Great Britain
South Korea
Photo: Paul Stodart
The Great Britain U23s dropped their second-to-last contest of the 2026 WBSC U23 World Cup presented by RAXUS Opening Round to South Korea 3-0 in Managua on 9 November.
Playing during daylight hours for the first time in the U23 World Cup, Great Britain and South Korea traded zeroes until the bottom of the third. With two out in the inning, Quinn Allen was the victim of a glove malfunction – charged as a hard-luck error – breaking up a streak of eight consecutive batters retired by GBR starter Zac Colletti. A walk followed, with both runners coming home to score on a bloop hit by Joonseo Eoaccompanied by a throwing error. Another error put Eo in motion, but a quick recovery and snap throw by Jake Lambdin to Will Cresswell retired Eo at the plate and ended the inning without further damage.
In the fourth, Great Britain threatened with two outs. Allen walked, Jackson Kramer tallied thh first British hit of the afternoon, and Cresswell took a free pass to load the bases, but Korean starter Doowoo Yi stuck out Ollie Hogan to strand all three runners.
Korea added to their lead in the bottom half. A leadoff single was followed by Colletti’s fifth strikeout of the afternoon, but Hyeonjong Yang doubled to score Sungwoo Kim for the third run of the game. Colletti battled to get the second out of the frame but gave way to Andrew Campbell after a walk to put a pair of runners aboard. Campbell allowed one further baserunner but struck out Junhyun Uhm on a full count to end the inning.
Charlie Collins would be the lone GBR baserunner of the fifth inning when he was hit by a pitch with two outs, and Miles Langhorne took over on the mound in the bottom of the frame, striking out two as he retired the side in order. Korea returned the favour in the sixth, and Langhorne worked around a fifth GBR error to keep the deficit at three for the final inning of play.
Cresswell attempted to jumpstart the GBR offense when he led off the inning with a single, GBR’s second hit of the day. Pinch Hitter Tucker Stockman was retired on a fly out and Cresswell stole second – on a call overturned by video replay – and Royce Clayon Jr.’s groundout advanced to third. Korea’s Taeyoun Lee slammed the door, however, striking out Lambdin to end the game and seal the shutout.
With the loss, Great Britain has confirmed a spot in the Placement Round and will wrap Group B tomorrow with their earliest game of the tournament so far as they face Cuba at Estadio Nacional Soberania in Managua. First pitch is set for 16:30 GMT/10:30 local time on 10 November. The 2026 WBSC U23 Baseball World Cup can be watched on gametime.sport or for FREE on DAZN in the UK.
For the latest news and notes from the 2026 WBSC U23 Baseball World Cup and more, 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.