After completing a selection camp with 34 players in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, manager Jason Pospishil announced Australia’s 20-player roster for the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025 presented by RAXUS.
“We have a very versatile team,” said Pospishil. The manager named eight pitchers and 12 position players.
Infielder Josh Nati represented Australia at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2023. He started eight games, six at DH, one at first base and one at catcher and went 6-for-20, a .300 batting average.
Left-hander Mitch Evans signed a professional contract with the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB) in July.
Infielder Ben Nesbit (Perth Heat) and right-handed pitcher Nate Quigg (Canberra Cavalry) have already debuted in the Australian Baseball League (ABL). Utility Matt Trainor was the MVP of the U-18 National Championship. Two other U-18 National Team members earned awards while leading New South Wales to the title: right-hander Riley Puckett (Best Pitcher) and utility Lachlan Vella (Best Hitter).
“Any time you wear an Australian jersey it’s an honour and a privilege,” Pospishil added. “When you stand on that foul line and they play the anthem, that’s when it hits you that what you’re doing isn’t done by everybody and there’s a responsibility for it.”
The manager continued: “We want to see guys who are consistent in their performance. There are benchmarks we need guys to be able to achieve, but we also highlight that if a guy has a bad camp, it doesn’t define them as a baseball player; they still have ample opportunity to develop later on down the road and potentially represent the country at the U-23 or senior team levels.”
Japan will host the XXXII WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in Okinawa from September 5 to 14.
World No. 10 Australia has participated 28 times and their best finish is second place in 2010. Australia also earned four bronze medals. They finished 10th in 2023.
They will play in Group B and face No. 9 Panama, No. 19 China, No. 18 Germany, No. 2 Chinese Taipei and No. 3 USA.
Group A will include No. 12 Cuba, No. 14 Italy, No. 1 and defending champions Japan, No. 4 Korea, No. 7 Puerto Rico and No. 26 South Africa.