OKINAWA, Japan – The 18U National Team wraps up pool play against Australia, looking to finish World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup group play unbeaten on Tuesday morning. First pitch from Okinawa Cellular Stadium is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. JST/9:30 p.m. ET (Sept. 8).

GROUP B STANDINGS

Team USA (4-0)
Chinese Taipei (3-1)
Australia (2-2)
Germany (2-2)
Panama (1-3)
China (0-4)

LAST TIME OUT

CJ Sampson pitched five efficient innings as Team USA picked up a run-rule victory over China, 10-0, on Monday morning at Okinawa Cellular Stadium. The righty needed just 58 pitches to complete five innings of one-hit ball, tossing 48 of those pitches for strikes. Sampson spun an immaculate inning in the second, striking out a stretch of five consecutive batters in the victory. He faced just one batter over the minimum, yielding a two-out single in the fourth.

At the plate, five different Team USA players picked up multiple hits. Aiden Ruiz continued his hot stretch with a two-hit day, raising his tournament average to .571. Grady Emerson contributed a pair of knocks, and Will Brick slammed a double and a triple in the 10-run outburst. Coleman Borthwick and Jaden Jackson also collected two hits, as Borthwick drove in a pair of runs with a double. As a team, the U.S. collected 13 hits for its third double-digit output of the tournament.

HISTORY AGAINST AUSTRALIA

Since first meeting at the IBA Baseball World Cup in 1987, Team USA in 16-5 all-time against Australia. The Aussies won four of the first six matchups, but the U.S. has been dominant since, winning 14 of the last 15 meetings. The last matchup came at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in 2017, which resulted in a 9-0 win for the United States.

GOING FOR THE SWEEP

Team USA is looking to sweep pool play at the World Cup in today’s game against Australia. The U.S. has won its first five games on eight different occasions in 31 trips to the World Cup, including in 2017 before it went on to win every game at that year’s tournament.

KINGS OF THE HILL

U.S. pitchers are leading the tournament in nearly every statistical category through three games. They have allowed just one earned run, giving the group a team ERA of 0.27 along with a .128 opponent average, good for best in the tournament. The staff’s 35:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the best in the World Cup, and they are one of two countries yet to allow an extra-base hit (also Japan).

HITTING ON ALL CYLINDERS

The U.S. has collected double-digit hits in three of its four games so far in tournament play. The club had 11 hits in the tournament opener against Panama, 10 knocks in a win over Germany on Sunday, and yesterday racked up 13 hits while defeating China. The team’s 38 hits lead all countries at the World Cup.

LEADING THE PACK

Team USA infielder Aiden Ruiz has eight hits in four games, the most of any player in the tournament. Ruiz, who has started all four games at shortstop for the red, while, and blue, has at least one hit in all four games including three multi-hit efforts.

SWIPING BAGS

After stealing six bases in Monday’s win over China, Team USA now has 12 swiped bags to lead all teams at the World Cup. Anthony Murphy has two consecutive games of multiple stolen bases and leads all players in that category with five.

CONTACT IS KEY

In the last two games played by Team USA, the squad has only struck out three times to nine walks drawn. The U.S. only went down on strikes once in Sunday’s game against Germany and twice in the contest against China on Monday.

THE ROSTER

The 20-player Team USA roster features five USA Baseball alumni, 10 players with USA Baseball national team development programming experience, and four players who have participated in MLB Develops events and programming. Grady Emerson is appearing on a national team roster for the fourth consecutive summer, becoming the first player in USA Baseball history to play for two 15U National Teams and two 18U National Teams. He is joined by his 2022 15U teammates Carson Bolemon and Andrew Costello, who helped Team USA win gold at the 2022 WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup. 2023 15U alum Jorvorskie Lane Jr. makes his second appearance on a U.S. roster, while two-time alum Jared Grindlinger rounds out the alumni on the roster.

In addition to the five alumni on the roster, 10 total players have experience participating in USA Baseball’s national team development programming. Emerson and Grindlinger were both members of the 2022 13U/14U Athlete Development Program (ADP), while Costello and Jacob Lombard both participated at the 2023 16U/17U National Team Development Program (NTDP). Bolemon, Coleman Borthwick, Will Brick, Lane Jr., Anthony Murphy, and Gio Rojas competed at the 2024 16U/17U NTDP, and Grindlinger played at the 2025 16U/17U NTDP in July.

Additionally, James Clark, Lombard, Murphy, and Aiden Ruiz all have experience across a myriad of MLB Develops programs and events. The quartet has participated in nearly all of MLB Develops’ offerings, including the Breakthrough Series, DREAM Series, Hank Aaron Invitational, High School All-American Game, High School Home Run Derby, and The Program-all of which are hosted jointly with USA Baseball.

FOLLOW ALONG

To follow along with all the action with the 18U National Team, be sure to follow @USABaseball18U on X and @USABaseball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X.