TAINAN, Taiwan – After throwing a no-hitter and beating South Africa in a 26-0 affair to earn its third straight victory, the United States turns its attention to Korea (3-0) on the fourth day of pool play in the 2025 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup.
After the third day of pool play, the U.S. and Korea are the lone teams in Group B that remain undefeated with 3-0 records. Korea picked up its third win after beating Czechia in a 14-0, mercy-rule contest.
In Group A, Mexico and Japan remain undefeated with three wins apiece. Mexico has thrown two no-hitters while allowing only one run as a team while Japan took down the home team, Chinese-Taipei, 7-2, on Sunday.
Team USA, along with four other teams in its pool, is competing for one of two berths in Group B to advance to the World Cup Super Round stage. All team records and Group B standings can be found here.
LAST TIME OUT
The United States tossed its second consecutive shutout in no-hit fashion Sunday morning in Taiwan. On the third day of pool play, the U.S. put up 26 runs on South Africa in only four innings of play. Two players homered while the team tallied 19 hits as a squad.
Team USA needed only four innings of play to cruise past South Africa, as the red, white, and blue scored six in the first, 13 in the second, and seven runs in the third. 11 players picked up a hit in today’s win, as both the offense and defense were firing on all cylinders.
Hardin Sullivan, Davis Romejko, and Duncan Mount combined for 11 strikeouts in a no-hit win over South Africa. Hunter Sundby homered and drove in five runs while Christopher Chikodroff notched three hits and four RBIs. Jameson Wilhite went deep as well, tacking on Team USA’s fourth home run of the tournament as a team.
More on yesterday’s game can be found here.
PITCHING MATCHUP
RHP Yunseo Kwon (KOR) vs. RHP Jaxon Spray (USA)
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Korea sits alongside the United States as the only undefeated teams remaining in Group B after three days of competition. Korea has pitched two shutouts including a no-hitter, scored 39 runs, and given up only four hits. The team is batting .397 as a whole while the pitching staff has held opponents to a .085 batting average, notched 23 strikeouts, and surrendered zero extra-base hits.
Korea’s squad features a well-rounded lineup, as seven players have multiple hits and eight players own multiple RBIs to their name. Jeongwoo Ha leads the team in hits and RBIs with four apiece, while Jeongwoo Lee and Dohwan Kim have both launched a home run. Meanwhile, nine players have seen time on the mound while Kim leads all Korean players in innings pitched (4.0).
HISTORY AGAINST KOREA
Since the two teams first matched up in 2013, the 12U National Team is 5-0 all-time against Korea. In their first meeting in the 2013 International Baseball Federation (IBAF) 12U World Cup, the United States surpassed Korea by a score of 18-1. Meanwhile, the U.S. defeated Korea, 5-1, when the two nations last met in the 2023 WBSC U-12 World Cup. Team USA has outscored Korea 70-24 over those five games while only two contests have been decided by three runs or less.
TEAM USA STAT LEADERS
- HITS: Christopher Chikodroff (6)
- RBIs: Hunter Sundby (5)
- RUNS: Christopher Chikodroff (6)
- TB: Hunter Sundby (9)
- BB: Many tied (2)
- IP: Brock Bliss, Barret Schell, Kristian Valadez (3.0)
- Ks: Davis Romejko (4)
GROUP B STANDINGS
Korea (3-0)
United States (3-0)
Dominican Republic (2-1)
Panama (1-2)
Czechia (0-3)
South Africa (0-3)
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 schedule for the VIII WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup is as follows:
- July 29 - Dominican Republic - 2:30 a.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. local
- July 31-August 3 - Super Round/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.
