Czechia
Great Britain
Photo: Paul Stodart
Great Britain concluded their run at the 2026 WBSC U23 Baseball World Cup presented by RAXUS with a back and forth 5-4 defeat at the hands of rivals Czechia. The European Championship rematch from August 2025 saw Great Britain pitching strike out 12, while captain Jake Lambdin and Jackson Kraemer both homered in the loss.
Zac Sohosky got his second start of the tournament for Great Britain, and after working out of trouble in the first, his captain gave him the lead. Lambdinhammered the first pitch he saw to lead off the first with a home run and GBR led 1-0.
Sohosky struck out the side in the second but ran into trouble in the third. While tallying 6 strikeouts through the first seven outs, the lefty laboured in the third, allowing three runs – aided by a pair of errors – before giving way to Andrew Campbell with the bases loaded. He induced a grounder to Cole LeClair that ended the inning, but Great Britain trailed, 3-1.
GBR battled back in the home half. Will Cresswell singled and Andrew Johnston walked, before Lambdin replaced Cresswell on the basepaths thanks to a fielder’s choice. Charlie Collins singled and Sean Bejammin’s fly to centre scored Johnston to narrow the deficit. Czechia went to their bullpen and escaped without further damage, and the score after three innings was 3-2 to the Czechs.
Campbell returned to the mound in the fourth and worked around an error for a 1-2-3 inning, and Great Britain took the lead once again. A leadoff walk to LeClair brought Jackson Kraemer to the plate, and he blasted a pitch over the left field wall to give the Brits a 4-3 advantage.
A video review assisted in a clean inning for Campbell and Czechia returned the favour to send the game to the sixth, when the Czech side took the lead again. A leadoff single and a one out, two-run home run by Matouš Bubeník put Czechia up 5-4. A scoreless sixth for Great Britain followed by reliever Zac Colletti hurling one of his own set GBR up for another come-from-behind victory, and Johnston led off the frame with a walk to put the tying run aboard.With Will Kraemer running at first, Lambdin walked, and Czechia called on Ondřej Vostatek from the bullpen with the winning run at first. Vostatek induced a double play off the bat of Charlie Collins, who would reach, and Benjamin’s singled to short to put runners back at first and second, but Walker Selley struck out on the ninth pitch of his at-bat to end the game.
The ninth-place finish is the best finish by any Great Britain team at a World Cup event in the modern era, and the second-best ever finish behind Great Britain’s World Championship in 1938 in what is now regarded as the first-ever Baseball World Cup. The U23 World Cup in Nicaragua will conclude tomorrow.
Great Britain’s next international competition takes place in just over 10 days’ time as the Senior National Team will take part in the WBSC Premier12 Qualifier presented by RAXUS in Zhongshan, China. Serving as the first stage of Great Britain’s path to the LA 2028 Olympic Games, the top two teams from the qualifier between China, Nicaragua, Czechia and GBR will advance to the Premier12 in November 2027.
The Premier12 will serve as the Olympic qualifier for the highest-placed team from Asia, along with the highest-placed team from either Oceania or Europe, with the United States (hosts), Venezuela and the Dominican Republic (World Baseball Classic) having punched their spots already. The final LA 2028 Olympic spot will be determined at a Final Qualifying Tournament, the details of which are yet be announced.
For the latest news and notes from the Premier12 Qualifier and beyond, make sure to follow Great Britain Baseball on Facebook, gb_baseball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, TikTok at @gbbaseball, and on the British Baseball Federation Website, britishbaseball.org.uk.