Italy coach Daniele Santolupo reflects on WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2024 All-World Team accolade

During pregame activities preceding Italy's game against Japan on the opening day of the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025 presented by RAXUS on Friday, players from the world No. 14 side wondered why the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) would seek out Daniele Santolupo, their strength and conditioning coach.

They are aware of Santolupo's baseball career in the Italian Baseball League, in which he competed in 370 games. Still, they overlooked the fact that he had starred in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2004 and was named in the All-World Team.

"I want to be honest: when they told me, I thought they were kidding me," Santolupo said, referring to when the tournament organisers called him that he made the All-World Team as a centre fielder. When the organisers in Taipei City announced the All-World Team, Italy had already left due to the weather conditions affecting the schedule.

"It was an edition with a lot of rain," recalled Santolupo. "The organisers had to change the format and play elimination games to make sure the tournament ended with a champion. We lost the quarterfinal against USA and returned to Italy."

It was not a joke. Santolupo stood out in a tournament that featured future outfield stars such as Alfredo Despaigne (Cuba), Andrew McCutchen and Justin Upton (USA).

"I led an outfield including Stefano Desimoni and Ennio Retrosi, who would enjoy important careers in Italy. I think the way our outfield played set up our defence. Pitching and defence turned out to be our strength. The late Bill Holmberg wanted us to be aggressive. I remember he wanted me to bunt, steal, surprise the other teams."

Santolupo's memory is vivid: "We competed with everybody. I remember a close opening game against Korea. We defeated Panama in group play, a team that counted on three players already under contract with pro organisations. We took the first lead in the elimination game against USA. We finished sixth, which was a historic achievement but we could have aimed for more."

What comes to your mind when you think of the 18-year-old Daniele? "At the time, I didn't know what to expect, but I decided that I wanted to enjoy every moment of it and played without fear. I'm trying to share this attitude with the kids."

Santolupo shared his personal instruction manual for the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup. "The players must be aware that they will find a level they are not used to. It's an excellent opportunity to learn and gather insights from other teams. But they need to be self-conscious. Italy has a young team, but our players are talented. They need to go out there and compete at their best. They will return to Italy with memories worth a lifetime."

Italy played without fear for six innings against the defending World Champions and world No. 1 Japan on the opening game, taking a 1-1 tie into the sixth. They were one throw away from taking the tie into the seventh before Japan scored three in the sixth on their way to a 4-1 win. They have five more games to prove Santolupo right.