OKINAWA, Japan – Team USA will look to finish the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball WorlD Cup Super Round strong against Puerto Rico on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. JST/1:30 a.m. ET from Okinawa Cellular Stadium.

PITCHING MATCHUP

RHP Joniel Cuadrado (PUR) vs. RHP Matthew Sharman (USA)

HISTORY AGAINST PUERTO RICO

Team USA owns a 7-1 all-time record against Puerto Rico at the U-18 level. The two nations first met in 2005 and most recently faced off twice at last year’s WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier, where the U.S. notched a pair of wins. The United States and Puerto Rico have split their two matchups at the World Cup; the U.S. won the first one in 2008, and Puerto Rico emerged victorious in their second meeting in 2023.

LAST TIME OUT

Gio Rojas twirled a complete game shutout to beat Korea, 1-0, and punch Team USA’s ticket into the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup gold medal game. Rojas allowed just two hits and struck out 10 in the complete game effort, allowing just one runner to reach scoring position. He stranded a runner at third in the third inning and worked around a two-out single in the seventh, finishing off the first seven-inning complete game shutout for Team USA since 2019.

At the plate, CJ Sampson drove in the only run for Team USA with an RBI knock in the bottom of the third. His RBI hit was preceded by a pair of singles by Aiden Ruiz and Coleman Borthwick. Borthwick led the team with three hits on Friday night, collecting three singles in three at-bats.

PLAYING FOR GOLD

The U.S. secured its spot in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup title game with last night’s results. Team USA will meet host and defending champion Japan on Sunday to decide the World Champion. It will be the 17th appearance for the United States in the World Championship game as it will look for its 11th title, which would tie Cuba for most all-time.

FAMILIAR FOE

Team USA and Puerto Rico met twice within a week at last summer’s WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier. The U.S. got four strong innings from Josh Hammond and three RBIs from Gavin Fien to win the pool play matchup, 7-3. The two nations met again in the semifinal round and the United States emerged with a 6-3 win on the strength of five shutout relief innings from Josh Owens and two RBIs from Grady Emerson.

STARTING STRONG

U.S. starting pitchers have allowed just one earned run in 34 innings on the mound at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup, good for a 0.20 ERA. Team USA has gotten two consecutive quality starts, one from Carson Bolemon against Japan and the other from Gio Rojas versus Korea. Overall, Team USA has a 0.74 team ERA, the best in the tournament.

ATOP THE LEADERBOARD

The United States leads the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in a large number of categories on both sides of the ball. The pitchers have a 0.64 WHIP, .127 BAA, 10 walks, and just 20 hits allowed in 47 innings of work, all leading the tournament. At the plate, the U.S. leads the World Cup in hits (55), runs (46), total bases (65), on-base percentage (.442), OPS (.799), and stolen bases (12).

BORTH’S BIG DAY

Coleman Borthwick collected three hits in three at-bats for the U.S. against Korea on Friday night, raising his tournament batting average to .304. The biggest of Borthwick’s three knocks came in the third inning, as it was part of a string of three-consecutive U.S. hits that led to the only run of the day.

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.