2023 U-18 Baseball World Cup

The 2023 U-18 Baseball World Cup kicked off on August 31, 2023 in Taiwan. Participating were Australia, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, Panama, Spain, the US and Venezuela.

Games

August 31

• Taiwan 3, Australia 0. The hosts start off strong as Yi-Lei Sun fans eight in a two-hitter. CF Ching-Hsien Ko goes 2 for 2 with a double and a RBI to pace the offense. 2B Lachlan Smith and DH Josh Nati have Australia's lone hits while Adam Bates takes the loss in a solid outing (1 R in 4 IP).

September 1

• USA 2, Netherlands 1. The defending champs open with a tight win with each team allowing only four hits. Ethan Schiefelbein, Bryce Rainer (W) and Trey Gregory-Alford (Sv) fan ten. Maarten Smit takes the loss in relief. SS Amarensio Franka drives in 2B Tai Vic Tromp in the top of the 5th to put the Europeans ahead but the US ties it then goes ahead in the bottom of the frame when Rainer drives in CF Derek Curiel.
• Panama 13, Venezuela 4. Panama gets all the runs they need in the first with five. 1B Julio Casas goes 3 for 4 with 2 runs and 3 RBI while Keivin Contreras goes three scoreless for the win over Sebastian Sanchez. DH Gabriel Davalillo reaches in 3 of 4 trips to the plate for the South Americans.
• Japan 10, Spain 0. 2B Ren Ogata goes 3 for 3 with a walk and 3 RBI to lead Japan on offense while Riku Takeda gets the win. SS Anderson Pena and RF Cristian Soto get Spain's only hits while Juan Salazar is handed the loss.
• Czechia/Mexico delayed due to rain.
• South Korea/Puerto Rico delayed due to rain.

September 2

• Australia 4, Mexico 2. C Joshua Davies drives in a pair and Koby Chesterton saves Jack Bushell's win as the pair combine on a three-hitter. Jorge Alvarez is the losing hurler.
• Netherlands 8, Venezuela 2. Rodiensley Ignecia and Nathan Arends team up on a no-hitter, though they walk 11. Venezuela's hurlers walk 9 while allowing 7 hits. 1B Jamie Beerman reaches all four times, scores twice and drives in one. Maximo Gonzalez gets the decision for Venezuela.
• Puerto Rico 6, Czechia 2. Ibrahim Gonzalez allows one run in four to beat Viktor Beránek, and 3B Adonys Velez drives in three in Puerto Rico's first game. 3B Filip Kubíček reaches all three times and scores a run in a losing cause.
• USA 6, Spain 2. Carter Johnson pitches five shutout innings then Noah Franco saves it, while 2B Coy James scores a pair from the leadoff slot. Diego Alcalá is roughed up in the loss and DH Rodolfo Figueredo gets on base all three plate appearances for Spain.
• Taiwan 6, South Korea 1. CF Ching-Hsien Ko reaches all four times and scored twice while Wei-En Lin allows only one unearned run. 2B Tong-keon Yeo drives in LF Si-hyun Park with the lone Korean run, while the decision goes to Jun-seo Hwang.
• Japan 7, Panama 0. Japan's middle infield dazzles as SS Hayaka Kobayashi goes 4 for 4 with 4 RBI and 2B Ren Ogata is 3 for 3. Yuto Kimura goes three hitless for the win over Dereck Gomez.

September 3

• Puerto Rico 6, Australia 0. Byron Madero and Jarrette Bonet throw a four-hitter and are backed by a balanced offense. Alistair Tanner takes the loss.
• Venezuela 6, Spain 1. 1B Randy Soto has two hits and two RBI and Sebastian Sanchez gets the win over Angelo Rodríguez. SS Anderson Pena raps two hits for Spain.
• Taiwan 4, Mexico 1. It is 1-1 until the 6th when Taiwan pulls away. 1B Hsun-Chieh Lee has three hits while Mu-Heng Chen saved Wei-Chen Tseng's victory. Juan Cazarez gets the loss. Mexico's run comes when C Omar Bustamante plates SS Angel Arredondo.
• Netherlands 4, Panama 3. Ryjeteri Merite allows one hit in 3 2/3 IP as the Netherlands rallies to win when RF Keyon Ashby drives in 1B Jamie Beerman in the 7th. The losing hurler is Eduardo Castillo.
• Japan 4, USA 3. Yugo Maeda shuts out the defending champs for 5 2/3 and a US rally falls short. 1B Ryusei Terachi collects three hits and DH Haruto Morita drives in two. Cooper Williams takes the loss, while CF Derek Curiel leads the US with two hits.
• South Korea 14, Czechia 1. C Yu-lye Kim (3 for 5, 3 R, 2 RBI) leads a strong Korean offense to make a winner of Geon-woo Park. Ondřej Vank takes the loss; the Czech run comes when CF Pavel Jozek drives in LF Michal Šindelka.

September 4

• Puerto Rico 1, Mexico 0. Angel Cruz throws a three-hitter to outduel Juan Tirado. RF Yeriel Pastrana's 3rd-inning single drives in CF Jan Reyes with the only run.
• Netherlands 5, Spain 0. The Dutch team gets its second no-hitter of the tourney, this time thanks to Maxwell Cornelissen; only a hit batter and an error cost him a perfect game. CF Miquel Willem has three hits. Juan Salazar falls to 0-2.
• South Korea 3, Australia 0. Sun-yeop Yook and Tae-kyeon Kim whiff ten while C Yu-lye Kim's three-run double off Adam Bates provides all the game's runs. DH Josh Nati has two hits to lead the Aussies.
• USA 6, Panama 4. The US bounces back as Matthew Champion beats Anthony Gantes. 2B Coy James scores a pair for the US while Panama SS Hector Rayo drives in two.
• Taiwan 4, Czechia 1. Yen-En Wang and three relievers combine on a two-hitter, though Adrian Muck and his bullpen give up just four. CF Ching-Hsien Ko (2 H, BB, R) continues to play well. LF Michal Šindelka gets the lone Czech run again.
• Japan 10, Venezuela 0. Adoi Higashionna, Riku Takeda and Kaito Yano throw a one-hitter (Carlos Garces getting the safety) while 2B Ren Ogata scores three more runs.

September 5

• Czechia 5, Australia 2. The Czechs win their first behind the pitching of Michael Senay and Matyáš Trčka plus a balanced offense; 1B Jakub Winkler drives in two. Daniel Mills is the losing hurler, while 3B Declan Speirs reaches in three of four appearances.
• USA 4, Venezuela 1. Levi Starling beats Brian Fernandez, working four shutout innings, and Noah Franco notches the save. The US only gets three hits but scrape together enough offense. 2B Coy James has another two-run day.
• South Korea 2, Mexico 1. Jun-seo Hwang allows one hit in 5 1/3 shutout innings of relief to beat Juan Cazarez. 3B Hyun-min Cho has two hits and has a role in both Korean runs.
• Panama 3, Spain 1. Dereck Gomez goes the distance and gets the win over Kevin Rodriguez. 1B Julio Casas and 3B Dimas Oda each get two hits for the Central Americans while LF Vinicio Lara has both Spanish hits.
• Netherlands 1, Japan 0. The Dutch pitchers continue to prove hard to hit as Gijs van den Brink, Nathan Arends and Just van den Ouweelen team up on a one-hitter. CF Miquel Willem drives in SS Amarensio Franka in the third for the game's only run. CF Minato Maruta has the only Japanese hit. Koki Takahashi and Yuto Kimura fan 13 but Takahashi takes Japan's first loss.
• Puerto Rico/Taiwan postponed due to weather.

September 6

• Taiwan 16, Puerto Rico 2. In a make-up game, the hosts make it a romp. 2B/3B Chao-Hung Chang (3 R, 5 RBI, HR) leads the charge at the plate and Wei-Che Tseng gets the decision for Taiwan. For Puerto Rico, starter Alexis Martinez is knocked out in the first. RF Yeriel Pastrana (2 H, RBI) is their top hitter.
• Puerto Rico vs. South Korea suspended due to rain.
• Mexico vs. Czechia postponed due to weather.

September 7

• South Korea 8, Puerto Rico 1. Tae-kyeon Kim fans seven in three hitless innings for the win in relief in the rain-suspended game. Dicky Gonzalez Jr. takes the loss. CF Jan Reyes drives in LF Harold Lavacuente with Puerto Rico's run, while 3B Hyun-min Cho drives in three for the Koreans.
• Czechia 4, Spain 0. Filip Kollman defeats Elia Geronimo in a matchup of European entries. 2B Benjamin Morgan scores twice. 1B Cesar Carbaloosa has two hits to pace Spain.
• Puerto Rico 3, Netherlands 2. Jarrette Bonet saves Ibrahim Gonzalez's win over Ryejeteri Merite. SS Hiram Bocachica Jr. has two hits.
• Venezuela 5, Mexico 2. Ulises Reyes pitches six shutout innings and the 8 and 9 hitters for Venezuela (CF Cristian Arguelles and C Esmeiquel Arrieche) go a combined 3-for-3 with a run and four RBI. Luis Agayo takes the loss.
• Japan 7, South Korea 1. Yugo Maeda allows one hit in four innings and RF Shinnosuke Chibana drives in four in a match of Asian rivals. Riku Takeda gets the save, Chan-seung Bae the loss. SS Ji-hwan Park drives in CF Choong-heon Lee with the Korean run.
• Panama 2, Australia 1. The Aussies force extra innings when Michael Paparella's single off Moises Castillo scores Lachlan Smith in the bottom of the 7th. Dimas Oda's grounder against Benjamin Karakasis in the 8th scores DH Roderick Lezcano with the winner as Castillo works a scoreless bottom of the 8th.
• Taiwan 3, USA 0. The hosts remain unbeaten while handing the defending champs their second loss. Jun-Wei Zhang and Yi-Lei Sun combine on a two-hitter and 3B Nian-Hao Wang drives in all the game's runs (including a two-run homer off Tegan Kuhns). 1B Perry Morlando and C Nolan Traeger get the only American hits.

September 8

• Mexico 4, Czechia 1. The last round-one game is held. Amauri Otero gets the win in relief and 2B Angel Nieblas goes 2-for-3 with a run and a RBI from the 9 slot. Jan Kozel gets the loss, while LF Michal Šindelka gets the lone Czech run again.
• Japan 10, Puerto Rico 0. Aoi Higashionna is perfect in a five-inning mercy rule win and DH Riku Takeda goes 3 for 4 with 3 RBI. Bryon Madero is handed the defeat.
• Mexico 6, Spain 5. Mexico has a big comeback win as 3B Ichiro Cano takes Andres Pena deep for a sayonara homer. Jose Meza is the winning pitcher. 2B Javier Miranda drives in a pair for Spain.
• USA 5, South Korea 1. The US bounces back behind the pitching of Ethan Schiefelbein and Trey Gregory-Alford, CF Derek Curiel leading the offense (R, 2 RBI). Jun-seo Hwang gets the decision for Korea, while 3B Hyun-min Cho drives in 2B An-seok Jeong with their lone run, taking the lead in the 4th before the US rallies.
• Panama 4, Czechia 1. Keivin Contreras throws a two-hitter to beat Ondřej Vank, 1B Julio Casas driving in two. SS Martin Sobotka has the only Czech run.
• Venezuela vs. Australia postponed due to rain
• Taiwan 6, Netherlands 0. Wei-En Lin and two relievers combine on a one-hitter and they make the most of four hits (thanks to 10 walks). CF Ching-Hsien Ko has two hits, a run and a RBI. Gijs van den Brink takes the loss, with 3B Keegan Pieternalla getting the lone Dutch hit.

September 9

• Mexico 8, Panama 2. RF Antonis Macias has two runs and two RBI and Jesus Franco and Leonel Murrieta shut down Panama for their only loss in the placement round. Marcos Pimentel suffers the defeat.
• Puerto Rico 4, USA 3. LF/CF Harold Laracuente has three hits and scores the tie-breaking run in the 7th, Jarrette Bonet getting the upset win over John McKernan. RF/P Konnor Griffin scores twice for the US, which still makes the Bronze Medal Game.
• Australia 2, Spain 0. Jack Bushell fires a three-hitter and LF Jack Ratcliffe drives in both Aussie runs as Spain finishes winless. Diego Alcalá allows one run in five but is the victim of no run support.
• Venezuela vs. Australia suspended due to rain
• South Korea 3, Netherlands 1. 3B Hyun-min Cho drives in two and Mi-reu Jeon saves Geun-woo Park's victory over Maxwell Cornelissen. RF Keyon Ashby goes 3-for-3 with a run in a losing cause.
• Czechia vs. Venezuela postponed due to rain
• Taiwan 5, Japan 2. DH Hsin Chiu reaches three of four times up and Wei-Che Tseng and Yen-En Wang contain Japan fairly well. The teams will meet again in the finale tomorrow. Koki Takahashi takes the loss, while 2B Ren Ogata has both Japanese runs.

September 10

• Australia 8, Venezuela 1. The Oceania representative goes out on a high note as RF Nicholas Paparella hits a two-run homer and a two-run double and Jai Hewitt allows one hit in three to top Oscar Melgarejo. 2B Carlos Garces goes 3-for-3 in a run as a bright spot for Venezuela.
• Czechia 7, Venezuela 0. Venezuela's rough day finishes as three Czech hurlers blank them on five hits, the win going to Albert Pražák and the loss to Brian Fernandez. LF Michal Šindelka paces the offense with three hits and three runs.
• Bronze Medal Game: South Korea 4, USA 0. It's a sweep of the medals by Asia for the first time as the US finishes a disappointing 4th after winning 5 of the prior 6 titles (and taking Silver the other time). Tae-kyeon Kim fans nine and allows just two hits (both by 1B Perry Morlando) and a walk while Cooper Williams allows two in the first. 3B Hyun-min Cho scores twice.
• Gold Medal Game: Japan 2, Taiwan 1. Japan wins its first World Junior title by handing Taiwan its only loss of the event. Taiwan jumps on Yugo Maeda in the first with hits by DH Hsin Chiu and CF Ching-Hsien Ko but Maeda allows only two hits the rest of the way and Japan gets to Yi-Lei Sun in the 4th, scoring the winner when CF Minato Maruta races home on an error.

Final Standings

1. Japan
2. Taiwan
3. South Korea
4. USA
5. Puerto Rico
6. Netherlands
7. Panama
8. Mexico
9. Czechia
10. Australia
11. Venezuela
12. Spain

Awards

• MVP: Ren Ogata, Japan 2B
• Outstanding Defensive Player: Ching-Hsien Ko, Taiwan OF

All-Star Team

• SP: Aoi Higashionna, Japan
• RP: Tae-kyeon Kim, South Korea
• C: Meng-Chih Hu, Taiwan
• 1B: Perry Morlando, USA
• 2B: Ren Ogata, Japan
• SS: Manuelle Marin, USA
• 3B: Dimas Oda, Panama
• OF: Ching-Hsien Ko, Taiwan
• OF: Antonio Macias, Mexico
• OF: Miquel Willem, Netherlands
• DH: Ju-hyeong Lee?, South Korea