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A furious late-game offensive onslaught erased any anxiety caused by a slow start in Australia’s 12-3 win over Italy in their last game of the 2025 U-18 World Cup.

Italy scored three unearned runs in the third inning to build an early 3-0 advantage.

But Australia turned it on, powering home with an eight-run fourth and three run fifth to put the game beyond doubt.

Australia finishes the tournament in eighth position and a 4-4 overall record.

It’s Australia’s best result at an U-18 World Cup since 2019, and two positions higher than their current world ranking of ten.

A nine-run second inning helped Australia dispatch South Africa 13-2 in the Placement Round at the Under-18 World Cup.

The big inning came at just the right time.

South Africa jumped the Aussies and led 2-0 after the first inning.

Australia responded by sending 13 batters to the plate in the second inning, tallying six hits, scoring nine times and taking advantage of four South African errors.

Josh Nati provided the getaway moment with a two-RBI double to right field to push the score to 6-2.

Seven different Australians recorded at least one base hit on Friday afternoon.

Tournament Hub: Follow Australia at the U18 World Cup

Lead-off man Will Hardy led the way.

The shortstop went 3-for-3 with two RBI, two runs, a hit-by-pitch and turned two double plays in the field.

Lachlan Vella and Devin Leahy also had a pair of hits.

Australia scored twice in both the third and fourth innings to push the game to run rule territory.

BOX SCORE: Stats and Plays vs South Africa

Deakin Filko pitched the first inning for Australia and gave up two runs. Ashton Kennedy pitched the next 3.0 frames, allowing just one hit, one walk and no runs.

Nate Quigg struck out the side to seal it.

The win moves Australia to 2-2 in the Placement Round. They play Italy (3-1) tomorrow at 11:30AM AEST.

A victory over the Italians by three or more runs guarantees an eighth place finish for Australia at the tournament.

CURRENT PLACEMENT ROUND STANDINGS

Head to WBSC Website for Up-To-Date Info and Super Round standings.

PLACEMENT ROUND STANDINGS

Australia is now in the Placement Round fighting for valuable world ranking points between 7-12.

Australia can finish as high as eighth in the tournament with a win over Italy by 3+ runs.

7. Cuba 4-0
8. Italy 3-1
9. Germany 2-2
10. Australia 2-2
11. China 1-3
12. South Africa 0-4

WATCH LIVE

All of Team Australia’s games will be broadcast live and free on Baseball+ (geoblocked), Australia’s baseball streaming service.

To watch any other game of the tournament, or to watch Australia outside of the country, head to Gametime.sport.

WHERE TO FOLLOW

Stories, photos, quotes and highlights will be posted on Team Australia Baseball social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook and X. We post the Top Plays and a Mini-Match of each game on YouTube.

A game recap will follow on this page.

You can grab the most recent information and standings at our Tournament Hub: www.baseball.com.au/u18worldcup.

A one run loss to Cuba at a World Cup. It’s a sentence that’s become all too familiar for Australian baseball players.

File this under the category of “heartbreaker.”

Cuba sealed victory on a passed ball in a second extra inning to walk Australia off in the first game of the Placement Round at the 2025 U-18 World Cup. Final score: 2-1.

Australia were millimetres away from scoring the potential winning runs.

Twice.

But, a pair of phenomenal two-out, extra-inning defensive plays from Cuban infielders foiled Australia, kept runs off the board, and propelled the Latin Americans to victory.

The first: Eighth inning, two outs, runners on second and third. Matt Trainor appeared to have a sure base hit dumped into shallow right field but second baseman Leandro Perez had other ideas. He went full super man to rob a base hit.

The second: Ninth inning, two outs, runners on second and third. William Hardy laced a ground ball that looked to find a gap near shortstop.  Infielder Jonathan Moreno laid out to trap the ball. He bounced up, and fired across to first to end the inning.

In hindsight, Hardy appeared to have beat out the throw and was safe at first. A run would have scored, but Australia had already used their challenge and the ruling on the field stood.

Credit to Cuba.

BOX SCORE: Stats and Plays vs Cuba

To add a little salt to the wound, Australia had their opportunities.

In total, they left ten runners on base.

Australia had bases loaded and nobody out in both the first and sixth inning. Just one run was scored – a sixth inning sacrifice from James McFarlane.

Australia thought they had a 2-0 lead at one point. In fact, the scoreboard flashed that very line when Josh Nati appeared to have hit a two-run homer.

It was over turned. Ground rule double.

Full credit to Australian pitching. They were plucky. They were clutch. They gave the Green and Gold every chance to win.

Let’s start with Damien Wilson, who turned in his second outstanding start of the tournament.

Wilson chucked 5.0 innings with 4 hits, 1 earned run, six strikeouts and no walks. It came just five days after an eerily similar stat line vs Panama.

Tournament Hub: Follow Australia at the U18 World Cup

Kristian Haeusler stepped up in trying circumstances.

Haeusler entered the game with bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth and nobody out. He delivered a sacrifice fly, infield fly and ground out allowed Australia to escape allowing just the one run.

Haeusler worked the first two outs in the seventh before Australia’s fourth pitcher of the game, Matt Trainor, managed to induce a fly ball to force extras.

In the bottom of the first extra inning, Trainor navigated runners on first and second with nobody out. He retired the Cubans with a sacrifice bunt and two shallow fly balls.

Other bright spots include Eita Samukawa, who led Australia with a 2-for-3, 1 BB stat line.

Australia drops to 1-2 in the Super Round with games to come against South Africa and Italy. Cuba improves to 3-0.

CURRENT PLACEMENT ROUND STANDINGS

Australia is now in the Placement Round fighting for valuable world ranking points between 7-12. 

Head to WBSC Website for Up-To-Date Info and Super Round standings.

PLACEMENT ROUND STANDINGS

7. Cuba 3-0
8. Italy 2-1
9. Germany 2-1
10. Australia 1-2
11. China 1-2
12. South Africa 0-3

WATCH LIVE

All of Team Australia’s games will be broadcast live and free on Baseball+ (geoblocked), Australia’s baseball streaming service.

To watch any other game of the tournament, or to watch Australia outside of the country, head toGametime.sport.

WHERE TO FOLLOW

Stories, photos, quotes and highlights will be posted on Team Australia Baseball social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook and X. We post the Top Plays and a Mini-Match of each game on YouTube.

A game recap will follow on this page.

You can grab the most recent information and standings at our Tournament Hub:www.baseball.com.au/u18worldcup.

Australia’s Super Round hopes at the Under-18 World Cup came to an end with a 11-1 loss to the USA on Tuesday morning.

To beat a team like the USA you have to be nearly perfect. The Australians were far from it.

Australia (2-3) made five errors in the field, hit three batters and walked five in the loss.
The game was closer than the score indicates.

It was 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth, large in part to a wonderful 3.1 innings of shutout relief baseball from Ethan Bickel.

Tournament Hub: Follow Australia at the U18 World Cup

However, there were two wonky innings Australia may wish to have back.

USA scored three runs in the second inning where only two balls left the infield. Both of those balls were caught for outs.

The Americans scored their three off three walks, a hit-by-pitch and two errors.

USA scored seven runs in the sixth – all with two outs on the board. Two more errors, two more hit-by-pitches, and three walks helped plate the final runs.

BOX SCORE: Stats and Plays vs the USA

The USA outhit Australia 7-2.

Australia scored their lone run in the fifth off a wild pitch with the bases loaded. Ben Nesbit and Matt Trainor had the base hits for Australia.

All three American pitchers used had a mid-90s fastball.

The USA finish Pool Play with a perfect 5-0 record. They’ve outscored opponents 53-4.

Australia will head to the Placement Round and will begin with a 1-1 or 2-0 record. The schedule has yet to be determined.

CURRENT STANDINGS

Top three advance to Super Round. Each team plays five games. Standings accurate as of 6:00PM on September 8.

Head to WBSC Website for Up-To-Date Info.

Pool A

Japan 4-0
Puerto Rico 3-1
Cuba 2-2
Korea 2-1
South Africa 0-3
Italy 0-4

Pool B (Australia’s Group)

Remaining games in parenthesis. *clinched Super Round

USA 5-0*
Chinese Taipei 3-1*
Germany 2-2
Australia 2-3
Panama 2-3
China 0-5

WATCH LIVE

All of Team Australia’s games will be broadcast live and free on Baseball+ (geoblocked), Australia’s baseball streaming service.

To watch any other game of the tournament, or to watch Australia outside of the country, head toGametime.sport.

WHERE TO FOLLOW

Stories, photos, quotes and highlights will be posted on Team Australia Baseball social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook and X. We post the Top Plays and a Mini-Match of each game on YouTube.

A game recap will follow on this page.

You can grab the most recent information and standings at our Tournament Hub:www.baseball.com.au/u18worldcup.

Team Australia’s games at the upcoming WBSC U-18 World Cup presented by RAXUS will stream live and free on Baseball+ in Australia.

Baseball+ is the home of Australian baseball, featuring the ABL, national championships and select international tournaments.

The platform has more than 55,000 subscribers and is available in the Apple and Google Play stores. Fans can also watch on the web via plus.baseball.com.au.

TOURNAMENT HUB: Follow Australia at the World Cup

Team Australia’s World Cup games will be free to watch on Baseball+ (geoblocked to Australia), while all other tournament games can be viewed worldwide on WBSC’s streaming platform Gametime.Sport.

We thank WBSC for providing coverage with commentary in an effort to grow the game in Australia.

For full tournament details, visit the WBSC Tournament Hub. Australia’s schedule is below, with the full roster available here.

TEAM AUSTRALIA SCHEDULE

Sept 5 – vs Germany, 11:30am AEST
Sept 6 – vs Panama, 11:30am AEST
Sept 7 – vs China, 11:30am AEST
Sept 8 – vs Chinese Taipei, 3:30pm AEST
Sept 9 – vs USA, 11:30am AEST
Super Round, schedule TBD: Sept 11–14

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Head to https://baseball.com.au/baseballplus/ for casting instructions.

On the night players from Australia’s Under-18 roster were informed they made they made the prestigious World Cup squad, longtime senior team member Sam Holland surprised the group for a chat.

He brought with him something incredibly special and deeply personal to this country’s baseball community – an Australian flag with a unique history.

“What I showed the players was the Senior Team’s Australian flag. It has the signatures of our past and present senior team players, with the earliest dating back to 2004,” says Holland. “It is there at all Team Australia names and embodies the respect and passion we all share when we put on the uniform.”

The message was simple. From a senior Team Australia member to the up-and-coming players in our sport – you are part of family, and nothing will change that.

“It was awesome to share this small piece of our country’s more recent baseball history with the U18 group. It was also mentioned that there is plenty of space left to be filled and if they continue to play the game the right way and represent our country with pride and passion, they may one day get the privilege of adding there names right there beside some of our nation’s greats,” says Holland.

When you’re part of Australian baseball community you’re part of a family.

This is represented on the national team’s uniform, with an indigenous designed emblem telling exactly that story and presenting a message of community, gathering and sharing knowledge between generations.

This Under 18 World Cup squad playing this week in Tawian has more than a few more family links. This is in the literal and metaphorical sense – the next generation is quite literally coming through.

Let’s look at infielder Nic Paparella. The South Australian infielder is about to put on the Green & Gold at World Cup for the first time. He’s following in the footsteps of his father Mark, who also played for Australia’s Under 18 team in 1995.

Mark flourished in the 1995 World Cup, helping Australia to a Bronze Medal, and being named to the tournament’s All Star team.

Above: Mark Paparella in 1995.

“It’s pretty uncanny,” said Mark to an Adelaide newspaper this week. “Chinese Taipei has always been huge in baseball – we actually played against them in the bronze medal games all those year ago.”

Mark says Nic has the potential to do more damage than himself.

“Nic’s a bit bigger than me,” says Mark. “He’s got a bit more pop.”

Other generational links from South Australia? Jack Bushell’s father James played baseball for the Adelaide Giants in the 1990s. His mum Selena won a bronze medal in softball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

“The reason I started playing was because dad played baseball and mum played softball, I didn‘t really have an option,” Jack Bushell told CODE Sports earlier in the week.

The most famous link of all comes from the West.

Under 18 member Jai Hewitt is following in the footsteps of his dad Jason, who doesn’t need much of an introduction to Australian baseball fans.

Jason became the youngest player selected for the Australian National Team in the 1994 Baseball World Cup held in Managua, Nicaragua. He also played for Australia at the 1996 Olympics, was an ABL All Star in 1998 (Perth Heat), a Heat MVP and a three-time Claxton Shield winner.

“My dad definitely influenced me to play,” says young Jai. “My goal is to play for the Perth Heat in the ABL, [like my Dad].”

Victorian infielder Jayden Kim comes from great stocks, too. His dad David played in the Australian Baseball League and is now a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He wasn’t forced into anything, but fell in love with the game. After exploring other sports, Jayden landed on baseball, he told a local newspaper.

“I began playing when I was 10 years old after a short stint playing soccer and tennis. I like them both but I love baseball,” he said.

Jack Ratcliffe’s (VIC) father played for Team Australia at a World Cup too.

“I first started playing baseball at age 6 at Upwey Ferntree Gully Baseball Club [in Vic],” Ratcliffe says.  “I wanted to follow my dad’s footsteps and aspire to be like him and represent Australia.”

How about the literal brotherly connection? Josh Nati’s brother James played for an U15 Australian side a few years ago. Jimmy now plays college baseball in the USA at high-end Pac-12 program Stanford.

But family links don’t just have to come from past Team Australia members. There are other ways people found their way into the game. And once you’re part of the Australian Baseball community, you become family.

Koby Chesterton’s father played baseball so he signed up his son to play t-ball in the ACT. Now he’s the only U18 national team member from the Capital.

Benjamin Karakasis (NSW) watched his brother play. That’s how he started.

Other kids like Tom Chessell had their parents sign them up. Now, he’s in Taiwan playing for his country.

Lachlan Smith stumbled upon the game when at a friend’s ninth birthday party. Who would have thought that part would have led Smith to representing Australia?

“You never know where baseball can take you,” says Baseball Australia’s high performance manager Andrew Riddell. “The powerful thing here is that when you put on that Green & Gold you are forever and always part of that special family. Teams are bonded by it.”

Riddell says the night of the team selection was moving.

“It was a big deal,” he says. “We had a cool video where we had previous players from U18 teams – guys from 2019 and 2022, some of them are playing pro now – send us a video congratulation the players on making the team and wishing them luck. You could just tell how much it meant.”

This family goes to battle as a unit starting Thursday night in front of an anticipated full house vs tournament hosts Taiwan. Australia plays five games in the six-team Pool A of the Under 18 World Cup. They need to finish Top 3 to advance to the Super Round to contend for a medal.

You can watch all games via the WBSC’s streaming service at www.gametime.sport.

First pitch is 8:30PM AEST Thursday night vs. Taiwan. You can read all our stories on the U18 team at our International Hub.

Queenslander Brandan Bidois has signed with Pittsburgh after impressing in Team Australia’s fourth-place finish at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in South Korea this month.

The right-hander picked up two wins and allowed just two earned runs with nine strikeouts in 13 innings during starts against China and Japan.

Team Australia was unable to cap off an impressive WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup with a bronze medal, falling to South Korea 6-5 in the third-place playoff on Sunday afternoon.

Australia fell behind early but bravely fought on, taking the lead in the eighth before succumbing to the hosts on a ninth-inning homer at Gijang-Hyundai Dream Ballpark.

Team Australia will look to claim its first WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup medal since 2010 when it faces hosts South Korea in the 2019 bronze medal game from 1pm AEST.

Australia clinched its spot in the third-place playoff with a stunning 4-1 win over world number one Japan yesterday and will be hoping to inflict a second defeat of the World Cup on South Korea at Gijang-Hyundai Dream Ballpark.

Team Australia will play for bronze at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup after overcoming Japan 4-1 on Saturday afternoon to secure their place in the third-place playoff.

They will face South Korea, who they beat 1-0 last Saturday, at midday (local time) tomorrow after finishing the super round with an impressive victory at Gijang-Hyundai Dream Ballpark II.