WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup - Day 5: Night games are underway
Day 5 of the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025 presented by RAXUS in underway in Naha and Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
The USA opened the day at Okinawa Cellular Field in Naha with a run-difference rule win against Australia. They will finish undefeated at the top of Group B and start the Super Round with a 2-0 record.
Panama defeated China and tied Australia at 2-3.
Strong pitching and three early runs brought Korea over Cuba. Korea has qualified for the Super Round and will likely finish second by completing the win against South Africa on Wednesday, September 9.
A thunderstorm in Itoman has delayed the game between Italy and South Africa. The game resumed from the bottom of the second with Italy leading 3-0. Italy held to the lead, but South Africa brought the potential tying run at third in the top of the seventh.
The night games started at 18:55 (local time).
Japan will face off against Puerto Rico in Naha. Both have already qualified for the Super Round, but the score will matter for the Group's seeding and the Super Round record.
Chinese Taipei and Germany will close the Opening Round in Itoman. Chinese Taipei have already qualified for the Super Round. Germany needs a win to avoid a three-way tie with Australia and Panama.
All games are live on GameTime, the WBSC OTT Platform
- Exceptions may apply in Taiwan, Korea and Japan
Standings WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025 presented by RAXUS
| # | Team | W | L | T | PCT | GB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | JPN | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 |
| 2 |  | KOR | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 1 |
| 2 |  | PUR | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 1 |
| 4 |  | CUB | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 | 2.5 |
| 5 |  | ITA | 1 | 4 | 0 | .200 | 3.5 |
| 6 |  | RSA | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 4 |
| # | Team | W | L | T | PCT | GB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | USA | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 |
| 2 |  | TPE | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 1.5 |
| 3 |  | GER | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 2.5 |
| 4 |  | AUS | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 | 3 |
| 4 |  | PAN | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 | 3 |
| 6 |  | CHN | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 5 |
Chinese Taipei @ Germany
Japan @ Puerto Rico
Korea-Cuba 3-0
Jaewon Oh tripled on the fifth pitch by Leandro Forteza. Oh was caught off the bag and became the first out when Junsang Eom grounded to third base. Eom reached first, advanced to second on an error and reached third on a wild pitch. Forteza walked Jaein Shin, and both runners scored on a defensive error.
Geonhwi Kim led off the bottom of the second with a double and reached third on Huiseong Lee's single.
Edenis Cruz took over for Forteza. He got Jiho Park to fly out to left field, but the ball was deep enough to become a sacrifice fly and extend Korea's lead to 3-0.
Cruz pitched five solid innings, limiting Korea to a pair of hits and two walks. Korea didn't need more runs to win. Their pitchers never gave Cuba a chance. Right-hander Joel Kim pitched 5.1 masterful innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out ten.
Jisung Park was perfect over 1.2 innings.
Italy-South Africa 5-4
Italy took an early lead on South African starter Stiaan Henning. Daniele Di Persia and Patrick Silva hit back-to-back singles for the first run, and two more runs scored on errors.
Rain delayed the game in the bottom of the second. Italian starter Santiago Arismendi came back after the match resumed, but left after two perfect innings. In the top of the third, South Africa got on the scoreboard. Reliever Filippo Brunelli allowed a walk and hit two batters to load the bases, and South Africa scored on Jordan Pinto's sacrifice fly.
Di Persia and Silva had back-to-back hits to lead off the bottom half of the frame, and Italy scored on an error and Federico Magalotti's sacrifice fly. Henning left after four innings, and Jaden Du Preez took the mound for South Africa.
South Africa eroded Italy's lead. Joshua Botha hit a one-out double in the top of the fourth, stole third and scored on Henning's infield single. Dean Du Plessis and Tristan Fradd led off the fifth with back-to-back singles. Imaad Hassiem bunted them to third and second, and Du Plessis scored on a sacrifice fly.
Italy handed the ball to Ivan Larice in the top of the sixth and South Africa made it a one-run game. With two outs, pinch runner Donovan Wallendorf stole third and scored on the throwing error.
Caelum Stroberg, South Africa's third pitcher, got Di Persia to ground into a force out and retired Silva with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth.
Federico Magalotti took the mound for Italy in the top of the seventh. He struck out Aiden McKenzie to end the game with the potential tying run at third.
USA-Australia 11-1
Aussie starter Patrick Crotty led off the second, allowing a walk and hitting the next batter. Jaden Jackson bunted and reached on the defensive error. Crotty walked Emerson to make it a 2-0 game, and two more runs scored on an error and a bases-loaded walk. Australia handed the ball to Ethan Bickel to get out of the inning.
Coleman Borthwick pitched three perfect innings and left for Brody Crane. In the top of the fourth, USA centre fielder Anthony Murphy robbed William Hardy of an extra-base hit.
Australia reached base on a one-out walk in the fourth and got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth. Crane allowed a walk, hit a batter, and Benjamin Nesbit's single loaded the bases. The USA handed the ball to Kaeden Watcher, who got the second out on strikes, and then allowed Australia their first hit on a wild pitch.
The USA ended the game by the run difference rule with a seven-run bottom of the sixth. They made the most of a walk and two hit batters by reliever Deakin Filko and a defensive error with three consecutive singles. The game ended on a bases-loaded walk.
Panama-China 12-5
Panama opened the score with a three-run first inning against Zijian Zheng. William Cutshall and Daniel Mendez made the most of two densive errors with base hits and Carlos Castillo added a two-RBI triple. They were leading 7-0 when China got on the scoreboard against Josè Serva with a solo home run by pinch hitter Haonan Chen.
Serva earned the win, pitching five innings and striking out five.
In the late frames, both teams added runs, but Panama's win was never in danger.
Key links
- Tournament website
- Schedule/Live scoring
- Live Streaming
- Live clips on X
- Highlights
- Photos
- WBSC Men's Baseball World Ranking
The tournament day by day
- Day 4 Recap
- Day 3 Recap
- Day 2 Recap
- Day 1 Recap
- The Pre-Tournament Press Conference
- U-18 Baseball World Cup preview
- Where to watch
Feature articles
- Frederich Cepeda Jr.: "We are Cubans, baseball is in our blood"
- Sponsors power WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup
- Manager Georg Bull speaks about Germany's Development Programme
- Kids step up to the plate - the future of international baseball is bright
- Italy's coach Daniele Santolupo, a former All-World Team centre fielder
- Yu Darvish: "The U-18 Baseball World Cup was a tremendous experience"
- Ten things to know about the U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025
- The U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025 by the Numbers
- A look at the historical records
- Meet the Okinawa Prefecture
- The Trophy is on display in Japan
- WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup trains on Okinawa Monorail
- All news