06/08/2023 3 Minute Read

The United States are five-time U-12 Baseball world champions

Tyler Early pitched four innings for the win, and the reigning world champions had 11 hits, including a grand slam by Leyland Henry in a seven-run top of the sixth. USA manager Troy Gerlach: "These crowds are fantastic. There's no better venue for a U-12 tournament."

World No. 2 United States defeated No. 4 Chinese Taipei in the final, 10-4, in front of a packed house at the Asia Pacific International Baseball Stadium in Tainan, Taiwan, claiming their fifth WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup title.

"I'm very proud of my guys," said USA manager Troy Gerlach. "We persevered through some tough moments during the tournament and came out with the gold. I couldn't be more proud of how they kept fighting and competing."

Gerlach was impressed by the environment.v"The turnout tonight was unbelievable. These crowds are fantastic. There's no better venue for a U-12 tournament. This is absolutely amazing."

The manager gave credit to Chinese Taipei. "It sucks that both teams cannot win, but you've got to tip your hat to Chinese Taipei. They did a great job"

The US had two standout players, starting pitcher Tyler Early and slugger Leyland Henry. "A couple of guys get all the credit but let me say we have a lot of great ball players on this team," added Gerlach. "Henry couldn't hit a grand slam if the guys didn't get on base in front of him. Early has been outstanding all tournament. He pitched very well tonight. He gave us a chance to win a gold medal".

Leyland Henry broke the score open with a grand slam. "When I stepped to the plate, I was thinking about taking the ball to right field. I got the pitch I was looking for, a high fastball."

How do you see your future in baseball? "I see myself staying humble and playing the game the right way."

Chinese Taipei manager Ming-Ren Chen credited the winners. "Their pitching was excellent and prevented us from scoring a lot of runs. We were aware of how dangerous the number two, three and four hitters were. Unfortunately, our pitchers were not so consistent in the strike zone."

He added, "I'm proud of my players. I'm glad they lived this once-in-a-life experience. I will talk to them; I want to let them know I believe they are an excellent team."

Starting pitcher Sheng-Kai Gau explained that he didn't feel any pressure. "I was happy yesterday when I knew I was going to pitch. I didn't think much and slept well."

He added, "I want to thank all my teammates. I hope that we can see each other in the future again. I'd also like to thank all the fans and family that came all the way to Tainan to see us play."

USA-Chinese Taipei 10-4

The live blog as it happened.

Starting pitchers Shen-Kai Gau and Tyler Early didn't allow scoring chances in the first two innings. Both defences supported their pitching. Below is an extraordinary effort by Chinese Taipei catcher Yu-Hsiang Wang.

Gau put himself in trouble in the top of the third as he allowed his first walk and hit a batter. With one out and runners at second and first, first baseman Leyland Henry doubled to right. Nicholis Parker tried to score from second, but home plate umpire Julio Molina called him out for sliding head-first at home. Early also tried to get home, but Yu-Hsiang Wang tagged him for the third out.

Catcher Bryant Ju led off the fourth with a base hit. Gau walked third baseman Zaylon Johnson and left.

Chinese Taipei gave the call to hard-throwing reliever Lei Yeh. Right fielder Gavin Gomez got to his third pitch with an RBI single up the middle.

Chinese Taipei got the first out at home on a grounder to third by shortstop Paris Head. Second baseman Greyson Wuis batted in the second run with a sacrifice fly. The inning ended when he tried to advance on the play and became the third out at third.

Chinese Taipei tied the game in the bottom of the fourth. Early walked Ya-En Chiu to lead off the first. The first baseman stole second on the first out. Qi-En Zheng brought him to third with a single and stole second. With runners at second and third, Early struck out Hao-Han Luo for the second out. Third baseman Wei-Fan Shen hammered Early's first offering to right field for a game-tying double.

The US took a new lead in the top of the fifth. Raylen Hunter singled to lead off the fifth. He stole second and ran home when a hard-hit grounder by Tyler Early went over the first-base bag.

USA loaded the bases for Greyson Wuis with no one out in the top of the sixth. One run scored on a wild pitch, and Wuis batted in the second with a sacrifice fly. Raylen Hunter extended the lead to 6-2 with a double.

Chinese Taipei handed all to Yi-Hau Huang. The US loaded the bases for Leyland Henry and the first baseman delivered a monster shot over the batter's eye in dead centre to break the score open to 10-2.

Wei-Fan Shen was the last Chinese Taipei player to give up. He homered off reliever Gavin Gomez with two outs in the bottom of the sixth.

On the Final Day: Venezuela beat Japan and earn bronze medal.
On Day 9: defending World Champions USA slug their way to another final.
On Day 8: Chinese Taipei qualify for the World Championship game
On Day 7: Chinese Taipei stay undefeated, huge wins for USA and Japan.
The Super Round schedule.
Look at the statistical analysis after the Opening Round.
On Day 6: Dominican Republic, Japan, USA and Korea join Chinese Taipei and Venezuela in Super Round.
On Day 5: Chinese Taipei remains the only undefeated team
On Day 4: Venezuela dominated Japan, and the Dominican Republic outslug the United States.
The WBSC had a chance to interview Francys Sandoval, the Venezuelan Princess of Baseball.
On Day 3: Chinese Taipei, Venezuela, USA and Korea stay undefeated.
On Day 2: Chinese Taipei walked off Japan, and Venezuela's Willy Hernandez threw a no-hitter.
All Day 1 games were postponed because of bad weather.

More on the VII U-12 Baseball World Cup official web page.