The WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Finals in Thunder Bay, Canada will open on Sunday, 28 July with USA playing Venezuela at 10 am. Defending champions Japan take on Chinese Taipei at 2 pm before the Opening Ceremony takes place at 6 pm and Canada play Mexico in the last game of the day, starting at 7.30 pm. All times are local.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and Baseball Canada revealed the schedule for the IX Women’s Baseball World Cup Finals, presented by CARNEXT, to be played in Thunder Bay, Canada, from 28 July to 3 August.

World No. 1 Japan, No. 2 Chinese Taipei, No. 3 Venezuela, No. 4 USA, No. 5 Mexico, and No. 7 Canada will compete in a round-robin through Thursday, 1 August.

“The ninth edition of the premier event in international women’s baseball will reach its climax this year in Thunder Bay and we look forward to seeing the best teams in international women’s baseball contest for the honour of becoming world champion,” WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari said. “It will be the first ever Finals stage for the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup and after last year’s successful Group stage at Thunder Bay, I expect another successful event, celebrating the best of our sport and our wonderful athletes.”

“We are very pleased to be able to welcome back Team Canada, Mexico, and USA to Thunder Bay.  We also welcome for the first time Team Japan, Chinese Taipei, and Venezuela,” said Nick Melchiore, head of the Thunder Bay International Baseball Association (TBIBA). “This will mark the third time Thunder Bay has hosted a Baseball World Cup and the first time being a women’s event.  We look forward to showcasing Thunder Bay’s natural beauty and hospitality to the world.” 

The tournament will open on Sunday, 28 July with USA playing Venezuela at 10 am. Japan v Chinese Taipei will follow at 2 pm before the Opening Ceremony takes place at 6 pm and then the last game of the day Canada v Mexico, starting at 7.30 pm. All times are local.

After a rest day, the top two finishers will compete for the World Title and the number three and four seeds will play for a bronze medal on Saturday, 3 August.

The IX Women’s Baseball World Cup became the first edition played under the WBSC two-stage format. USA, Mexico and Canada qualified through Group A, played in Thunder Bay, while Japan, Chinese Taipei and Venezuela earned their right through Group B, played in Miyoshi City, Japan.

Pitchers Morishita, Kuribayashi and Taira; infielders Genda and Murakami (pictured above); and outfielder Kondoh competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

World No. 1 Japan revealed their 28-player roster for the Global Baseball Games, the CARNEXT SAMURAI JAPAN SERIES 2024, against Team Europe, scheduled for 6 and 7 March in Osaka.

PITCHERS (12) Shunpeita Yamashita, Hiroya Miyagi (ORIX Buffaloes); Shinya Matsuyama (Chunichi Dragons); Atsuki Taneichi (Chiba Lotte Marines); Masato Morishita (Hiroshima Toyo Carp); Yumeto Kanemaru (Kansai University); Riyoji Kuribayashi (Hiroshima Toyo Carp); Chihiro Sumida (Seibu Lions); Shota Watanabe (Rakuten Golden Eagles); Yuto Nakamura (Aichi Institute of Technology); Haruka Nemoto (Nippon Ham Fighters): Kaima Taira (Seibu Lions).
CATCHERS (3) Yuto Koga (Seibu Lions); Shogo Sakakura (Hiroshima Toyo Carp); Yuudai Yamamoto (Yokohama DeNA Baystars).
INFIELDERS (7) Sousuke Genda (Seibu Lions); Takumu Nakano (Hanshin Tigers); Rui Muneyama (Meiji University); Koutarou Kurebayashi (Orix Buffaloes); Takaya Ishikawa (Chunichi Dragons); Kaito Kozono (Hiroshima Toyo Carp); Munetaka Murakami (Tokyo Yakult Swallows).
OUTFIELDERS (6) Misho Nishikawa (Aoyama Gakuin University); Kensuke Kondoh (Fukuoka Softbank Hawks); Yasutaka Shiomi (Tokyo Yakult Swallows); Shunsuke Tamura (Hiroshima Toyo Carp); Chubei Mannami (Nippon Ham Fighters).

Manager Hirokazu Ibata selected six Olympic gold medallists: pitchers Morishita, Kuribayashi, and Taira; infielders Genda and Murakami; and outfielder Kondoh. Morishita started the gold medal game against the United States and Kuribayashi claimed the final three outs. Murakami batted in one of the two runs Japan scored in the final and starred at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, walking off the semifinal against Mexico with a double.

Samurai Japan will count on some young pitchers, such as 21-year-old Shunpeita Yamashita, who earned nine wins for the Orix Buffaloes in his rookie season, striking out 101 in 95 innings. Left-hander Hiroya Miyagi (23) went 10-4 for the Buffaloes. Shota Watanabe (23, Rakuten Golden Eagles) posted a 2.24 earned run average in his rookie season.

The roster includes four college players: pitchers Yumeto Kanemaru and Yuto Nakamura, infielder Rui Muneyama and outfielder Misho Nishikawa.

Right-hander Rhiner Cruz pitched in 74 games, slugging infielder Alex Liddi (pictured above) appeared in 61 and outfielder Engel Beltre played 22. The reigning European champions, Spain, contribute eight players, the Netherlands have seven, Italy six, Czechia four and Germany three.

The WBSC revealed Team Europe’s 28-man roster for the Global Baseball Games against World No. 1 Japan. The games are scheduled for 6 and 7 March at the Kyocera Dome, the home of the Oryx Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Osaka, Japan.

The roster represents five European programmes. The reigning European champions Spain contribute eight players, including reigning European Championship MVP Wander Encarnacion, followed by the Netherlands (seven), Italy (six), Czechia (four) and Germany (three).

As many as 23 of the 28 players have competed in professional baseball. Three of them have Major League Baseball (MLB) experience: Spanish veteran right-hander Rhiner Cruz (74 games with the Houston Astros 2012, 2013 and the Toronto Blue Jays 2018), Italian slugging third baseman Alex Liddi (61 games between 2011 and 2013 with the Seattle Mariners) and Spanish outfielder Engel Beltre (22 games with the 2013 Texas Rangers).

These are the 28 players selected by manager Marco Mazzieri.

PITCHERS (14) Daniel Alvarez, Fernando Baez, Rhiner Cruz (Spain); Matteo Bocchi, Tiago Da Silva, Luis Lugo (Italy); Tom De Blok, Lars Hujer, Kevin Kelly, Franklyn Van Gurp (Netherlands); Martin Schneider (Czechia); Sven Schueller, Marcus Solbach, Dalton Von Schamann (Germany).
CATCHERS (3) Martin Cervenka (Czechia), Gabriel Lino (Spain), Alberto Mineo (Italy).
INFIELDERS (7) Wander Ercanacion, Edison Valerio (Spain); Alex Liddi, Ricardo Paolini (Italy); Martin Muzik (Cechia); Juremi Profar, Sharlon Schoop (Netherlands).
OUTFIELDERS (3) Engel Beltre, Daniel Jimenez (Spain); Mareck Chlup (Czechia).
UTILITY (1) Delano Selassa (Netherlands).