TAINAN, Taiwan – The United States wraps up the 2025 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup and will play Japan in back-to-back days, this time for an opportunity to be named world champion and capture a gold medal. First pitch is set for 10:00 a.m. local/10:00 p.m. ET (August 2).
LAST TIME OUT
Team USA rode a five-run first inning and a combined shutout to blank Japan, 8–0, Saturday night and punch its ticket to the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup gold medal game.
Now 7-1 overall, the U.S. will face Japan again in a title matchup. Team USA struck early, batting around in the first and knocking in five runs, including a two-run homer by Kristian Valadez, his fourth of the tournament.
Duncan Mount set the tone on the mound with a quick start before weather delayed play. After the break, Brock Bliss and Mason Bitzenhofer preserved the shutout, helped by stellar defense—highlighted by Christopher Chikodroff’s throw to cut down a runner at home and Russell McGee’s double play.
The U.S. tacked on three more runs in the fifth to seal its fourth straight win and a chance at gold.
More on Saturday’s game can be found here.
PITCHING MATCHUP
RHP Yunosuke Ibaraki (JPN) vs. RHP Jaxon Spray (USA)
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
In the opening round, Japan etched a 4-1 record, as its lone loss came in a 7-6 loss to Mexico.
As a team, Japan boasts a .348 batting average as a squad. The team is disciplined at the plate, striking out only 23 times over the past eight games while racking up 37 walks. Its pitching staff owns a 2.37 ERA, holds opponents to a .233 batting average, and have surrendered only four extra-base hits. In addition, the staff has walked only 17 batters while its defense has committed only eight errors.
At the plate, Japan boasts a balanced lineup as six players have collected six or more hits. Riku Sahashi leads the team in batting average (.500) while the team’s slugger, Taiki Toyama, has homered twice, is batting .333, and leads the team in RBIs with seven. Meanwhile, Japan’s starting pitcher, Yunosuke Ibaraki, is a right-hander who has made two appearances on the bump. He owns a 2.25 ERA in 2.2 innings pitched and has yielded one earned run on five hits. In addition, Japan has four players on its pitching staff who own a 0.00 ERA with at least 3.0 innings pitched.
HISTORY AGAINST JAPAN
The 12U National Team is 5-1 all-time against Japan as this will be the seventh time these two teams face off since their first meeting in 2013. In that first meeting in the 2013 IBAF World Cup held in Taipei City, Taiwan, the U.S. won, 9-1.
Historically, the U.S. has outscored Japan 52-17 while only one game has been decided by three or fewer runs.
A GOLDEN PAST
Since 2013, the 12U National Team has participated in 10 gold medal games and has come home with golden hardware in eight of those contests. In only two of Team USA’s 10 gold medal games has the score been decided by three or fewer runs.
Team USA is on the hunt for its third consecutive WBSC World Cup title, hoisting the trophy in both 2023 and 2022. In addition, the team is searching for its second gold medal in less than a year, as just 10 months ago, the 2024 team won gold in the 2024 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier.
Since the team’s inception in 2013, the 12U National Team holds a 75-10 all-time record.
TEAM USA STAT LEADERS
- BA: Christopher Chikodroff (.556)
- HITS: Christopher Chikodroff (15)
- RBIs: Kristian Valadez (14)
- RUNS: Christopher Chikodroff (11)
- TB: Kristian Valadez (21)
- BB: Kristian Valadez (8)
- IP: Brock Bliss (9.1)
- Ks: Duncan Mount (13)
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.
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.
