The WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup 2024 is set to begin on Friday, 16 August, with 12 teams battling for the title of world champion in Barranquilla and Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. The teams had their official practice day on Thursday and are now ready to start the tournament on Friday, with six exciting games. On the eve of the tournament, managers reflected about their teams and expectations.
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Colombia manager Neder Horta mentioned that playing on home soil represents a responsibility for his team, but he thinks they are ready for the challenge. "Playing at home represents a commitment to our country. We must give our best in every game to represent Colombia well and bring joy and satisfaction to our fans, who I am sure will support us throughout the event," he said. "We have a solid team, we need a bit more power but we have a team able to make the routine plays and hit with fundament. That's what we want: A solid team every time we take the field."
Some of baseball's global powerhouses are in Colombia to lift the World Championship trophy on 25 August at Edgar Renteria Stadium in Barranquilla, and made it clear since the beginning.
Dominican Republic manager Jose Cano made a statement before their official practice. "Our only goal is to win. Since our first training session in Santo Domingo our goal has been win, win and win. And keep winning in Colombia," he said. "We have a good mix of power and speed. This is our main strength. And, mentally, we are ready to win this World Cup."
Emanuel Rangel, Mexico's manager, also thinks they have a good chance to win, saying that the team had a great preparation and his players are in great condition. "Pitching will make us strong in this tournament. We have a very good pitching staff, and we've gotten better with our defence and hitting, so we're improving as a team," he said. "Our goal is to win the gold medal, to be crowned champions. This is what we're looking for. We believe we can take the gold medal home because the team and the players are ready to battle for the title."
Japan has not won the World Title since 1990, making this championship elusive for them. However, their manager this year, Hirokazu Ibata, who will also lead the national team at this year's WBSC Premier12 presented by RAXUS, is looking ahead and not thinking about the past. "Of course, results are results. But we're focused in the present and future of these players. If they play well, we can win it all for sure," he said. "What happened in the past doesn't affect this team. This is a new team, and they will write their own story."
Asked about the strengths of his team, Ibata said: "As a typical Japanese team, we have a strong defence with a really good pitching staff. Offensively we can do damage, of course, but our biggest strength is our defence. We're very confident with our team as a whole."
Puerto Rico advanced to the World Cup as champions of the Americas Qualifier played in March. Manager Jose San Miguel said they are happy and proud for being the continental champions, and winning this title has increased their expectations for the World Cup. "We want to win, nobody comes to this tournament only to participate. But we'll go step by step. First, we have five important games to advance to the Super Round, and then try to fight for a medal," he said. "This is a united team, we are a family, and it has been one of the keys for this team, the chemistry, the union. To have such a talented group of guys, most of them stars in their teams in Puerto Rico, and being able to put together this team is amazing."
Pitching and defence will be the key for Puerto Rico. "We will manufacture some runs, but if our pitchers attack the hitters, and our defence catch the ball we will have a lot of opportunities to win," added San Miguel. "If we play to our potential, this will be one of the top defensive teams in the tournament."
Other teams have more moderate ambitions, stating that their strategy is going day by day, trying to go as high as possible in the standings.
Manager Giuseppe Mazzanti said Italy is ready to go for the tournament after a good preparation process. "We tuned up for this World Cup participating in an international tournament in Europe, against the Netherlands and Germany, and then we hosted a training camp in Novara, in Italy, to get ready for the tournament and announce the team," he said. "We need to go day by day. Our goal is to play good baseball, play our own game, and then we'll see what happens in the tournament."
Yurendell De Caster, manager of the Netherlands, have a good mix of players and a clear goal. "We have a mix of players from different places. Six from the Netherlands, 10 from Curacao and four from Aruba. But we couldn't train together as a team before coming to Colombia. However, we expect to be in the top-six in the final standings at the end of the tournament."
South Africa Manager Clive Pretorious is thinking not only in this tournament, but in the development of baseball in his country, running a six-month trial process to make the final selection. "Our objective is to grow our players from strength to strength. Baseball is not the national sport in our country, not even a top-10 sport. So if we can improve from tournament to tournament it will help us a great deal moving forward in developing players," he said. "We're probably more prepared than what we have been in previous years, as we had a full 12-week training with the majority of this squad, but we haven't played a single game as a team yet. So tomorrow it's going to be a big test of what we're going to do in this tournament."
On Friday, the 12 teams will take the field in Barranquilla and Cartagena to start writing their story in the tournament.
