Australia beat New Zealand, 4-0, in the final of the U-18 Baseball Oceania Qualifier and became the seventh qualified nation for next year’s XXXI WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup. The tournament was played in Auckland, New Zealand, at Lloyd Elsmore Park, with the final game staged at Bayside Baseball Club.
Alistair Tanner threw a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts. Josh Nati was 1-for-2 with 2 RBI and Sam Gooch was 2-for-3.
Australia join Spain, Netherlands, USA, Panama, Mexico and Venezuela as a qualified nation for the XXXI WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup. Spain and the Netherlands advanced to the global event as winner and runner-up respectively from the European Qualifier; while USA, Panama, Mexico and Venezuela qualified as the top teams in the Americas Qualifier.
The XXXI WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup is scheduled for 2023 with five more participating National Teams to be determined.
- Africa (1):
- Asia (3):
- Americas (4)_ No. 4 Mexico, No. 5 USA, No. 6 Venezuela, No. 13 Panama
- Europe (2): No. 19 Spain, No.8 Netherlands
- Oceania (1): No. 10 Australia
- Wild Card (1):
Australia and New Zealand ended the opening round of the tournament tied on top of the standings with a 3-1 record, after sweeping Guam and splitting their games in the double round robin first stage. This set up a winner-takes-all game between both nations, and Australia prevailed over the hosts to take the only available spot in the world cup.
Austalia has medalled five times in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup, with one silver and four bronzes (1981, 1982, 1989 and 1995). Australia played the final in 2010 losing against Chinese Taipei in Thunder Bay, Canada.
U-18 Oceania Qualifier final standings
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Guam
Cover photo: Tayla Murphy
