By Gabriel Fidler, Managing Editor.
Through a full seven innings against second-ranked Taiwan, Germany’s hopes of qualifying for the Super Round at the Under-18 Baseball World Cup remained alive, while Italy and South Africa tangled in a thrilling final game of round robin play from Okinawa.
Taiwan – Germany
With Panamá winning slugfest against China in one of the two early games, Germany entered its final game of the opening pool knowing it would need a win to advance to the Supe Round. After Taiwan strung together a walk, a misfielded sacrifice bunt, and a groundball into its first run in the top of the first, it looked like Germany might be in for a long day. Instead, the Deutschlanders immediately got to work in the bottom of the frame against I-En Chung. Owen Fierlbeck took another walk, tying the game at one. A wild pitch then allowed Huber to score Germany’s second run and, even with another punch-out, Germany headed to the second with lead.
A one-out Sheng-En Zeng triple scored Yi-An Chang, who had reached on a walk to start the top of the second. Tom Apfelbaum escaped without any further damage, in part due to his catcher, Ströll, catching Zeng attempting to steal home.
After a scoreless bottom of the frame, Fabian Spiess took over for Tom Apfelbaum in the top of the third, working in and out of a bases-loaded jam. Huber then led off the bottom of the inning with a triple and scored on a fielding error, giving Germany a new lead.
Chinese Taipei got to Spiess in the top of the fifth, with an RBI-single by Ting-Yi Jang. Germany called Finn Niemeyer from the bullpen with runners at the corners. With Chang at bat, Cheng-Hao Wu tried to steal home and became the third out, Ströll once more applying the tag.
Germany took the lead back in the bottom half of the frame against Lan-Hong Su, the third Taiwanese moundsman. Niemeyer helped himself with an RBI-single, plating Huber, who had reached with his third hit of the game.
Working with a 4-3 lead, Niemeyer gave up three consecutive singles with one out in the top of the sixth, but once more limited the damage to a single run, finishing the inning with a three-pitch, swinging strikeout. Germany went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, setting up an all-important final frame, as all WBSC games except those involving senior national teams have been curtailed at seven innings.
In the top of the eighth, Shu-Cheng Hsu bunted to advance the tie-break runners. Niemeyer got to the ball, but threw it away from the first base bag, and both runners scored. Sheng-En Zeng followed with a single to left field and extended Taiwan’s lead to 7-4. Another run scored on a defensive error, though reliever Pepe Stockhaus then recorded outs from the next three batters.
With Germany now needing at least four runs to keep the game—and its Super Round—hopes alive, Chun-Hsi Lin walked Fierlbeck to jam the sacks. However, Lin then mowed down the next three batters, striking out the side, and relegating Germany to the Placement Round.
Baseball Deutschland worked six walks and collected five base knocks, but it was three unearned runs and seven walks issued that sunk its worthy upset bid. Four German pitchers shared the eight innings, surrendering 10 hits, but also striking out eight Taiwanese attackers. Huber was 3-for-4, while both Carrasquilla and Fierlbeck walked twice.
South Africa – Italy
Italy took an early lead on South African starter Stiaan Henning. After a free pass to Pablo Suárez, Daniele di Persia and Patrick Silva hit back-to-back, one-out singles for the first run, and both scored on errors. Rain delayed the game in the bottom of the second, ending Italian starter Santiago Arismendi’s day after two perfect innings.
In the top of the third, South Africa got on the scoreboard. Reliever Filippo Brunelli hit Aydee Osman and Tristan Fradd, walking Imaad Hassiem to load the bases. Jordan Pinto, South Africa’s most consistent hitter during the Under-18 Baseball World Cup, lifted a sacrifice fly to left field that was deep enough to score Osman. However, a nifty pick-off by catcher Corrado Resca nailed Fradd at second to end the inning.
Italy immediately answered, as di Persia and Silva knocked back-to-back hits to start the bottom half of the frame, and Italy scored on another error and Federico Magalotti’s sacrifice fly. Henning left after four solid innings, having allowed three earned runs and collecting three whiffs.
South Africa eroded Italy’s lead in the fourth. Joshua Botha hit a one-out double, stole third, and scored on Henning’s infield single. An inning later, Dean du Plessis and Fradd led off with consecutive singles and Hassiem bunted them over. Pinto once again drove a flyball deep to the left side, and Du Plessis scored on the sacrifice fly.
After Jaden du Preez took the mound for South Africa, recording a scoreless fifth, Italy handed the ball to Ivan Larice in the top of the sixth. The first batter, Botha, reached first on a plunking, moving to second on a wild pickoff attempt, and third on a balk. A bouncing ball down the first base line from Junaid Bedford looked like it might be deep enough to score a run, but Silva fired home to nab Botha. With two down, it looked like South Africa’s rally might be over, but a passed ball moved Bedford up. Enter pinch runner Donovan Wallendorf, who stole third on a fourth ball to Osman, and took advantage of the ensuing confusion to score on a throwing error, bringing South Africa to within one. Larice buckled down and got the third out, however, preventing the Green-and-Gold from tying up the game.
Resca beat out a slow roller to short to start the bottom of the sixth. After du Preez walked Aldo Pavarani and Federico de Cristan, South Africa’s manager, Dean McKinnon, called in Caelum Stroberg, who was just what his club needed. The right-handed induced grounders from di Persia and Silva with the bases loaded, to escape the bottom of the sixth.
Federico Magalotti took the mound for Italy in the top of the seventh, with the South Africa offense starting to fire on all cylinders. When Hassiem was struck by a pitch and stole second with Pinto at the plate, it looked South Africa might have something going, but Magalotti coaxed a ground ball to first, with Silva keeping Hassiem at first. After Hassiem swiped third, Italy’s closer then overpowered the next batter on strikes, finishing with a swing-and-a-miss, to end the game with the potential tying run at third.
South Africa amassed 10 baserunners, four of which were hit batters and another four base knocks. However, the offense hit .182/.313/.182 with runners on base. Still, given that six different players reached base and the squad nearly fought back from a 5-1 deficit after three, shows that there is plenty of potential for the rest of the Under-18 World Cup. Du Preez and Stroberg each made significant contributions as well, with the former getting four outs, two by K, and allowing no runs and one hit.
Di Persia and Silva both went 2-for-4 with two runs in the win, while Suárez continued to exhibit superb plate discipline, drawing another three walks and putting his total for the tournament to six. Brunelli claimed the win after pitching the middle three innings, while Magalotti earned the save.
Other Games
The U.S.A. and Japan remained perfect, with the former dispatching Australia, 11-1 in six innings thanks to a seven-run sixth. The hosts had a much closer game, tacking on single runs in the sixth and seventh to defeat Puerto Rico, 3-0. Panamá claimed victory over China, 12-5, in a game that was closer than the score indicated, with the two sides collecting 13 and 11 hits, respectively. Cuba needed a win against South Korea to give it a chance to advance to the Super Round, but instead, Joel Kim and Ji-Sung Park combined for a one-hit shutout, striking out 13 players in the 3-0 victory.
Day 6 Schedule
South Africa will resume play against South Korea in rain-delayed game from Day Three. Europe’s two representatives, meawhile, will have an off day. Regardless of the result, Japan, Puerto Rico, and South Korea advance to the Super Round from Pool A, while the United States, Taiwan, and Panamá take the spots allotted to Pool B. The remainder of the teams enter the Placement Group, which will feature the only European derby of the tournament and allow South Africa to test Germany.
Group A Standings
Japan: 5-0
South Korea: 3-1
Puerto Rico: 3-2
Cuba: 2-3
Italy: 1-4
South Africa: 0-4
Group B Standings
U.S.A.: 5-0
Taiwan: 4-1
Panamá: 2-3
Australia: 2-3
Germany: 2-3
China: 0-5
Box Scores are available here [link]. See our other Under-18 Baseball World Cup coverage:
Preview https://www.mister-baseball.com/2025-under-18-world-cup-day-5-germany-three-outs-short-of-super-round/.
Day 1 Results https://www.mister-baseball.com/2025-under-18-world-cup-day-5-germany-three-outs-short-of-super-round/.
Day 2 Results https://www.mister-baseball.com/2025-under-18-world-cup-day-5-germany-three-outs-short-of-super-round/.
Day 3 Results https://www.mister-baseball.com/2025-under-18-world-cup-day-5-germany-three-outs-short-of-super-round/.
Day 4 Results https://www.mister-baseball.com/2025-under-18-world-cup-day-5-germany-three-outs-short-of-super-round/.