Chinese Taipei announce training squad roster for WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025

Taichung City defeated the powerhouse New Taipei City in the championship game of the 19th E-Sun National High School Baseball Tournament, 9-6, at Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium, winning their first championship since 2010.

Winning the tournament also means that Taichung City will be responsible for assembling the team to represent Chinese Taipei in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025 presented by RAXUS to be held in Okinawa, Japan, in September.

Taichung City manager Hung-Yuan Liao, the former first-round draft of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) Weichuan Dragons in 1994, will manage Chinese Taipei for the first time in his career.

“We are delighted to win the title," Liao commented. "Before the game, we thought we’d have an opportunity, just like the miracle in the WBSC Premier12 2024. This win meant a lot to us.”

Taichung City, having defeated New Taipei City during the preliminary with a score of 4-1, started the championship game with a five-run first inning. However, New Taipei City, a team that has been crowned in the tournament as many as eight times, also showed their resilience by tying the game at six in the sixth inning.

In the top of the seventh, Taichung City benefited from errors and balks from New Taipei City and scored three runs on just one hit, en route to the victory that brought them a first title in 15 years.

Following the final, Liao quickly selected 36 players who performed well in the tournament and divided them into two teams – Chinese Taipei Blue and Chinese Taipei White – for an upcoming training camp and inter-squad games.

The training squad roster includes E-Sun Cup MVP Yi-Hsiang Wang (Taichung City), Best Pitcher Hao-Po Lei (Taoyuan City), Best Catcher Tzu-Chieh Chiao (Taichung City) Best Second Baseman Yi-An Chang (New Taipei City), Best Third Baseman Yo-Wei Ruan (Taichung City), Best Outfielders Chih-Shien Shing (Taoyuan City), Neng-Ming Yu (Taichung City), and Tsai-Feng Yang (Taichung City).

The Asia Pacific International Baseball Stadium and Training Centres (ASPAC) in Tainan will host inter-squad games concurrently with the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup 2025, presented by RAXUS, which will be held at the Complex.

The U-18 Baseball World Cup has the traditional WBSC World Cup format. The 12 participants split into two groups, with the top three finishers of each group advancing to the Super Round. The first and second-place teams of the Super Round compete for the title in the World Championship Final, while the third and fourth-place finishers play for bronze in the third-place game.

World No. 2 Chinese Taipei will compete in Group B and face No. 5 USA, No. 8 Panama, No. 12 Australia, No. 17 Germany and No. 20 China.

Group A includes No. 1 Japan, No. 6 Korea, No. 9 Puerto Rico, No. 10 Cuba, No. 14 Italy and No. 30 South Africa.

Japan are the defending U-18 Baseball World Champions. In 2023, they defeated Chinese Taipei in the World Championship Final to win the XXXI WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup.