By Gabriel Fidler, Managing Editor.
In two days, the Under-18 World Cup will commence in Okinawa, Japan, and Germany and Italy will represent Europe at baseball’s oldest youth world championship. South Africa is its continent’s delegate. Japan is hosting for only the second time in 32 tournaments, while Okinawa will make its debut as local organizers. The tournament will open on Sept. 5., with two pools of six teams.
Italy is the defending Under-18 European Champion, winning the 2024 tournament in Regensburg, defeating the hosts in the championship game. The 14th-ranked Azzurri have won nearly half of the 34 U18 Baseball Euros, taking home 16 titles (and 31 medals), second only to the Netherlands’ 17 (and 32 total). Spain is the only other nation to claim the title, and it did so in 2022, playing in the 2023 U18 World Cup alongside the Netherlands. The Italians have competed at 18 of the 34 Under-18 championships since the first in 1981, with a high-water mark of sixth place in 2004.
Incidentally, that year was the only previous appearance for Germany, which finished in 10th place. Ther Germans have a total of five medals at the U18 Baseball Euros, three of which have come in the past five tournaments. Germany’s new crop of young players has been surging, as the nation won the Under-15 European Baseball Championship this summer after a silver at the Under-18 level the year before. Baseball Deutschland is ranked No. 19 in the WBSC world rankings.
“I coach ambitious and baseball-loving guys,” said Georg Bull, a German Baseball Hall-of-Famer. “They want to find out where we stand in the world of baseball’s big guys. I’ve never been in a U-18 Baseball World Cup, so I’m really curious about how we will do.“
Germany is in Group B with Australia, China, Panamá, Taiwan, and the United States, while Group A features Cuba, Italy, Japan, Puerto Rico, South Africa, and South Korea. Like Germany and Italy, China, Cuba, and South Africa, did not participate in the 2023 edition, while the other seven teams are returning. The U.S.A. is the only nation to participate in every edition of what was formerly known as the World Junior Baseball Championship. For a full preview of the groups, see the WBSC’s primer [link].
Italy’s Guglielmo Trinci said that he wants his players to witness the next level of baseball.
“We will face world powers, and we have a young team. But I want my players to give all they have on the field.“
South Africa eased past Zimbabwe in a five-game Under-18 African Baseball Championship in January [link]. The scores of 19-1, 19-1, 24-3, 22-0, and 16-2 show evidence of the gap in experience between the African veterans and Zimbabwe, which has only recently begun competing in continental events after a period of dormancy, with funding a major issue given the cost of travel in Africa.
Manager Dean McKinnon believes that No. 26 South Africa has a chance to demonstrate how much it has improved and to represent the country well, showing “resilience and passion [and] together they form a unit that reflects the true spirit of South African baseball.” He added, “Of course, we also hope we can win a few games.“
There are no real surprises among the tournament favorites, with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the U.S.A. taking every medal in the past five events. However, Cuba has the most titles (11), followed by the U.S. (10), South Korea (5), Taiwan (3), Canada (1), and Japan (1), the defending champions [link].
The Baseball Federation of Japan (BFJ) and NPB Enterprise will co-host the tournament with the support of the Japan High School Baseball Federation at the Okinawa Cellular Stadium [link], a 15,000-seat venue in Naha, which is the main field, and the 12,000-seat Nishizaki Stadium [link] in Itoman the second venue. The two serve as regular NPB spring training venus. Only a few weeks ago, Okinawa Shogaku High School won its first Summer Koshien (the prestigious Japanese High School National Championship)[link], making this summer one of the most memorable for the archipelago, which is also commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the end of World War II, which concluded on Sept. 2, 1945.