Four nations earned a berth in the next WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup, after the conclusion of the Pan American Championship held in Aguascalientes, Mexico. World No. 1 USA, No. 5 Mexico, No. 4 Cuba and No.11 Venezuela secured a spot in next year’s global event, being the top four teams in the Americas.
The three-time World Champion USA went unbeaten to claim the title at the nine-days Pan American Championship, with a 10-2 victory over the host team in the finale. Christian Hamilton and Paul Dominguez homered for USA, while Kibru Pam claimed the victory in 5 innings of work, with 3 hits and 4 strikeouts.
It marks the first time USA has won the tournament after finishing runner-up in 2014 and 2016. For the third place, Cuba defeated Venezuela, 9-7.
The four qualified teams will join Chinese Taipei, Korea, Japan (Asia); Italy and Czech Republic (Europe) in the 12-teams global contest. Another two nations will come from continental qualifiers (one from Africa, and one from Oceania); while the last spot will be given through a wild card.
Final Standings
- United States
- Mexico
- Cuba
- Venezuela
- Panama
- Nicaragua
- Colombia
- Brazil
- Aruba
- Dominican Republic
- Argentina
- Honduras
All tournament team
- First Baseman: Dean Moss (USA)
- Second Baseman: Brock Thompson (USA)
- Third Baseman: Carlos Miguel Villalobos (COL)
- Short Stop: Denilso Aguila (CUB)
- Right Fielder: Leonardo Nicolao (BRA)
- Center Fielder: Ricardo Orozco (MEX)
- Left Fielder: David Guzman (VEN)
- Pitcher: Luis Sarabia (MEX)
- Catcher: Kailand Halstead (USA)
