TAINAN, Taiwan – The United States wraps up Super Round play and will face Japan in the eighth game of the 2025 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup on Saturday, August 2. First pitch will be thrown at 2:30 p.m. local/2:30 a.m. ET at Asia Pacific International Baseball Stadium.

At stake is a trip to the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup championship game.

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 records will advance to the gold-medal game. All team records and Super Round standings can be found here.

LAST TIME OUT

Team USA stormed back from a four-run deficit to edge Chinese Taipei, 6–5, in a thrilling Super Round showdown at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup. Christopher Chikodroff delivered the game-winning hit in the sixth, capping a five-run surge over the final two innings.

Now 6-1 overall and 3-1 in Super Round play, the U.S. battled through early struggles and silenced a rowdy crowd. After falling behind in the second, the U.S. offense came alive in the fifth, highlighted by clutch two-out hits from Duncan Mount and Russell McGee to tie the game.

Kristian Valadez was lights out in relief, tossing 4.2 innings of one-hit ball to keep the U.S. within striking distance. In the sixth, Chikodroff stepped up and drilled a first-pitch single to center, sealing the comeback and sparking a walk-off celebration.

More on Friday’s game can be found here.

PITCHING MATCHUP

LHP Duncan Mount (USA) vs. RHP Riku Sahashi (JPN)

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. Meanwhile, the team is coming off a 10-6 win over the Dominican Republic on the second day of Super Round play.

As a team, Japan leads all nations at the plate with a .367 batting average as a squad. The team is disciplined at the plate, striking out only 18 times over the past seven games while racking up 34 walks. Its pitching staff owns a 1.78 ERA and holds opponents to a .176 batting average. They have surrendered only two extra-base hits, a test for Team USA’s bats which rank second among all teams in the extra-base hit category (22). In addition, the staff has walked only 15 batters while its defense has committed only seven errors.

At the plate, Japan boasts a balanced lineup as five players have collected six or more hits. Yugo Kawazu leads the team in batting average (.538) while the team’s slugger, Taiki Toyama, has homered twice, is batting .381, and leads the team in RBIs with seven. Meanwhile, Japan’s starting pitcher, Riku Sahashi, is a lanky right-hander who has made three appearances on the bump. He owns a 10.00 ERA in 3.0 innings pitched and has yielded five earned runs on four hits. In addition, Japan has three 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 4-1 all-time against Japan as this will be the sixth 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.

Meanwhile, the last two times these teams played was in the 2023 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup, where Team USA got shut out, 7-0. Historically, the U.S. has outscored Japan 44-17 while only one game has been decided by three or fewer runs.

TEAM USA STAT LEADERS

• BA: Christopher Chikodroff (.565)
• HITS: Christopher Chikodroff (13)
• RBIs: Kristian Valadez (11)
• RUNS: Christopher Chikodroff (10)
• TB: Christopher Chikodroff (15)
• BB: Kristian Valadez (8)
• IP: Kristian Valadez (7.1)
• Ks: Duncan Mount (9)

SUPER ROUND STANDINGS

Japan (3-1)

Korea (3-1)

United States (3-1)

Chinese-Taipei (2-2)

Mexico (1-3)

Dominican Republic (0-4)

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 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.