Oceania Qualifier for U-18 Baseball World Cup opens, American Samoa surprises Australia

The Oceania U-18 Baseball Championship, which will send the winner to this year’s WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2019 in Korea, has kicked off at the Paseo Stadium in Guam.

Guam won opening game against Palau by forfeit. The game, which was hit with a rain delay with Palau leading 1-0, before Palau cruised to a 5-2 win. Guam appealed the result as Palau had three players born in 2000 on the field. The tournament’s age bracket limits the field to players born in 2001.

Following the official opener, Guam lost its other game of the day 13-3 to New Zealand.

American Samoa manufactured the surprise of the tournament as they defeated the defending champions and top-ranked nation in Oceania, Australia 4-3. Blaine Edlderege pitched Samoa to the win and Sete Tuastbi went 3-for-4 at bat.

Earlier in the day American Samoa had defeated Palau 13-2.

Results

Guam-Palau 9-0 (forfait)
American Samoa-Palau 13-2
American Samoa-Australia 4-3
New Zealand-Guam 13-3

Standings

American Samoa 2 wins-0 losses
New Zealand 1-0
Guam 1-1
Australia 0-1
Palau 0-2

The presentation of the Oceania U-18 Baseball Championship