2019 U-18 Baseball World Cup

The 2019 U-18 Baseball World Cup took place in Busan, South Korea from August 30 to September 8, 2019.

Games

August 30

• Canada 17, China 3. 3B T.J. Schofield-Sam had 4 hits and 4 RBI and SS Austin Gomm drove in four for Canada to back winning pitcher Mitchell Bratt. Shijie Xie took the loss.
• Taiwan 4, Panama 1. Po-Yu Chen got the win over Jorge Garcia while 2B Adrian Montero gets the lone Panamanian run (and one of their 3 hits). 1B Heng-Yu Ho is 3 for 4 with a RBI.
• Japan 4, Spain 2. Justin Luna pitches 7 shutout innings as Spain surprisingly has the lead before Japan gets 4 off reliever Frank Hernández. 1B Ruben Fernandez goes 3 for 4 with two RBI for Spain.
• Nicaragua 3, Australia 2. Samuel Mendoza gets the win in relief, while RF Yeffry Montiel drives in a pair for Nicaragua. Blake Cavill takes the loss while C Chris Burke doubles twice for the Aussies.
• USA 11, South Africa 0. The US needs six and a half innings for a mercy rule win. CF/LF Robert Hassell scores 4 from the leadoff slot and 2B Hunter Haas scores 3. Kyle Harrison and Aaron Vukovich fan 11 in a two-hitter. Jaryd White takes the loss, while SS Kian Schwartz and C Jaime Lang have South Africa's lone hits.
• South Korea 5, Netherlands 4. The Dutch nearly upset the defending Silver Medalists after the bullpen nearly blows a strong start by Hyeong-jun So (6 shutout innings). Ji-min Nam gets the win and Jiorgeny Casimiri the loss. 2B Ji-chan Kim raps four hits for South Korea. CF Ruendrick Piternella drives in a pair for the Netherlands.

August 31

• Spain 12, Panama 3. Spain pulls off an upset win. Marc Civit gets the win with three shutout innings while 3B Jostin Castillo has 3 runs and 4 RBI. José Ojo took the loss.
• Japan 19, South Africa 0. DH Junya Nishi homers twice and drives in eight and Sota Asada and Yuki Hayashi combine on a six-inning mercy rule no-hitter, allowing only one walk (to SS Kian Schwartz). Mila Burger was handed the defeat.
• USA 8, Taiwan 1. Maxwell Rajcic gets the win for the USA over Tzu-Wei Lin and Taiwan. DH Tyler Soderstrom drove in three and CF Pete Crow-Armstrong gets three hits.
• Canada 11, Netherlands 0. Connor O'Halloran and Adam Maier blank the Dutch and Scott Prins takes the loss. C Ryan Leitch has 2 runs and 2 RBI.
• Australia 1, South Korea 0. The hosts get whitewashed by Lachlan Waite (6 IP, W), Jack Lee (2 IP) and Kieren Hall (1 IP, Sv). Yun-dong Heo fans 10 in 5 2/3 IP and allows only one unearned run for the loss. RF Solomon Maguire drives in 3B Conor Myles in the 4th with the game's lone tally.
• Nicaragua 6, China 3. Axel Zapata gets the win and Jasser Centeno the save, while RF Yeffry Montiel is 2 for 3 with a run and two RBI. 2B Shengao Yang scores twice, and Jian Yi takes the loss.

September 1

• Panama 17, South Africa 2. Israel Mendoza throws four no-hit innings for the win while 2B Jean Arnaez scores 3 and drives in 4. Kade Smith takes the loss.
• South Korea 8, Canada 5. Theo Millas allows 7 hits and 6 runs while retiring no one as South Korea's offense wakes up. Kang-jun Lee gets the win and Jun-yong Choi the save. DH Ji-min Nam has 2 runs and 2 RBI. CF Dasan Brown has 4 hits in 5 at-bats for Canada.
• Netherlands 4, Nicaragua 2. Luuk ter Beek allows one run in six for the win and Arij Fransen saves it. LF Darryl Collins drives in 3. Walter Solis takes the loss.
• Australia 13, China 2. Brandon Bidois gives up one hit in six and LF Jaylin Rae has 3 hits and 3 runs. LF Wenbin Xing has China's lone hit while Wei Zhao is the losing hurler.
• Japan 17, USA 6. Japan routs the defending champs. SS Toyo Kumada and 2B Shoma Sakashita each drive in four while Junya Nishi gets the victory over Ben Hernandez.
• Taiwan 5, Spain 4. Spain again puts on a strong show but this time falls short. 2B Hao-Yu Lee doubles twice and scores twice, Yu-Min Lin allows one hit in 6 2/3 for the win and Chien Yu saves it. Delson Guzman takes the defeat.

September 2

• Rain canceled four games today
• South Korea 9, Nicaragua 0. In a five-inning rain-shortened game, Min-ho Lee throws a no-hitter and walks only one. DH Ji-min Nam drives in 3 for the home team. Jovany Canales is handed the loss.
• Taiwan 3, Japan 1. The last unbeaten team falls in another game limited to five innings by rain. LF Wie-Chieh Lo drives in a pair and Yan-Cheng Wang throws a complete game win. Hiroya Miyagi is the losing pitcher today while DH Takaya Ishikawa drives in 3B Ryusei Takeoka with Japan's only score.

September 3

• Netherlands 4, Australia 3. Chris Stuart allows one run in 5 2/3 IP and Arij Fransen gets another save, while 1B Nathaniel Bentura drives in 3. For Australia, RF/CF Solomon Maguire drives in two and Liam Evans takes the loss despite fanning 10 in 7 innings.
• USA 8, Spain 3. Spain again puts up a fight, leading the US 3-2 after 6 before the US stages a comeback. LF/P Robert Hassell has 3 hits, 2 runs and 2 RBI while Alejandro Rosario gets the win. Eduardo Dominguez takes the loss for Spain while C/1B Juan Gonzalez raps 3 hits.
• South Korea 8, China 2. 2B Ji-chan Kim and SS Min Park each collect three hits for South Korea while Ju-yeop Lee gets the decision. Yifei Zhang is the losing hurler.
• Canada 9, Nicaragua 0. Nicaragua suffers its second straight 9-0 loss. LF Cesar Valero scores 3 runs and 1B Noah Hull had 3 hits and 3 RBI. Jack Seward overcomes six walks in 5 2/3 IP, fanning nine, for the win. Lesther Medrano took the loss while LF Roger Leyton was the only Nicaraguan with multiple hits.
• Taiwan 15, South Africa 0. Taiwan only needed five innings in a mercy rule rout. C Wie-Chieh Lo had 3 runs and 3 RBI. Chih-Chieh Chen tossed four hitless innings, fanning eight, before Chin-Wei Lin Wu allowed a hit to DH Joshua Mitchell. Alexander Levkov took the defeat.
• Japan 5, Panama 1. Junya Nishi goes the distance in a rain-shortened six-inning win and 3B Takaya Ishikawa drives in 3 and scores 2. DH Benyamin Bailey has two hits for Panama. Marvin Brown took the loss.

September 4

• Netherlands 10, China 6. Gio de Graauw got the Netherlands' 3rd win but they didn't make the super round due to tie-breakers. Yifei Zhang lost the game. LF Darryl Collins had 3 hits and drove in 3.
• Australia 7, Canada 6. Australia joined Canada in the super round with a win. SS Byron Armstrong drove in 3 and LF Jaylin Rae had 3 hits while Jack Lee saved it for Kieren Hall. Eli Saul took the loss.
• USA 5, Panama 3. Nolan McLean gets the win for the US while 2B/P Colby Halter goes 4 for 4 with two runs and also notches the save. Jorge Garcia falls to 0-2 though his bullpen turns in a strong 4 2/3 shutout innings. RF Jose Ramos goes 4 for 4 with a run.
• Spain 16, South Africa 8. Spain gets their second win as CF Frank Hernández goes 6 for 6 with 6 RBI and SS Jostin Castillo adds 4 runs and 3 RBI. Jorge Mairal gets the win against Nathan Gilbert's loss. 3B Jaime Lang and DH/P/SS Kian Schwartz each have two hits and two RBI for the African entry.

September 5

• USA 2, Australia 1. The US's Maxwell Rajcic and Australia's Liam McCullough both turned in fine starts. The US scored the first run in the 6th when 1B Nolan McLean singled in LF Robert Hassell. The Aussies tied it in the 8th when DH Chris Burke drove in LF Jaylin Rae. In the bottom of the 9th, C Drew Romo singled off Blake Cavill to bring in DH Tyler Soderstrom with the winner. Alejandro Rosario got the victory for the US.
• Taiwan 7, South Korea 2. Po-Yu Chen and Wen-Hui Pan continued the host's woes by allowing two runs while 2B Hao-Yu Lee had 3 hits and drove in 2. Yun-dong Heo took the loss.
• Japan 5, Canada 1. Yasunobu Okugawa fanned 18 and allowed two hits in 7 and Shuto Iizuka added two more Ks in the 8th and 9th. CF Keito Mori scored twice. DH Owen Diodati homered for Canada's only run. Theo Millas was the losing pitcher.
• Nicaragua 11, South Africa 1. Williams Pravia scattered 9 hits in 6 2/3 IP in a mercy rule win. 1B Ammanuel Aburto had 3 hits and 3 runs while DH Francisco Rodriguez had 3 hits and 3 RBI. Jaryd White took the loss. 1B/2B Kevin Costigan had two hits for South Africa and their lone RBI.
• China 6, Spain 0. DH Binbin Lu hits a grand slam, while Shijie Wie and Wei Zhao team up on a 8-hit shutout, walking only one. Alex Tome takes the loss and Spanish pitchers walk 10.
• Netherlands 2, Panama 1. LF Darryl Collins homers and also scores the other Dutch run, while Scott Prins and Cal Maduro whiff 10 and allow one unearned run. Israel Mendoza takes the loss despite allowing one hit in four while C Danilo Obrego has 2 hits and Panama's lone RBI.

September 6

• Taiwan 12, Australia 0. Taiwan leads 4-0 after 6 before making it a mercy rule game with a 8-run 7th. Yu-Min Lin and Tzu-Wei Lin combined on a two-hitter while 3B Shun-Ho Wang had 3 hits and 3 runs. DH/P Conor Myles and CF Alex Skepton had the only Australian hits while Lachlan Waite took the loss.
• USA 10, Canada 0. The North American matchup is one-sided as Ben Hernandez throws a 7-inning shutout and LF Robert Hassell drives in 3. Justin Thorsteinson took the defeat and SS Austin Gomm had two hits for Canada.
• South Korea 5, Japan 4. South Korea rallied for 3 in the bottom of the 10th, scoring the winner on a sacrifice fly that was challenged but upheld on replay. Yun-dong Heo got the win over Yuki Hayashi. 2B Ji-chan Kim was 3 for 3 with two runs.
• China 8, South Africa 0. Jian Yi, Jie Zhou and Yifei Zhang combine on a two-hitter; while Zhou gives up both hits, he gets the win. DH Binbin Lu drove in 3 for another big day. Mila Burger was the losing pitcher, while South Africa's hits came from CF Cornelis Miller and 1B Corbin Greenslade.
• Panama 2, Nicaragua 1. Noel Suárez went 8 2/3 innings for the win and Julio Gonzalez saved it. Axel Zapata took the loss in the battle of Central American rivals.
• Netherlands 3, Spain 1. The two European teams squared off and Luuk ter Beek and Jiorgeny Casimiri combined on a three-hitter while 3B Ryson Polonius had 3 hits and 2 runs. Liván Delgado was the losing hurler despite a fine outing.

September 7

• USA 8, South Korea 5. The US punched their ticket to the finals by beating the hosts. After starter Mick Abel allowed 3 hits and 2 runs in 1/3 IP, Alejandro Rosario turned in 7 2/3 innings of relief for the win and Nolan McLean saved it. LF Robert Hassell plated 3 and 3B/2B Colby Halter had 3 hits. 2B Ji-chan Kim had 3 hits for South Korea, while Won-seok Oh took the loss.
• Australia 4, Japan 1. Australia prevented Japan from getting a medal as Brandon Bidois again shut down an Asian offense (3 H, 1 R in 7 IP) with Kieren Hall saving it. Sota Asada gave up 6 hits and 4 runs (3 earned) while lasting one inning in a loss.
• Canada 12, Taiwan 7. Canada's offense finishes on a fine note. CF Dasan Brown (3 R, 3 H), 1B Owen Diodati (3 RBI), 3B T.J. Schofield-Sam (3 RBI) and 2B Josh Walker (3 H) all played well, to make a winner of Adam Maier. Eli Saul saves the game for Maier. Chin-Wei Lin Wu took the defeat while C/LF Wie-Chieh Lo had 3 hits.
• Panama 3, China 1. Panama ended well as Jonathan Amaya threw five no-hit innings but left with a 1-0 deficit before Abel Reyes gave up 2 hits in 2 and got the win as Panama rallied. Wei Zhao tossed five shutout frames and Jian Yi took the loss. LF Benyamin Bailey drove in two.
• Spain 7, Nicaragua 2. Frank Hernández threw five shutout innings and C Juan Gonzalez was 3 for 3 with 4 RBI for Spain. Samuel Mendoza pitched four shutout innings for Nicaragua but reliever Christopher Osorio struggled. 1B Enmanuel Aburto drove in both Nicaraguan runs.

September 8

• Netherlands 10, South Africa 0. Netherlands finished atop the consolation pool (and with the 3rd-best record of the tournament) with a rout of last-place South Africa. Chris Stuart, Naut Kragt and Sem Lauf combined on a six-inning no-hitter and walked one. LF Darryl Collins had four RBI. Xabiso Mpofu took the loss.
• South Korea 6, Australia 5. The hosts won the Bronze; they led or were even all game until the bottom of the 8th, when Australia pulled ahead when Solomon Maguire drove in C Chris Burke (who had 3 doubles and 3 RBI). In the top of the 9th, CF Ju-hyeong Lee hit a two-run homer off Will Sherriff for the winning blow. Seung-hyun Lee got the win and Hyeong-jun So the save.
• Taiwan 2, USA 1. The Gold Medal Game was also close. Chien Yu (who would win tournament MVP) shut out the four-time defending champions for 6 2/3 IP, aided by two fine defensive plays by LF Wie-Chieh Lo. Lucas Gordon allowed one hit in the first four but 3B Shun-Ho Wang tripled in the 5th for the game's only extra-base hit and RF Tzu-Wei Lin singled him in. In the 8th, Tzu-Wei Lin singled off Rawley Hector and CF Cheng-Hua Yueh hit into a force. Kyle Harrison relieved. Yueh advanced on a grounder then SS Tsung-Che Cheng walked and Lo singled in Yueh to make it 2-0. In the bottom of the 9th, P Robert Hassell singled off reliever Po-Yu Chen. #3 hitter Austin Kendrick and cleanup man Tyler Soderstrom were retired. 2B Colby Halter singled, and C Drew Romo lined one off a glove to put the US within a run. PH Jack Bulger hit one hard to right but Tzu-Wei Lin caught it to end the game and give Taiwan its 3rd title in the event.

Final Standings

1. Taiwan
2. USA
3. South Korea
4. Australia
5. Japan
6. Canada
7. Netherlands
8. Spain
9. Panama
10. Nicaragua
11. China
12. South Africa

Awards

• MVP: Chien Yu, Taiwan P
• Outstanding Defensive Player: Ji-chan Kim, South Korea 2B

All-Star Team

• SP: Yasunobu Okugawa, Japan
• RP: Alejandro Rosario, USA
• C: Juan Gonzalez, Spain
• 1B: Yuya Nirasawa, Japan
• 2B: Ji-chan Kim, South Korea
• SS: Austin Gomm, Canada
• 3B: Shun-Ho Wang, Taiwan
• OF: Darryl Collins, Netherlands
• OF: Robert Hassell, USA
• OF: Pete Crow-Armstrong, USA
• DH: Tyler Soderstrom, USA