Great Britain
Cuba
Photo: WBSC
Great Britain secured their second win of the 2026 WBSC U23 Baseball World Cup presented by RAXUS with a hard-fought victory in extra innings over Cuba, 6-4. The win secures a fourth-place finish in Pool B for GBR, and the programme’s first-ever victory over Cuba.
Both teams traded perfect first innings, with the first base runner of the day coming with two outs in the top of the second when Jackson Kraemer walked. Kraemer stole second and reached third on a botched pickoff attempt by Cuban starter Jose Bermudez, and was followed by Quinn Allen, who worked a free pass of his own in a 14-pitch at-bat. With runners on the corners, Bermudez induced a groundout on the first pitch to Ollie Hogan to strand them both and end the frame.
Andrew Campbell, getting his first start for Great Britain, continued to deal with another perfect frame, and Jake Lambdin singled with one out in the third to give GBR their first hit of the contest. Charlie Collins was hit by Bermudez and Sean Benjamin reached on an error to load the bases for Tucker Stockman, whose first hit of the tournament brough home Lambdin for the first run of the contest. Cole LeClair’sblooper to centre scored Collins, but Bermudez – who finished the inning having thrown 77 pitches – managed to strike out the next two Brits to end the inning.
Campbell cruised through another perfect inning, adding a defensive gem as well, and Royce Clayton Jr. added to GBR’s lead in the fourth. With one out, Clayton blooped a ball to shallow centre, but Cuban outfielder Juan Perez caught a spike in the grass and fell allowing the ball to get over his head. Clayton sped around the bases for an inside-the-park home run and GBR led 3-0. Collins would walk and steal second – with a pitching change in between – Cuba would retire the side without further damage.
Campbell breezed through the fourth throwing just five pitches – and just 36 through four full frames – and Great Britain pressed the advantage. Stockman and Leclair whacked back-to-back singles, Kraemer was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Quinn Allen tapped a ball back to the pitcher that couldn’t be fielded cleanly to extend the lead to 4-0, all without an out recorded. A pitching change for Cuba yielded results, however, and the side was retired without any further British runs.
Cuba’s first baserunner, and first hit, came to lead off home half of the fifth, and their first run followed shortly after on an RBI double by Hanyelo Videt, but he was stranded at second on a brilliant diving catch by Jackson Kraemer in centre to end the threat.
A quite sixth inning came and went for Great Britain and in the home half, Cuba reversed their fortunes. A leadoff single and a throwing error by Campbell put a runner at second, and a groundout followed by a Rafael de Jesus Alvarez RBI single brought home Cuba’s second run of the day. Another single spelled the end of the day for Campbell and manager Jonathon Cramman summoned Gavin Rigby from the British bullpen. Rigby walked the lone batter he faced before giving way to Zac Sohosky, GBR’s starter in the opener against Japan. The lefty registered a strikeout, but a bouncing ball up the middle off the bat of Frank Gonzalez tied the game at four. Videt reached on an error by Leclair to reload the bases, but he atoned by snagging a liner off the bat of Andrys Aguero to end the inning.
The Brits mounted a new campaign. Jackson Kraemer walked to lead off the seventh, prompting a pitching change for Cuba. Allen bunted him over to second, and pinch hitter Will Cresswell flew out to left for the second out, when Clayton beat the throw on a slow roller (confirmed by video review) to third to put runners on the corners and instigate another Cuban pitching change. GBR would be unable to convert, however, and the game moved to the bottom of the seventh.
Sohosky returned to the mound for Great Britain in the bottom of the seventh and dialled up the intensity, striking out the first two batters and inducing a grounder to Leclair to retire the side and extend the contest.
The game moved into extra innings with the tiebreak rule in effect – runners on first and second to start each inning, the previous two batters in the lineup – and Collins led off with a sacrifice bunt to move them both into scoring position. Cuba countered by intentionally walking Benjamin to load the bases, but Stockman singled through the left side to give GBR the lead again. Leclair followed by hammering a ball to right field to score Clayton, but Benjamin was thrown out at the plate for the second out and Cuba retired Jackson Kraemer to end the inning.
In the home half and with the tiebreak runners on first and second, Sohosky’s command betrayed him as he walked Leonardo Alarcon to load the bases. A calming visit by manager Cramman later, Sohosky struck out Yassel Izaguirre and induced a shallow fly out in foul ground to Collins for out number two, before a stellar play by Clayton sealed the victory for the British side.
Great Britain will now have a day off before opening play in the placement round and will await the remainder of today’s results to find out their opponents and game times starting on 12 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.