PANAMA CITY – After beating Panama last night, 7-0, Team USA faces a quick turnaround and will compete against Cuba in the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier Semifinals with a trip to the gold medal game on the line. The game will be held at Estadio Nacional Rod Carew and the victor will play the winner of the Panama vs. Dominican Republic semifinal matchup.

The U.S. and the Dominican Republic are the only unbeaten, 5-0 teams remaining in the World Cup Qualifier.

PITCHING MATCHUP

TBD (CUB) vs. RHP Carlo Rivero (USA)

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

Cuba holds a 4-1 record and its only loss is to the Dominican Republic. The team is coming off of a narrow 4-1 win against Venezuela on Thursday afternoon. Cuba has tossed two shutouts and has twice scored double-digit runs as a team.

At the plate, Humberto Alfonso and Jose Martinez both hit over .500 while Alex Batista bats .333 with two home runs and five RBIs. Cuba’s pitching staff holds a 2.67 ERA and has held batters to a .173 batting average.

HISTORY AGAINST CUBA

The 12U National Team is 2-0 all-time against Cuba and has outscored the nation 22-6 over those two matchups. The two teams first met in 2015 and have not played since 2018, when the U.S. beat Cuba, 16-1, in the Pan American Baseball Confederation (COPABE) U-12 Pan American Championships.

TEAM USA STAT LEADERS

HITS: Joshua Park, Josh Pierre, Carlo Rivera (7)

RBIs: Carlo Rivero (8)

RUNS: Josh Pierre (11)

TB: Joshua Park, Carlo Rivero (10)

BB: Daylon McCants (3)

IP: Miles Lockridge (7.0)

K’s: Carson Schoener (9)

GROUP A STANDINGS

United States (5-0)

Panama (4-1)

Mexico (3-2)

Nicaragua (2-3)

Colombia (1-4)

Ecuador (0-5)

INSIDE THE ROSTER

The 2024 12U National Team features players from eight different states with more than half of the squad hailing from California or Florida, as those states boast five representatives apiece. Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Nevada, and Texas are responsible for the other eight players named. The 18-player roster features a range of bats offensively, as a third of the team bats left-handed while the squad proves its versatility on the mound with 13 players listed as viable arms. More information on the 2024 12U National Team roster can be found here.

AT THE HELM

Managing Team USA and at the forefront of the charge is Bryan Madsen, who will be making his first appearance as manager and second time on staff. Madsen previously helped lead the 2023 12U National Team to capturing gold in 2023. Assisting Madsen is Roger Wright, who will be on the 12U National Team staff for the second consecutive year. Making their first appearances as an assistant coach will be Josh Ellison and Wes Brooks; Brooks has made stints as 12U National Team Training Camp coach and as USA Baseball Task Force in the past while Ellison has helped coach in 2023 at 18U National Team Training Camp.

HOW TO 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. The schedule can be found here.

SOCIAL MEDIA

To follow along with all the action with the 12U National Team, be sure to follow @USABaseball12U on Twitter and @USABaseball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.