USA crowned U-18 champions of Americas; Cuba earns silver, Canada bronze

LA PAZ, Mexico – The United States were declared the gold-medal winners at the 2014 COPABE U-18 Pan American Championship after Hurricane Odile forced tournament officials to abandon the game in the bottom of the third inning Sunday, with USA leading Cuba 1-0.

World No. 1 USA, the two-time defending U-18 world champions, finished with a perfect 8-0 record at the continental (Caribbean, Central-, North- and South America) championship and defeated each of the eight participating nations during the opening round-robin.

No. 3 Cuba earns the silver medal having finished the championship with a record of 6-2, falling to host Mexico and USA, but scoring a convincing win over No. 6 Canada.

In the bronze medal contest, which took place prior to the arrival of Hurricane Odile, Canada defeated No. 13 Mexico 9-7.

Final  Standings

1. USA (No. 1)
2. Cuba (No. 3)
3. Canada (No. 6)
4. Mexico (No. 13)
5. Brazil (No. 14)
6. Panama (No. 12)
7. Argentina (No. 24)
8. Ecuador (No. 32)
9. Guatemala (No. 58)

Finishing among the top five in the event, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Mexico and the United States have qualified for the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2015.

The U-18 Baseball World Cup and its continental qualifiers continue to be proven stages that unite the most talented players in the world. Past players who have represented their countries in U-18 events include some of the biggest names currently in baseball (in no particular order): Yu Darvish, Yasiel Puig, Bryce Harper, Shin-soo Choo, Manny Machado, Clayton Kershaw, Aroldis Chapman, Brett Lawrie, Buster Posey and Masahiro Tanaka – and rising stars like phenoms Shohei Otani (101 mph / 162 km/h; 10 wins and 10 HR as DH in Nippon Professional Baseball — first player since Babe Ruth to accomplish such a feat) and Jorge Soler.