Defending champions Cuba announce expanded roster for WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup
World champions Cuba announced an expanded roster of 16 for the Youth Baseball5 National Team. The pre-selection includes players from the six provinces competing in the National Championship. Havana, Ciego de Ávila and Santiago de Cuba have four players each, Guantanamo has two players, and Artemisa and Sancti Spiritus have one player each.
The eight girls include Amanda Diaz Jimeno and Adis Yudith Espinel - who helped Cuba win the inaugural WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup in Türkiye in 2022 - Geisel Camila Pupo Fernandez, Rachel Medina Isaac, Arianna de la Caridad La O, Dailenis Guillen Almeida, Mari Karla Pedroso and Raidi Marlen Tamayo Legrat.
The eight boys are Kevin Hidalgo, Carlos Rivera, Deivis Hodelin Cause, Rafael Alejandro Socarras, Sergio Leando Matamoros and Yandro Moracen.
Eros Bernal Morales, Baseball5 Technical Head in Cuba, will be the general manager. Sergio Arturo Pérez Echevarria will be the head coach.
Mexico will host the WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup 2025 in the Nayarit State from September 24 to 27. The venue is still be announced.
Ten teams have already qualified for the WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup 2025:
- World No. 4 Japan, No. 2 Chinese Taipei and No. 11 Korea earned their spot as the top three finishers of the II Youth Baseball5 Asia Cup.
- World No. 7 Lithuania, No. 12 Türkiye and No. 3 France qualified through the U-18 Baseball5 European Championship in November 2024.
- No. 13 Ghana and No. 15 Kenya qualified through the Youth Baseball5 African Championship in January.
- WBSC Oceania announced that Fiji will participate in the event.
- No. 16 Mexico is the Host Nation.
The rest of the participation quota is as follows:
- Americas (4)
- Wild Cards (2).
* In October 2024, the WBSC Executive Board approved an increase in the number of participants from 12 to 16 teams