Australia sweep New Zealand, secure berth at WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025
World No. 12 Australia became the 10th team to qualify for the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025, scheduled to be played in Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan from 5 to 14 September. The green and gold squad swept a five-game series against New Zealand at Blacktown International Sportspark, a Sydney 2000 Olympics venue.
In Game 1, Australia defeated New Zealand 10-0, followed by a 4-2 win in Game 2 for the hosts, using a pair of two-out rallies to score all four runs. The series-clincher was a 19-6 win for Australia, in a rain-delayed game highlighted by a seven-run third inning which was the difference-maker. In the last two games of the series, Australia won 11-1 and 5-0.
You can see game recaps and boxscores here.
Australia join No. 1 and hosts Japan, No. 2 Chinese Taipei, No. 5 USA, No. 6 Korea, No. 8 Panama, No. 9 Puerto Rico, No. 10 Cuba, No. 14 Italy and No. 17 Germany as the qualified nations for the World Cup. One National Team from Africa and a Wild Card will complete the set of 12 participants.
Next year's World Cup will represent the 29th participation for Australia in a U-18 Baseball World Cup, and the 16th in a row. Australia is one of seven teams with a medal in this kind of competition, including a silver medal in 2010; and four bronze medals in 1995, 1989, 1982 and 1981.
The Baseball Federation of Japan (BFJ) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Enterprise will co-host the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025 with the support of the High School Baseball Federation at Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture, an island that hosts the Spring Training Camps of nine NPB franchises annually.