Australia and New Zealand qualify for Men's Softball World Cup Group Stage

Defending champions and world No. 2 Australia and No. 7 New Zealand qualified for the Group Stage of the XVIII Men's Softball World Cup due to take place next year after finishing first and second respectively in the WBSC Oceania Qualification Tournament at the Tony Solaita Field in Tafuba, American Samoa.

Australia finished the three-team tournament with a 5-1 record. They lost the first game against New Zealand, 9-3, but won the other two, 11-4 and 7-0. The hosts, American Samoa, finished 0-6.

Australia's outfielder Nathan Lynch had the best batting average (.667) but appeared only three times at bat. New Zealand's Hohepa Monk posted the most relevant batting performance, going 5-for-8 (.625 batting average with three home runs and nine RBIs).

New Zealand's Liam Potts and Australia's Jarryd Farrell and Mathew Beckett recorded two wins. Beckett pitched 10 innings, striking out 10. Potts also recorded 16 strike outs in only six innings pitched.

The official web page

Prince Albert (Canada) will host one of the three six-team groups while Oklahoma City (USA) will host another from 17 to 21 September, 2024. The hosts of the third group will be announced at a later date.

Eight National Teams have already qualified for the XVIII WBSC Men's Softball World Cup Group Stage. The tournament played in American Samoa was the third qualifying event after the Men's Softball European Championship and the Men's Softball Asia Cup. The WBSC Americas qualifier is scheduled for late 2023, while the WBSC Africa qualifying event will open the 2024 season.

Africa (2)
Americas (5)
Asia (3) No. 3 Japan, No. 13 Singapore, No. 15 Philippines
Europe (3) No. 6 Czechia, No. 11 Denmark, No. 16 Netherlands
Oceania (2) No. 2 Australia, No. 7 New Zealand
Wild Cards (3)