10 teams take the field, the XXXI WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in full swing

World No. 5 Chinese Taipei shut out No. 9 Australia to open the XXXI WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup on Thursday.

The rest of the teams start their campaigns on Friday.

Chinese Taipei is the favourite in Group A. Korea's manager, Young-Bok Lee, acknowledged their status but added: "Since they are so strong, the first goal is to win the game against them. Of course, we are here to win the tournament."

World No. 4 Korea is a strong candidate for the Super Round. Lee said that he selected his team scouting 92 school programs and that he focused on speed, "be it pitchers or position players."

No. 3 Mexico relies on manager José Reyes, who knows international baseball well. He led Mexico to a historic U-23 World Title in 2018. Infielder Ichiro Cano, outfielder Antonio Macias and pitcher Juan Pablo Tirado participated under age in last year's U-18 World Cup. Their international experience is not limited to that. They all contributed to Mexico's bronze WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup 2017 bronze medal. "Our goal is the world title," commented general manager Diego Perez. "Defence is our strength; both the infield and the outfield are outstanding."

He believes the U-18 category is a challenge.
"We have performed well at various levels and we would like to keep the ball rolling. This category is very difficult, not only because ever country takes it seriously, but also because most Mexican player develop at an older age."

Eddie Gonzalez, a National Superior Double-A League veteran, will manage No. 13 Puerto Rico. The selection process included various try outs. "We have looked for players who can cover different positions," said Gonzalez. "We will play five games in the opening round without a rest day."

Puerto Rico won't have the best team possible. Eight players Gonzalez was considering were selected at the Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft while some colleges didn't release their players. "Our strength is pitching," he added. "We aim at making the Super Round, and we will take it from there."

No. 15 Czechia completes the group. "We had only two months to select the team after we were granted a wild card," said manager Peter Cech, a veteran of the Czech ExtraLiga. "All the coaching staff still plays," he said. "We're pretty familiar with the boys. We play against them pretty often."

Cech believes his team's strength is defence. "We don't really have hard-throwing pitchers. We need to avoid bad errors and walks, to be competitive."

The defending World Champions and No. 2 USA are the favourites in Group B. Manager Michael Cuddyer appeared in two U-18 World Cups before his stellar Major League Baseball (MLB) career.

"I have only good memories, other than winning the bronze twice," he commented. "I know what a lot of these kids are experiencing, maybe for the first time. Just the sheer fact that you are experiencing a new culture and different types of baseball makes it a unique experience for these kids. Seeing it from the other end is pretty cool for me now."

Cuddyer is happy with his roster. "We feel we have a complete team. This is a unique tournament, a unique format, playing ten games in nine days with only a 20-man roster. You need versatility; I think that's one of the main focuses we had while selecting the team. Not only versatility on the position player side but also on the pitching side. I think we have a roster with those characteristics. Now it's just about going out and playing the games."

He added; "Nobody is going to go out there and lay down just because we have USA across our chests."

World No. 1 Japan is also here to win. "This team has a lot of potential. I have expectations, but nobody knows what will happen on the field," commented manager Shiro Mabuchi.
"We tried to select more pitchers and have a stronger pitching staff. I'm confident in our pitchers. We have our style of baseball, the short ball. This doesn't mean we won't be hitting home runs."

He added: "All teams deserve respect and I believe every team can be dangerous, but if we look at Group B, the United States look like the strongest opponent."

World No. 7 Netherlands surprised the world in the XXX WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup. Their fifth-place finish was historic. "I don't know if we can repeat that," commented manager Eric De Bruin, "but the goal remains to be in the top six. The group this year will be more challenging. We have the US and Japan and will have to face Venezuela and Panama.

No. 11 Panama will participate with a roster of players active in the domestic leagues.
"The beauty of it all, besides that they are all from the national leagues and trained hard from day one, is that almost all the sports provinces have at least one representative on the team, and that is positive," manager Ricardo Medina told Panama sports channel COS.

No. 6 Venezuela arrived in Taipei only on Thursday, 31 August, after the opening game had ended. Manager Clemente Alvarez, a former Venezuelan Professional League star catcher, will lead Venezuela back to the U-18 Baseball World Cup after 10 years.

The defending U-18 European Champions, No. 21 Spain, complete the group. Former professional pitcher Jorge Luis Riera will count on five members of the 2022 roster.

The U-18 Baseball World Cup will be broadcast in five nations or territories, with a potential 400 million people reach.

All the games will be streamed live on GameTime, the WBSC OTT platform.