TAINAN, Taiwan – After an off day on Wednesday, Team USA is well rested and ready for Super Round action starting today in a matchup against a competitive adversary: Mexico. First pitch of the morning slate in the 2025 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup Super Round is set to be thrown at 10:30 a.m. local/10:30 p.m. ET (July 30) at the main stadium of the Asia Pacific International Baseball Stadium complex.

The race for WBSC U-12 World Cup is wide open after five days of pool play, as four teams in the Super Round own 4-1 records while Korea showcased its talented team this week and went undefeated in group play.

Team USA, along with one other team in the Super Round pool, is competing for a berth to the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup title game. After the final day of Super Round play on August 2, the two teams with the best Super Round record will advance to the gold-medal game. All team records and Super Round standings can be found here.

LAST TIME OUT

Team USA bounced back from Monday’s loss to Korea with a strong 7-4 win over the Dominican Republic on Tuesday at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup, wrapping up pool play with a 4-1 record and advancing to the Super Round as a second seed from Group B.

Duncan Mount stepped up on short notice and delivered 4.0 shutout innings with five strikeouts, keeping the Dominican offense at bay. His performance the bump sparked a breakout at the plate, as the U.S. tallied seven runs on 11 hits. Kristian Valadez delivered the decisive blow with a grand slam in a six-run fourth inning, marking his second homer of the tournament.

Christopher Chikodroff and Russell McGee both went 3-for-3 with a run scored, while Valadez drove in four RBIs. Barret Schell shut the door with an inning of relief to earn the save.

More on Tuesday’s game can be found here.

PITCHING MATCHUP

RHP Barret Schell (USA) vs. RHP Diego Garcia (MEX)

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

In the opening round, Mexico concluded with a 4-1 record after defeating Japan, 7-6, in a make-up game on July 30. Mexico’s lone loss came in a 6-5 defeat to Chinese Taipei, allowing Korea to secure the only undefeated record among the 12-team field in the opening round.

Mexico kicked off this year’s World Cup with a bang, tossing two consecutive no-hitters to begin the tournament. Over its five games of competition in Group A, Mexico has thrown two shutouts, outscored its opponents 34-13, and has yielded only 16 hits to opponents. Mexico is coming off a nail-biting, 7-6 victory over previously undefeated Japan, while its only loss of the tournament came on Tuesday night in a walk-off loss to Chinese Taipei. Mexico is hitting .341 as a team, while its pitching staff has been the focal point of this year’s tournament, as the squad has held opponents to a .157 batting average.

On offense, Mexico boasts a balanced offense with a deep lineup featuring five separate players who have each garnered at least five hits and five players who are batting over the .400 mark. Mexico’s starting pitcher, Diego Garcia, has already made two appearances on the bump yet has thrown only 1.1 innings. In his 0.2 innings of work against Cuba, Garcia earned a save, however, he has surrendered three runs and currently owns the highest ERA among all pitchers on the team (13.50).

HISTORY AGAINST MEXICO

Among the 27 teams the 12U National Team has faced in international competition since the team’s inception in 2013, Mexico is the only nation in which Team USA has lost three or more contests to. The United States owns an 8-3 all-time record against Mexico while the United States has won the last two matchups; the United States’ last defeat to its southern neighbors came in the 2019 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup.

These two teams met just nine months ago in the 2024 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier gold-medal game in Panama. In that clash, the United States won 9-1. Since the two teams first met in 2014, Team USA has outscored Mexico 74-45 while five prior contests were decided by three or fewer runs.

TEAM USA STAT LEADERS

• BA: Christopher Chikodroff (.625)
• HITS: Christopher Chikodroff (10)
• RBIs: Kristian Valadez (8)
• RUNS: Christopher Chikodroff, Nolan Hatch (7)
• TB: Christopher Chikodroff (12)
• BB: Kristian Valadez (4)
• IP: Duncan Mount (5.1)
• Ks: Duncan Mount (9)

SUPER ROUND TEAM RECORDS

Korea (5-0)

Japan (4-1)

Mexico (4-1)

Chinese-Taipei (4-1)

United States (4-1)

Dominican Republic (3-2)

INSIDE THE ROSTER

The 18-player roster features 12 athletes who were invited to Training Camp following the 11U Futures Invitational, while the remaining six were previously selected from last summer’s 11U National Team Identification Series (NTIS) Champions Cup. Overall, 11 states are represented among the 18 players on this year’s roster. Texas leads all states with three athletes, while Florida, Nevada, Tennessee, and Virginia are each represented by two players apiece. California, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington are responsible for the remaining seven athletes. The 2025 12U National Team roster can be found here.

AT THE HELM

Team USA is led by two-time 12U National Team Manager Bryan Madsen – who helped secure a gold medal and a World Cup qualification last October in Panama. Alongside Madsen is a veteran group of coaches, including Wes Brooks, Erick Quesada, and Roger Wright. Brooks serves as pitching coach for the second consecutive summer while Quesada and Wright will take on assistant coaching roles. Madsen and Quesada make their second appearance on a World Cup roster, having previously served on staff of the gold medal-winning 2023 12U National Team. Likewise, this will be the second consecutive summer that Brooks and Wright suit up in a Team USA uniform.

FOLLOW ALONG

Fans can watch the game here and also follow live stats, while highlights and updates can be found on the 12U National Team Twitter/X account.

SCHEDULE

The remaining schedule for the VIII WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup is as follows:

• August 1 - vs. Chinese Taipei (Super Round) - 6:30 p.m. local/6:30 a.m. ET
• August 2 - at Japan (Super Round) - 2:30 p.m. local/2:30 a.m. ET
• August 3 - Medal Round - TBD

SOCIAL MEDIA

To follow along with all the action with the 12U National Team, be sure to follow @USABaseball12U on Twitter/X and @USABaseball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X.