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The first phase of the 2026 U15 World Cup is complete for Team Australia in Mexico.

While Team Australia will not play for a medal in the Super Round, the three upcoming Placement Round games still represent a huge opportunity in a lot of facets of the game – and life.

One area is player development. This group of young men has a chance to continue to bond, refine their skills, implement Team Australia foundations and represent their country.

The other is in terms of World Ranking Points, which helps determine the national program’s place in the global game. WBSC World Rankings take into account events at all levels: Qualifiers, Exhibitions, U12, U15, U18, U23, Premier12 and WBC. Where Australia finishes here has an impact on the national team program as a whole.

Australia’s previous showing in this tournament, back in 2018, resulted in a ninth-place finish. Australia has not finished higher than ninth at a U15 World Cup since the tournament was brought under the WBSC banner in 2012. Coincidentally, that’s where Australia is ranked now.

WATCH THE TOURNAMENT LIVE: On Gametime.sport around the world and DAZN in Australia.

Australia moves to the six-team Placement Round with two other nations from Pool B (Venezuela and Czechia) and three from Pool A (Cuba, Germany and South Africa).

Team Australia will play the three teams from Pool A from October 1-3. Results against Venezuela and Czechia carry over. Therefore, the standings look like this:

7. Venezuela 2-0 (World #5)
8. Cuba 2-0 (World #12)
9. Australia 1-1 (World #9)
10. Germany 1-1 (World #17)
11. Czechia 0-2 (World #15)
12. South Africa 0-2 (World #23)

The upcoming schedule can be seen in the graphic below:

It’s effectively a battle of who can finish the highest and who can bring home the most ranking points for their country.

Competition has been stiff. Eight different pitchers from Pool B opponents were clocked at 90+ miles per hour. There are future Major Leaguers here. In the past, household baseball names like Yordan Alvarez, Brice Turang and Luis Arráez have played in this event.

Australian manager Andy Kyle says it’s been an educational week for the players.

“There have been a lot of learning moments for the playing group during the first week,” says Kyle. “Exposure to the speed of the game and what it demands at this level has been the biggest challenge so far.”

We reviewed each game below as a refresher, with some quotes, highlights and key numbers.

Despite some challenging results, Kyle says the group should feel good about their chances in the Placement Round games.

“We have shown we have the ability. Self belief and performance consistency for 7 innings and 21 outs will be a focus as we prepare for the final few games,” he says.

Here’s a summary of what’s been going on, some key players and what to look for:

POOL B GAMES – A SUMMARY

Watch online: You can watch all games in the Placement Round on Gametime.sport online, or if you have a subscription to DAZN in Australia, the games are available there. Australia’s remaining schedule is further down in the article.

GAME 1: Loss 11-1 to Venezuela

A tricky start for the Aussies, who threatened with multiple base runners early but couldn’t convert. Venezuela exploded for seven runs in the final three innings.

The big story in this game? Errors. It prompted Kyle to state that the team needed to limit free bases.

Bodhi Evans was a standout. He went 2-for-2 with a double.

GAME 2: Win 9-2 over Czechia

Australia looked much more settled here. This game was played in sweltering conditions — weather reports said it ‘felt like’ 42 during the game despite being 34 on the dial.

Australia did a good job of pressuring Czech defenders by putting balls in play and running wild on the base paths. It forced Czechia to make mistakes.

The Aussies scored four in the first and four in the last in their 9-2 win. Victoria’s Jacob Tayler was the catalyst. He had three hits and stole four bases.

George Steer turned in a tremendous effort in relief. Czechia tried to push its way back into the game, but the Geelong pitcher tossed 2.2 shutout innings in middle relief to shut down any Czech opportunity. He built off a solid outing from starter Noah McCabe who yielded no earned runs in his effort (pictured below).

Pitching coach Kai Meuronen praised Steer’s efforts after the game, saying he loved how he “just threw strikes” and really helped settle the team.

Meuronen said he thought Australia did a “good job of adjusting to the speed of the game [vs Czechia]. I think we were caught a little off guard.”

Credit to the Australian pitching combo of Noah McCabe (below), Steer and Harrison Thomas-McLean. They combined to allow just one hit in the win.

GAME 3: Loss 23-0 to USA

One to put in the rearview mirror. The USA piled on 14 runs in an error-prone third inning.

“You can’t give away free bases and extra opportunities at this level,” said Kyle after the game.

There are some genuine stars on this USA squad. At this point in the tournament, they had scored runs in every offensive inning so far and outscored opponents 42-2. In ten years, it’s almost certain we will look back and say some MLB All-Star(s) played in this game. You only have to look at recent history.

Notable American alumni from this tournament include Freddie Freeman (2005), Francisco Lindor (2009), Royce Lewis (2014), Hunter Greene (2014), Anthony Volpe (2016) and Brice Turang (2014). There will be more as players establish themselves as Major Leaguers.

Still, the game — particularly the big inning — was described as “unacceptable” from Australia’s perspective.

“We had some very honest conversations,” said Kyle. “Not negative, but just honest, about the individuals, learning and taking the next step. It is a learning experience.”

GAME 4: Loss 17-5 to Nicaragua

Things started rocky. Australia looked a bit stiff early, giving up five runs to a Nicaraguan side riding an emotional high after a 10-5 win over Venezuela. Nicaragua, needing to win to advance to the Super Round, ultimately took care of business.

Australia showed great signs of life, however. Down 8-1 in the fifth, Australia strung together a late rally thanks to two-RBI singles from Cruize Chase-Takapua and Beau Stockdale.

They also showed glimpses of the playmaking ability they possess. Catcher Bodhi Evans threw out a runner at second. Left-fielder Rylan Ottaway threw out a runner from left field, check that one out below.

Ultimately, Australia threw out three base runners and turned a key double play, but free bases are still way too big of an issue. Eight walks, two hit-by-pitches and four errors is a combined 1,260 feet of bases — aka 14 free bases — that simply harm a team too much.

GAME 5: Loss 8-0 to Chinese Taipei

Australia hung tight for the first four innings, trailing the World No. 2 by just one run after four.

Chase Crew tossed 3.0 innings, allowing one run off four hits in one of the team’s better starts of the tournament. Seb Watts tagged out a runner at home off a nice play during a rundown from first and second, while Beau Stockdale finished off a nice play by Harrison Thomas-McLean to tag out a runner trying to advance from third.

Beau Stockdale took the team lead in hits with his sixth (pictured below).

A mission was to limit free bases, and the pitching combo of Crew, Noah McCabe, Cale Morris and Hugh Kelly walked just one combined.

“ I thought our processes were better today and played with more conviction and belief,” said Andy Kyle after the game.

Ultimately, Chinese Taipei pulled away to advance to the Super Round.

STAT LEADERS

Full stat sheet here.

Noteworthy: Jacob Tayler co-leads the tournament in stolen bases with five.

– Team Batting Average: .195 (10th)
– Runs: 15 (10th)
– Stolen Bases: 8 (5th)
– Innings Pitched: 29.0
– Team ERA: 11.83 (11th)
– Walks: 24 (9th)
– Strikeouts: 20 (8th)
– Fielding Percentage: .894 (9th)
– Double Plays: 2
– Caught Stealing: 2

FURTHER NOTE: NOTABLE ALUMNI

For years, the U15 Baseball World Cup has offered an early look at the game’s future stars, with some of today’s biggest names first representing their countries on this stage.

The names that have passed through this age group tell the story: Freddie Freeman, Francisco Lindor, Yordan Alvarez, Luis Robert Jr., Luis Arráez and Gleyber Torres are among the players who represented their countries at this level before becoming Major League stars.

Photos courtesy of WBSC

Team Australia invites 36 baseball players to Under 18 Selection Camp in Melbourne
By Eric Balnar

Team Australia has finalised the invitations to the U18 Selection Camp at the end of September in Melbourne.

36 players from across the country will work out in Melbourne from September 20-25, with the objective of making the final 20-man roster for the U18 Oceania Championships which also act as the U18 World Cup Qualifiers later in the year.

You can view the roster below:

The selection camp will feature six days on-field structured into individual positional workouts in the morning and games in the afternoon. All of this will take place at Melbourne Ballpark and is open to the public.

Team Australia players will be in attendance to help run the program, including six with recent World Baseball Classic experience.

“This is part of the pathway to the 2027 U18 World Cup in China,” said Baseball Australia’s Player Development Manager Andrew Riddell. “But the journey started earlier this year. This group was selected from the Australian Youth Championships in January and across Driveline evaluations in each state during April.”

20 players will be named to the U18 Qualifiers roster out of selection camp. Details and schedule of the tournament have yet to be confirmed. However, we do know the event will take place in Blacktown from December 9-13, 2026.

The Qualifying Tournament has existed in a few different iterations over the years. In 2024, Australia won a best-of-five series against New Zealand. In 2022, Australia won a three-team series with Guam and New Zealand.

Final teams and tournament format will be finalised later, but WBSC Oceania features 20 members and has a spot in WBSC World Cup events.

The tournament counts for valuable World Ranking Points.

If Australia qualifies for the 2027 U18 World Cup, players across the country will be closely evaluated during the 2027 U18 Australian Youth Championships in January. From there, a squad will be picked for an August 2027 Selection Camp, where a roster for the World Cup will be selected.

“This selection camp allows us to see identified players 12 months out from an U18 World Cup as we head towards the qualifiers and then a huge 2027 for this age group,” said Riddell. “We are really looking forward to seeing all of the players compete against each other. There’s a nice mix of second-year U16 players, first-year U18 players and other standouts from the 2026 AYC.”

He credits the AYC and also evaluations run by Team Australia staff and Driveline in April as a key driver of squad selection.

“We were also able to go around to each state in April with the guys from Driveline and run evaluations and assessments of each player. The results and feedback have then shaped the winter program, and we couldn’t be more excited to now see them again in September to see the progression they have all made from January and April,” he says.

They will be guided by a number of current and former Team Australia players, including Aaron Whitefield, Chris Burke, Jarryd Dale, Sam Holland, Tim Kennelly and Josh Tols.
Riddell says this is a key cultural piece of the puzzle.

“It’s important for the younger players to be around these guys and learn from them both in a coaching aspect but also off the field and what it means to play for Team Australia,” he says. “It also shows them what a future could look like that isn’t unattainable. Learning the foundations of the Team Australia culture will just bring us closer as a community.”

The selection camp is part of a busy stretch for Team Australia. The U15 squad departs for Mexico for the U15 World Cup later in the month. The U23 World Cup is playing in Nicaragua in November. Australia also confirmed participation in the 2026 Asia Professional Baseball Championships (APBC) in November in Tokyo.

All events are worth valuable World Ranking Points.

IN SUMMARY
– 36 players have been invited to an Under-18 Qualifier Selection Camp in Melbourne;

– A 20-man roster will be named for the 2026 Under-18 Oceania Championships in Sydney in December, serving as a qualifying event for the World Cup;

– Players will continue to be evaluated in 2027 at events like the Australian Youth Championships, further Driveline programs and an August selection camp;

– Current and former Team Australia players will help administer the camp;

Team Australia manager Dave Nilsson has confirmed that Curtis Mead, Travis Bazzana and Liam Hendriks have both stated their intent to represent Australia at the 202 6 World Baseball Classic.

Guardians Prospective announced Bazzana’s intention on Tuesday, followed by the World Baseball Classic reporting Hendriks’ intent at the Winter Meetings.

The 2026 edition of the tournament will be played in March 2026, with Australia set to compete in Pool B at the Tokyo Dome. It marks a return to the site of the nation’s historic quarterfinal run in 2023.

The World Baseball Classic is the premier international baseball event, showcasing the best players in the world and providing a chance for nations to compete at full professional strength.

Hendriks, a three-time MLB All-Star and one of the most decorated Australian pitchers in history, has made a celebrated return to baseball after his 2023 battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The Perth native has enjoyed 14 seasons in Major League Baseball and is widely regarded as one of the top closers of his era.

Bazzana, one of the most exciting young talents in world baseball, is coming off a record-breaking collegiate career at Oregon State and was the 2024 first overall pick in the MLB Draft. The Sydney-born infielder previously represented Australia at youth level, the U23 World Cup and the Premier12. He has risen rapidly into one of the sport’s most recognisable prospects.

Mead has played parts of three Major League seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox. He finished strong with the White Sox in 2025 after a mid-season trade.

His news was reported by WBC Reporter Shawn Spradling.

Australia’s WBC roster will be finalised closer to the tournament, but the early commitment from two of the nation’s biggest stars marks a significant step in the build-up to 2026.

 

Team Australia and Guam have finished a five game series at the 2025 Under 23 Men’s Baseball WBSC Oceania Championships.

Australia is back in the top ten of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s Baseball World Rankings.

Australia picked up 104 points after their record ninth place finish at the U12 World Cup this week, improving their standing from 11th to 10th in the world.

It’s the first time Australia has been in the top ten since October, 2023.

It edges our ranking above traditional baseball powerhouses like Dominican Republic (11th) and Cuba (12th).

WORLD RANKINGS: View the full list from WBSC 

Australia reached as high as sixth in 2019 but COVID limited the national team’s ability to play meaningful international games for a two year stretch.

However, Australia picked up meaningful international ranking points with a quarter-final appearance at the 2023 World Baseball Classic and a seventh place at the 2024 Premier12.

Australia has collected ranking points at the U12 World Cup, U18 World Cup, U23 World Cup, Premier12, World Baseball Classic, and multiple qualifying events.

The top twelve teams at the end of 2025 gain automatic entry into the 2027 Premier12 tournament.

Australia’s next major tournament is the Under 18 World Cup in Okinawa, Japan in September.

Jason Pospishil will lead an accomplished group of Australian coaches at the 2025 Under 18 World Cup.

From September 5-14, the best Under 18-age players will compete in Okinawa, Japan for the title of World Champion.

The skipper, Jason Pospishil, brings plenty of experience to the fray.

Pospishil (below, middle left), affectionately known as ‘Pops’ in Australian baseball circles, is the current manager of Australian’s National Women’s Team (the Emeralds). He led the Emeralds during their 2023 Women’s World Cup campaign.

Pospishil coached the Under 18 Australians through the qualifiers in December, 2024.

He brings plenty of punch on his resume including:
– Current manager of the Emeralds, Australia’s national women’s team;
– Former manager of Sydney Blue Sox (ABL);
– Former MLB scout;
– Former assistant coach with Australian men’s senior team;
– Former high performance manager with BaseballNSW;
– Former professional player with the Minnesota Twins’ organisation;

“It’s always an honour and privilege to be asked to lead a team that represents your country. No matter how many times you do it, it always feels the same,” says Pospishil

Joining Pops on his staff is:

– Assistant Coach – Shayne Watson: Long-time assistant coach on the senior men’s team, U23 World Cup manager, former Brisbane Bandits manager.

– Assistant Coach – Damian Shanahan: Long-time assistant coach on senior men’s team, U23 World Cup assistant coach, Melbourne Aces assistant coach, Performance Pathways coach with Baseball Victoria;

– Pitching Coach – Justin Clark: Long-time pitching coach for South Australia, U18 Pitching Coach at Perfect Game Trips to USA

– EO – Andrew Riddell: Baseball Australia’s National Player Development Manager and New York Mets Scout.

“I am looking forward to working together with the Coaching Staff and BA player development staff to prepare this team to compete in the 18U World Cup in September,” says Pospishil.

“Along with the help of the relevant state performance pathway leads, I am fully confident that our athletes will be in a space to compete and work towards being the number one tournament team in the world.”

Team Australia U18 will host a national selection camp on the Gold Coast in August. Invitations were sent to 29 players in February. You can view the list here.

For information on the 2025 U18 World Cup, you can visit the WBSC Website. 

Jaylin Rae is bringing back valuable college lessons back to Australian baseball.

“I really just learned how to win,” says the 23-year-old infielder, who just won the Australian Baseball League Rookie of the Year.

The do-it-all utility man from Sydney built up quite the resume in his four-season career in the USA.

He helped Central Arizona win a Junior College National Championship in 2022.

He slashed .357/.449/.911 at Charleston Southern in 2023.

He finished ninth nationally in sacrifice bunts in 2024 with Eastern Kentucky.

He helped Australia finish fourth at an U18 World Cup and make the super round at an U23 World Cup.

Rae parlayed success to the Sydney Blue Sox hitting .292, playing six different positions and winning Rookie of the Year.

“That’s what I wanted to bring back to Sydney in my first year. I just like being a utility guy, a guy who helps out wherever is needed. I can fill a gap wherever the team needs,” says Rae. “I can play small ball when I have to. I’m not the biggest guy so I use my tools where I can.”

His team-first, and win first, mentality should factor in well in a national team setting.

Rae says his college experience really helped develop his sense of self, figuring out how he best fits in on a field.

“I figured myself out through college. That system suited me well. Just being able to play the small ball, fit in, steal a base, do what I can to get on base and be a spark plug,” he says.

Now, he’s impressed national selectors enough to have a look at this weekend just twelve months out from a World Baseball Classic.

More Stories: Jess Williams had major elbow surgery and then broke his leg. Now he’s on the national squad

But Jaylin says he doesn’t want to get caught up in the future.

“I think [the WBC] is always on our mind but the important thing is to have fun and don’t put pressure on yourself because when you do that you don’t really have too much success,” he says. “I’ll just show how I’ve progressed and what I can do for the team.”

Making the series special is playing in front of loved ones – an experience he hasn’t had too often at World Cups.

“It means the world to me,” says Rae. “Putting on the green and gold…there’s nothing like it. Being able to finally share that with the whole family is really special.”

It was long. It was loud. It was laborious.

Powered by a deeply boisterous home crowd, Chinese Taipei completely overwhelmed Australia in an 11-3 Premier12 win that ended Australia’s chances of advancing to the Super Round.

Chinese Taipei fans were on their feet, singing fight songs to a marching band from the first pitch, in a tilt that lasted over four hours.

They left happy. Chinese Taipei are going to the Super Round.

Chinese Taipei outmuscled Australia, tallying 26 baserunners from 16 hits, eight walks and two errors.

They were conducted by the artful bat of Li Lin.

The Rakuten Monkeys All-Star, who hit .358 in the CPBL this season, was a problem for Australia. He 4-for-5 with five RBI and a killer three-run homer that put the game to bed.

“Chinese Taipei were outstanding tonight. The energy in the Dome was something we haven’t experienced before. They were relentless,” said Team Australia hitting coach Chris Adamson after the game. “Chinese Taipei were tremendous so hats off to them.”

The hosts were simply relentless. I’m not even talking about the players, although they were on too.

By the seventh inning, they had 20 base runners.

Australia used nine pitchers in the loss.

The bright spot? Solomon Maguire hit a homer off his first swing on the senior national team.

On to the game…

There was one glaring difference between the two teams: production with two outs on the board. Australia just couldn’t seem to deliver the knock-out punch to get out of an inning, nor find one when opportunities came knocking, especially early.

In the first inning, Chieh-Kai Pan capped off a complete two-out rally vs Mitch Neunborn with an RBI single.

In the second inning, Li Lin singled off Jon Kennedy to extend the advantage to 2-0.

In the fourth inning, Song-En Tseng doubled home a pair of runs off Lewis Thorpe to push a lead to 4-1.

In the fifth inning, Li Lin struck again, this time off Dan McGrath. His RBI-single capped off three consecutive Chinese Taipei hits with two outs.

All with two outs. You get the idea.

BOX SCORE: Chinese Taipei 11 – Australia 3

Australia wasn’t without their sprinkle of magic.

The headline had to be Solomon Maguire. The 21-year-old hit a home run with his first swing in a senior Team Australia uniform.

“It was amazing to be around. Someone that is so young and early in his baseball journey, to see him grab the opportunity and make most of it was great. Everyone was super happy for him,” said Adamson in the post-game presser.

Although, young Maguire is accustomed to the Green & Gold, becoming the first player in history to play in an U12, U15, U18, U23 and a senior World Cup.

His third-inning deep fly brought the lead to 2-1.

Australia had other chances, especially early.

Travis Bazzana opened the game with a single, but the inning ended with a strike-em-out-throw-em-out. Rixon Wingrove and Tim Kennelly started the second with a single each, but Darryl George, Alex Hall & Robbie Perkins all struck out.

Wingrove and Kennelly ended the game with two hits each.

On the pitching side, Australia used the “everybody” approach again. Australia used six pitchers in the first five innings: Mitch Neunborn (1.2), Jon Kennedy (1.0), Coen Wynne (0.1), Lewis Thorpe (0.2), Sam Holland (1.0).

Coen Wynne (below) & Jon Kennedy also provided a crazy moment. In the third, Chinese Taipei worked two runners on base (second and third) with no outs. Kennedy worked a pop-out and strikeout, before Wynne delivered the inning-ending push out.

By the end of the fifth inning, Chinese Taipei had peppered Australian pitching for nine hits, six walks and an error. Australia did well to contain the hosts to just five runs off their 16 base runners.

Todd Van Steensel appeared to settle things down in the sixth. He needed just seven pitches to work Australia’s first and only 1-2-3 inning of the game.

He retired the first out of the seventh before allowing a single. That was the end of his day for Todd.

Blake Townsend entered. After an error helped put another baserunner aboard, Li Lin stepped up to the plate. He catapulted a three-run homer to centrefield that put a dagger in Australia’s tournament.

Robbie Perkins hit a homer in the seventh but Australia was too far behind.

Will Sherriff tossed a perfect eighth inning. But Chinese Taipei launched another three run bomb to put an exclamation mark on a historic evening. They’re going to the Super Round.

Australia added an RBI off the bat of Alex Hall to round out the scoring.

Australia falls to 1-3. They can not advance to the Super Round. They will play for bragging rights vs Korea tomorrow at 12:00PM local time, 3:00PM AEDT.

 

 

This story is written by Eric Balnar, with photos from Scott Powick. We are filing daily stories from Australia’s ten-day training camp in Fuchu, Japan as they prepare to play in the Premier12. For more stories, visit www.baseball.com.au/premier12. You can watch the tournament in Australia on WBSC streaming platform Gametime.Sport. 

Mitch Neunborn kisses a pendant attached to his necklace every time he takes the mound.

It belonged to his mum, Lynda Neunborn. It serves as a reminder of why he plays the game.

She passed away in May 2023 after a year-long battle with cancer. Mitch was just 25.

When it happened, Mitch was overseas.

After years of grinding in an unforgiving baseball world, through two major surgeries and working multiple jobs at once, Mitch finally had his baseball dream come true. He had just signed his first professional baseball contract in April 2023.

“A lifelong dream,” he calls it.

Mitch delayed the start of his professional career to stay with his mum while she was in hospice before heading to America at the beginning of May.

“That was the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life. I still struggle with it today,” he says.

“But she was the drive and the motivation behind it. She told me to go. She knows my ups and downs. She knows my surgeries and Tommy Johns and the adversity I have been through. To her, it was a no-brainer.”

“She made me chase the dream, just like she always has,” he adds. “She knows my story.”

It’s redefined his ‘why’ he plays the game.

“It’s me trying to keep her proud and trying to keep the legacy of what she’s sacrificed to play the game I love. She was a massive factor in me travelling and to be able to play on this team. She was very supportive. It’s given me an extra push to never give up and keep going with the sport,” he says.

That legacy will be preserved when Mitch pitches for his country as soon as Wednesday night vs Japan at the Premier12 in front of 40,000+ people. 

So in honour of Mitch and his Mum. This is a story of his baseball journey, injury, adversity, and a mother who wouldn’t let her son give up on his dream.

“A story of resilience personified,” one coach called it.

PROMISING AUSSIE TWO-WAY PROSPECT, OVERCOMING INJURY

Neunborn was always a highly-talented junior baseball player. He started at Melville Braves and stayed there for his entire Western Australian club ball career.

He not only would command the middle infield, but he had a handy bat and could pitch with prowess from the mound.

Growing up in the Perth system, Neunborn starred for junior and WA state teams.

“I played a lot of sports and my parents were great,” he says. “I was from a split household, but no matter who it was, mum or dad, they would make sure I was able to get to the [sports] I wanted to do.”

He was recognised early by Australian selectors. At just 19-years-old, he was selected to play for Australia at the U23 World Cup. He pitched and hit, and Australia won silver – their best ever showing at that particular event.

With the power of his parents and community, Mitch took his dream overseas. 

He committed to Northern Iowa Community College – a junior college – in the United States.

In his injury plagued career which lasted just one season, he posted a 3.18 ERA while slashing .331/.435/.665 at the plate. He led the team in homers.

“I was able to do a lot of trips to the states and even go to college,” says Neunborn. “It’s all through them, through mum and dad. I was obviously not able to pay for all that. They sacrificed all their time & money to reach their goal.”

Despite his college success, Neunborn never had a chance to fully explore professional chances in front of scouts. Injuries had a lot to do with it.

His list of injuries seems unbelievable itself.

In 2016, he tore his UCL (elbow) two months into his freshman year.

In 2017, he had his first Tommy John Surgery. It’s an injury which takes about a year to recover from.

Nine months later he had an MRI and the graft failed.

“There was a less than one percent chance of something like that happening,” says Neunborn. “Somehow my body basically ate the graft.”

He had a second Tommy John surgery in 2018.

When he was healthy, he debuted for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League in the last half of the 2019-20 season.

He signed with Adelaide Giants the following season.

“When he came to us we had glowing recommendations of him as a player and a person,” says Team Australia hitting coach Chris Adamson, who manages Neunborn both with the Adelaide Giants and in the Phillies’ minor leagues.

“The whole story of Mitch is just resilience personified,” he adds.

In a COVID-shortened 2020-21 ABL campaign, Neunborn became the ace of the Giants’ staff, winning the league’s Rookie of the Year award.

“I think it’s the ‘when’ these injuries that make it amazing,” says Adamson. “All these injuries happened before he signed in pro ball. Most people in his situation have already started. He had to show resilience. It would have been easy just to say no, and go play amateur. He could have just said pro ball is not for me. It would have been understandable. To push through all that before he got a crack? It’s wild.”

Then, the world shut down and the next obstacle reared its head.

There was no Australian Baseball League and professional competition for Mitch to play in between February 2021 and November 2022.

AN UNBELIEVABLE YEAR FULL OF HIGHS AND LOWS

Not many people can say they’ve experienced the sort of whirlwind year Neunborn had between June 2022 and June 2023.

In a twelve month stretch, the Aussie arm went from working two ‘regular’ jobs to winning a Claxton Shield, signing his first professional baseball contract, and making his senior team tournament debut at the World Baseball Classic.

Let’s start in June, 2022. He worked two jobs – as plumber’s assistant and in disability support.

“But I was always a baseball player,” laughs Mitch. “In all my spare time I was at the field, working, training, still believing. That never went away.”

It was also around the time he found out his Mum was sick. Things moved fast.

While his mother was struggling with a health battle, Mitch’s career took off.

To make things tricky, Neunborn was playing interstate in Adelaide for the Giants.

He dazzled that ABL season. He delivered a 2.25 ERA in 28.0 innings with a strikeout per nine innings ratio of 11.9.

“The biggest thing for me was outing to outing the self belief we saw grow over time. You could see he just started to know he belonged,” he says. “To see that was really special to witness.”

Neunborn was the Giants’ high-leverage guy, often used in the biggest of situations in 2022-23. He played his part in helping the Giants break a 43-year championship drought for South Australia in the ABL.

Neunborn only allowed six hits after December 1. He faced 68 batters.

That’s the kind of stuff that gets you signed.

In club land, Neunborn played second base and was the West Torrens Eagles go-to pitcher as they won two straight titles.

A dream of almost any Australian baseballer is to play for your country. Mitch parlayed his strong ABL season into the call of his life – to pitch for your country at the game’s biggest international tournament.

Neunborn pitched key innings in Australia’s win over Korea and the quarterfinal clincher vs Czechia.

Team Australia pitching coach Jim Bennett says he loved what he saw.

“When I see that change-up, I go wow this is a big league change up, that’s a plus-plus pitch” says Bennett. “Then you see his fastball at the WBC, he just has such a good mix. He has an ability to locate his pitch.”

But Bennett says what drew him to Neunborn was his attitude.

“He’s a competitor. He will do whatever it takes for the green & gold,” he says.

For Neunborn, it meant everything.

“It was complete justification for everything I was doing. Both for me, but also for the people who have supported me,” he says.

While his dad and step-mom were able to travel to Tokyo, his mum watched from a hospital bed in Perth.

“It was justification for the sacrifices my parents had,” he says.

It’s hard to miss Mitch’s dad, Peter. He is boisterous, positive and wears a trademark fighting kangaroo outfit.

Mitch says he feels the love and support from his dad wherever he goes, too.

“The similarities between Mitch and his family, with setbacks, injuries and disappointments, just to see his ability to find that inner resiliency and keep chasing that dream is pretty wild,” he says. “Not a lot of people can say the same.”

FOR MUM

Since signing with the Phillies, Mitch has seen success in the USA.

In his first year of professional minor league baseball, Neunborn had a 3.38 ERA in 42.2 innings for the Jersey Shore Blue Claws (High-A).

His stuff was promising enough to be assigned to the Arizona Fall League, an October competition reserved for only the best prospects in baseball.

After a slow start in the 2024 season, Neunborn found his form. His 2.39 ERA in High-A was one of the best in the league. He ended the season in Double-A, a competition reserved for promising young players tipped to one day make the Majors. He’s quite literally knocking on the door of a Major League dream.

He’ll pitch for the Adelaide Giants in the ABL when the Premier12 comes to an end.

Mitch says no matter what uniform he is wearing, he can feel his mum wherever he goes. Although, it’s hard to look into the stands and notice an absence.

“I know exactly where she would [usually] sit at my games. I know exactly where she would sit if she was here,” he says. “It’s always on your mind. I’m always looking at those spots knowing she’s not there but that she’s still watching.”

Mitch’s dad will make the trip over to Japan and Taiwan to cheer Mitch on. He says that support means the world to him.

 But still, he misses mum.

He says he feels grateful for all his parents helped him become.

“Without them I would never have been a professional athlete. Those building blocks I never had an understanding to grasp what was important. When you lose someone like that, it’s super hard to compartmentalise everything. She was the building blocks of everything I have done.”

When you see Mitch pitching for Australia vs some of the best players in the world this year, know his mum with him.

Whether it’s with the Adelaide Giants, the Reading Fightin’ Phils, or for his country, his mum is on the mound too.

“They, my parents, made life easy when it wasn’t. I’m grateful for that.”