Team USA Takes Gold In WBSC World Cup Americas Qualifier
Image credit: USA Baseball Cap (Photo By Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
USA Baseball’s 18U National team won gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 World Cup Americas Qualifier this weekend, beating Panama 4-2 in the gold medal game on Sunday.
The gold medal is the seventh straight that Team USA’s 18U team has won in World Cup Qualifiers and capped a perfect 8-0 run for the team with a combined run differential of 58-9 in that stretch.
The gold medal finish secures a spot for Team USA in the 2025 WBSC U-18 World Cup. Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico also qualified for the World Cup at this event.
Shortstop Kayson Cunningham was named the MVP of the tournament after leading the team with 10 hits and driving in 12 runs and slashed .417/.483/.542 with three doubles, three walks and just one strikeout. Cunningham was named to the all-tournament team alongside outfielder Slater De Brun and second baseman Grady Emerson.
De Brun hit .429/.636/.429 with three walks, no strikeouts and three stolen bases while Emerson hit .381/.417/.381 with two walks, two strikeouts and two stolen bases.
Cunningham and De Brun each managed a tournament OPS over 1.000, though it was first baseman and three-hole hitter Gavin Fien who led Team USA in OPS with a 1.109 OPS and tallied three doubles and a pair of triples.
It wasn’t a home run derby for the Americans, as the team didn’t manage a single home run, though they did collectively walk (33) more than they struck out (29) and hit .280/.360/.398 as a team.
Righthander Nico Partida and lefthander Aiden Stillman both started multiple games for Team USA without allowing a run. Partida struck out 12 over eight innings with four walks and just one hit (a single) allowed, while Stillman struck out five over eight innings with just one walk and a pair of hits (both singles) in his time on the mound.
Righthander Josh Hammond started the gold medal game for Team USA and worked three innings with one earned run, four hits, two strikeouts and a walk. Cumulatively the Team USA pitching staff managed a 1.08 ERA in 52 innings with 57 strikeouts and 29 walks.
Partida and righthander Josh Owens were both key two-way players for Team USA. Owens pitched eight shutout innings out of the bullpen across two appearances while tallying a pair of hits—including a key bunt single in the gold medal game—in eight at-bats while Partida went 4-for-13 (.308) with three runs and an RBI.
