pitching by Kenshin Shimoshige, Ikki Nishimura and Raito Okumura. Diosdenys Pentón takes the defeat.
• USA 9, Germany 3. SS Aiden Ruiz has 3 RBI and Trey Rangel goes 3 hitless innings to save Matthew Sharman's victory against Matthias Bulmann in Germany's first loss.
• Taiwan 2, Panama 1. Shih-Chan Chen and Joel Gonzalez trade goose eggs for 4 1/2 innings before Taiwan scores in the 5th. Panama gets one off Lan-Hong Su in the top of the 7th, but in the bottom of the inning, DH Yu-Hao Chang drives in C Ting-Yi Chiang with the winner.
• South Korea vs. South Africa suspended in process.

September 8

• USA 10, China 0. Christopher Samson pitches a one-hitter with no walks in a five-inning mercy rule rout; P/RF Yitong Li has China's hit but also takes the loss. 1B Coleman Borthwick goes 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs and two RBI.
• Puerto Rico 1, Cuba 0. Ethan De Jesus and Pablo Figueroa hand Cuba their second straight two-hit whitewash to outduel Marlon García, who also yields just two hits. 1B Emanuel Hernandez plates C Jorhan Castro in the 4th with the game's only run.
• Taiwan 10, Australia 2. Yi-Shiang Wang pitches four shutout innings for the win and #9 hitter RF Kai-Qi Li hits a 3-run triple. Riley Puckett gets the loss. LF/P Matthew Trainor and DH/P Ashton Kennedy each have 3 hits for the Aussies.
• Panama 14, Germany 0. Hector Aguilar pitches a five-inning mercy rule no-hitter to beat Emilio Götz. 2B Ricardo Acosta goes 3-for-3 with 3 RBI.
• Japan 10, South Africa 0. In another five-inning mercy rule shutout, Daito Nakano strikes out 9 in a 4-hitter to top Tristan Fradd. 1B Takumu Imaoka has two runs and two RBI.
• South Korea 8, Italy 0. 3B Ji-seok Kim reaches all four times but the bigger story is the second no-hitter of the day as Dong-kun Shin, Tae-yang Lee and Jun-san Eom blank Italy. 2B Pablo Suarez draws Italy's lone walk. Alessandro Gamberini takes the defeat.

September 9

• USA 11, Australia 1. Ten different Americans score and Coleman Borthwick strikes out 6 in 3 hitless innings. Brody Crane defeats Patrick Crotty.
• Panama 12, China 5. SS William Cutshall has 4 hits and 4 RBI, while DH Caleb Rivera scores four and Jose Serva allows one run in five. Zijian Zheng is the losing pitcher and RF Yitong Li goes 4-for-4 for China.
• South Korea 3, Cuba 0. Joel Kim and Ji-sung Park strike out 13 in a one-hitter, defeating Leandro Forteza. 3B Daniel Santos gets Cuba's hit.
• Italy 5, South Africa 4. Federico Magalotti saves Filippo Brunelli's win over Stiaan Henning. 3B Daniele Di Persia and 1B Patrick Silva each have two hits and two runs for Italy; 2B Jordan Pinto drives in two for Africa.
• Japan 3, Puerto Rico 0. Raito Okumura, Saku Hayase and Ikki Nishimura combine on a four-hitter, fanning 11. Allen Borrero takes the loss.
• Taiwan 8, Germany 4. I-En Chung, Chien-Fan Lai, Lan-Hong Su and Chun-Hsi Lin strike out 21 in 8 innings; it is 4-4 after the regulation 7 innings but Taiwan scores 4 in the 8th. Finn Niemeyer is the losing pitcher. RF Jakub Huber has 3 hits and 3 runs for the Europeans.

September 10

• South Korea 17, South Africa 0. RF Ji-won An drives in 5 and all 12 South Korean position players used score a run as the suspended game from 3 days earlier is concluded as a 5-inning mercy rule romp. Joel Kim, Jun-sung Park and Jae-in Shin hold South Africa to one hit (by SS Aiden McKenzie). Jayden Clarke suffers the defeat.

September 11

• China 11, South Africa 3. In a matchup of winless teams, China prevails. C Xin Zhao scores 3, CF Haonan Chen drives in 3 and Weiyu Lu beats Tristan Fradd. Backup 3B Jaden Du Preez gets two hits for South Africa.
• Puerto Rico 3, Panama 1. Yandiel Reyes saves Keniel Miranda's win against Joel Gonzalez. LF Kail Pena produces all 3 of Puerto Rico's runs.
• Italy 4, Germany 2. Santiago Arismendi throws four hitless innings of relief for the victory, defeating Jona Widmann. RF Aldo Pavarani and 2B Pablo Suarez each score twice.
• Cuba 2, Australia 1. It is 1-1 entering the 9th before SS Jonathan Moreno scores the winning run on an error. Edurman Cruz and Matthew Trainor get the decisions.
• South Korea 8, Taiwan 1. CF Jae-hwan Oh scores three times from the leadoff spot and Yo-han Choi, Ji-sung Park and Hyun-seung Ha contain Taiwan's hitters. Jen-Yu Liu takes the loss.
• Japan 6, USA 2. Two unbeaten teams square off and Carson Boleman blanks Japan for six as the US leads 1-0; Ryosuke Sueyoshi also turned in a strong start (4 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R). Japan ties it in the 7th off Jared Grindlinger and Trey Rangel then scores five in the 8th off Rangel and Cole Koeniger. SS Hyuma Okabe drives in 3.

September 12

• Italy 6, China 3. RF Aldo Pavarani reaches every time and produces four runs, while DH Daniele Di Persia drives in 3. Mattia Muscio and Ivan Larice strike out 10. P/1B Zijian Zheng goes 2-for-3 with a run and a RBI but doesn't fare as well on the mound, taking the loss.
• Cuba 4, Germany 3. DH Javier Zambrano produces 3 runs and Leandro Forteza defeats Jules Moser; Edenis Cruz saves it.
• Australia 13, South Africa 2. SS William Hardy goes 3-for-3 with 2 runs and 2 RBI and Ashton Kennedy gets the win against Jaden Du Perez. CF Joshua Botha has a 2-for-2 day for South Africa, scoring once.
• Taiwan 1, Puerto Rico 0. Neither team allows a run through 8 as Shih-Chan Chen and Chien-Fan Lai combine on a two-hitter and Richard De Jesus and Joniel Miranda allow one hit through 8. In the 9th, RF Kai-Qi Li singles in the runner who started aboard due to the extra innings rule.
• USA 1, South Korea 0. Giovanni Rojas keeps up the two-hitter trend, striking out 10, and RF Christopher Sampson drives in SS Aiden Ruiz with the lone US run off Tae-yang Lee and company.
• Japan 6, Panama 5. It is 1-1 through 7 then each team scores 4 in the 8th inning before Japan plates the winner in the 9th on a bunt hit by SS Hyuma Okabe. Daito Nakao gets the win, Joshua Martinez the loss.

September 13

• South Africa 6, Germany 4. South Africa gets their lone win, upsetting Germany, Stiaan Henning defeating Jakub Huber with Caelum Stroberg saving it. 1B Junaid Bedford has 3 hits and SS Liam Van Der Westhuizen drives in 3.
• Australia 12, Italy 3. SS William Hardy has 3 hits, 1B Josh Nati 3 RBI and LF Christian Lane 3 runs while Mitchell Evans, Ethan Bickel and Patrick Crotty fan 11. Italy leads most of the game, 3-0, after 5, before fading. Filippo Brunelli is the losing hurler.
• Cuba 10, China 0. Edenis Cruz and Diosdenys Penton two-hit China while Cuba goes to town on Yuchang Hu and the bullpen. LF Yordan Artiles reaches all four times and produces four runs.
• USA 7, Puerto Rico 0. Matthew Sharman and Cole Koeniger throw a two-hitter as well, with four runs produced by RF Brody Schumaker. Joniel Cuadrado gets the decision.
• South Korea 9, Panama 0. CF Jae-won Oh keeps up the streak of four-runs-produced games by an outfielder, while Jun-hyun Park, Jun-sung Park and Jun-sang Eom throw a three-hitter to end the streak of two-hitters. Hector Aguilar gets the loss.
• Japan 9, Taiwan 1. Japan rides a balanced offense and balanced pitching in a win, the decisions going to Daito Nakano and Yi-An Chang.

September 14

• Bronze Medal Game: Taiwan 3, South Korea 2. DH Geon-hwi Kim hits a two-run homer to give Korea a 2-1 lead in the 5th but Taiwan scores in the 6th to even it up. In the 7th, RF Kai-Qi Li singles off Hyun-seung Ha and 1B Shen-En Zeng bunts into a force at second. He advances on a grounder then Ji-sung Park relieves Ha. C Ting-Yi Chiang greets him with a single, scoring Zeng with the winner after a controversial call at the home plate. Lan-Hong Su gets the victory.
• USA 2, Japan 0. Coleman Borthwick dominates the previously unbeaten Japanese team with a three-hitter while the US scrapes together a couple of runs off Ryosuke Sueyoshi and Genki Ishigaki. LF Jaden Jackson reaches all three times and drives in a run.

Final Standings

1. USA
2. Japan
3. Taiwan
4. South Korea
5. Puerto Rico
6. Panama
7. Cuba
8. Australia
9. Italy
10. Germany
11. South Africa
12. China

Awards

• MVP: Coleman Borthwick, USA P
• Outstanding Defensive Player: Jonathan Moreno, Cuba SS

All-Star Team

• P: Giovanni Rojas, USA
• C: William Brick, USA
• 1B: Sheng-En Zeng, Taiwan
• 2B: Ryota Okumura, Japan
• SS: Aiden Ruiz, USA
• 3B: Grady Emerson, USA
• OF: Ji-ho Park, South Korea
• OF: Luis Rivera, Panama
• OF: Kai-Qi Li, Taiwan
• DH: Carlos Castillo, Panama