Australia sweep Guam in WBSC Oceania U-23 Baseball World Cup Qualifier
World No. 11 Australia swept No. 32 Guam at the Blacktown International Sportspark near Sydney to win the WBSC Oceania U-23 Baseball World Cup Qualifier and complete the set of participants in the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2026.
Australia used their first at-bat to take a lead they wouldn't surrender for the remainder of the series. Guam's Game One starter, Sean Balauro, walked the first two hitters he saw. Australia added a pair of hits, including an RBI double by WBSC young veteran Josh Nati, and took a 3-0 lead. Guam got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs against starter Lachlan Brook, a U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024 alum, but Australia had already increased their lead to 6-0.
Game Four proved to be the closest in the best-of-five series, but Australia had already won the three games they needed to clinch the U-23 Baseball World Cup spot.
Nati led the series in hits (8), batting average (.444) and slugging percentage (.889). The Cincinnati Reds prospect Drew Davies had the most RBIs (13).
WBSC Oceania U-23 Baseball World Cup Qualifier Results
November 6 Australia-Guam 6-3
November 7 Guam-Australia 2-9
November 8 Guam-Australia 1-18
November 9 Australia-Guam 4-2
November 9 Guam-Australia 0-10
WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2026
Nicaragua will host the VI WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup from November 6 to 15, 2026. The WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup is an evolution of the U-21 Baseball World Cup, hosted by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA) in 2014 in Taichung.
The Local Organising Committee has proposed three venues to host the tournament: Soberanía National Stadium in Managua, the brand-new Roberto Clemente Stadium in Masaya, and Rigoberto López Pérez Stadium in León. The venues will be confirmed at a later stage.
The other 11 participating teams qualified according to the Continental quota:
No. 16 Nicaragua has earned an automatic berth as the host nation.
No. 17 Great Britain and No. 15 Czechia secured Europe’s two tickets by finishing first and second, respectively, at the European Championship held in Czechia this past August.
No. 1 Japan, No. 2 Chinese Taipei and No. 4 Korea qualified through the XXXI BFA Asian Championship in September.
No. 8 Panama, No. 7 Puerto Rico and No. 9 Cuba qualified through the North, Central America and Caribbean Qualifier in early October.
No. 5 Venezuela won the South America Qualifier in October.
No.26 South Africa won the WBSC Africa Qualifier earlier this month.