TAINAN, Taiwan – The United States bounced back from defeat and downed the Dominican Republic, 7-4, on Tuesday afternoon in the 2025 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup at Asia Pacific International Baseball Stadium. Team USA wraps up pool play with a 4-1 record and secures a second-place finish in the Group B standings to send the stars and stripes to the Super Round.

After an uncharacteristic loss to Korea on Monday night in which the U.S. committed four errors, Team USA acclimated to ambiguous weather conditions and came together in an all-around team effort, posting seven runs on 11 hits to defeat the Dominican Republic. Duncan Mount acted as catalyst for the United States, as the hard-throwing southpaw came in on short notice and rose to the occasion, seizing command of the mound in the first inning by recording three straight outs–two via strikeout–to strand a pair of Dominican runners. He proceeded to fire three more frames until his efforts eventually ignited the U.S. bats, paving the way for Team USA to take its first lead in its past nine innings played.

The red, white, and blue did just that, as Christopher Chikodroff and Russell McGee combined to account for six of the team’s 11 hits on the day. After plating a run in the third, the bats mounted an offensive onslaught and scored six runs in the fourth frame behind a five-hit outburst, highlighted by a grand slam squared up by the United States’ third baseman, Kristian Valadez. Ultimately, it was Valadez’s second home run of the tournament that was the deciding factor and powered the United States past the Dominican Republic, as the D.R. proceeded to trim the deficit via a three-run fifth in a futile attempt to come back.

Mount posted an outstanding final line, as he earned the win in today’s contest and threw 4.0 innings while allowing just three hits, surrendering no earned runs, striking out five, and stranding eight Dominican batters. Barret Schell shut the door on the win for the United States, as he punched out a batter in an inning of work to earn the save. Both Chikodroff and McGee paraded perfect performances at the plate, as they each went 3-for-3 with a run scored while the former also notched an RBI. Valadez accounted for four of the team’s six RBIs while Nolan Hatch tallied a hit, produced an RBI, and scored twice.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Dominican Republic drew first blood in the third inning after a ball put into play by Jadiel Zayas scored Bryan Zapata, who reached on a fielder’s choice.
• Team USA erased the short-lived deficit in the home half, as back-to-back base hits from Hatch and Chikodroff kicked off the inning. With a two-strike count, AJ Elliott proceeded to put the ball in play as an errant throw on an attempted double play scored Hatch.
• In the fourth, the U.S. strung together a trio of base knocks to load the bases with only one out on the board. Then, a fielding error committed at first base scored Mount and handed the United States its first lead of the contest.
• As the bases remained loaded, there was no one better than Chikodroff to step up to the plate, as the U.S. right fielder racked up his third hit of the game to score McGee and make it 3-1.
• After a slow start at the plate, Valadez bounced back and did so in fashion, as he took advantage of a hitter’s count and belted a 2-0 offering deep to right field for an opposite-field grand slam, giving Team USA a 7-1 lead after four complete.
• A leadoff hit-by-pitch came back to bite Team USA in the top of the fifth, as a double by Dileccio Pérez cut the U.S. lead by a run. The Dominican Republic’s bats did not stop there, however, as Marvin Rodríguez walloped the first pitch he saw for a no-doubt, two-run shot to make it 7-4 in the team's last offensive rally of the day.

NOTABLES

• The 12U National Team is now 4-1 all-time against the Dominican Republic.
• In today’s 7-4 win, the U.S. conceded the fewest number of runs to the Dominican Republic at the 12-and-under level since 2022.
• As a team, the United States is top three among all nations in hits (49), RBIs (45), and batting average (.380) while the pitching staff is first in total strikeouts (39) and second among all teams in opponent batting average (.134).
• Not only is Chikodroff riding a four-game hit streak, he has now collected his third three-hit performance of the week.
• Two U.S. players are batting over .500, as Hunter Sundby is hitting at a .556 clip while Chikodroff is batting to the tune of a .625 average.
• Chikodroff is first player to double-digits in the hits category and ranks first among all players in total hits (10). He also ranks second on the leaderboard in RBIs (7) while Valadez is tied for first with eight.

QUOTABLES

• “Yesterday was obviously a tough one but we had to regroup today and we did just that,” said assistant coach Erick Quesada. “I saw a lot of fire and togetherness from everyone, they responded well from last night and it really shows the character of our team as a whole.”
• “Valadez has super quick hands and has a lot of power that way,” Manager Bryan Madsen said. “It’s important with this age group to be able to bounce back and it’s big for him and the team to be able to do that today.”
• “My arm felt good,” said Mount. “My coaches said I might have to come in early in the game and so I took the ball and did my job.”

ON DECK
After an off day tomorrow, July 30, Team USA will resume its quest for World Cup gold on Thursday in Super Round action. In this next stage of the tournament, the top three teams from each pool will move on to another series of round-robin play, where the two teams with the best records will then advance to the gold medal game. Details regarding opponent, time, and location will be updated on the 12U National Team social media page as provided.

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