Rosters unveiled for U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup

On the eve of the U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) unveiled today the preliminary rosters of the 12 participating teams. A total of 192 players will be in the active rosters and will have the leading role in the top youth men’s softball event in the world. The 12 rosters can be found here.

The rosters became official after the Pre-Tournament Technical Meeting, held on Friday at Distinction Palmerston North Hotel.

The U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup will gather the top 12 nations, from the five Olympic continents, at Colquhoun Park in Palmerston North, New Zealand, from 22 February to 1 March. This will be the first edition of this event after the WBSC decided to switch the age category from U-19 to U-18.

On Friday teams also participated in the Pre-Tournament Press Conference, and then received a traditional Maori welcome by the Palmerston North community on an opening event at The Square in Palmerston North.

All 12 teams will be playing on the Opening Day, on Saturday 22 February. The teams have been drawn into two six-team groups for the Opening Round:

Group A: No. 2 Argentina, No. 4 Canada, No. 5 Australia, No. 7 Czech Republic, No. 10 South Africa and No. 17 Singapore.

Group B: No. 1 Japan, No. 3 New Zealand (host), No. 6 USA, No. 8 Mexico, No. 11 Denmark and No. 21 Guatemala.

After a five-day opening round robin, the top three teams in each group will advance to the Super Round, carrying head-to-head results from the Opening Round. The two nations with the best records after the Super Round will play in the World Cup final, while the third and fourth place teams will play for the bronze medal.