Venezuela
Great Britain
Photo courtesy of the WBSC
Great Britain’s U23 team were defeated 10-0 in five innings by Venezuela in their second Pool B game at the WBSC U23 Baseball World Cup presented by RAXUS in Nicaragua.
Returning to Estadio Roberto Clemente, Masaya, Noah Lucia got the start for Great Britain and tossed two and two-third scoreless innings in his GBR Debut. In the home half of the second, Tucker Stockman walked, Cole Leclair reached on an error (with the call overturned by video) and Will Cresswell was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out, but Venezuela were able to escape the jam. Lucia gave way to Gavin Rigby in the third to get the final out of the frame, while the hot-hitting Sean Benjamin was stranded abord in the bottom half of the inning after another hit.
After three scoreless innings, however, Venezuela exploded in the fourth, scoring all 10 of their runs in the inning, with Johnfrank Salazar’s grand slam in his second at-bat of the inning the biggest blow. Facing three different GBR pitchers, Venezuela sent 14 batters to the plate in the frame.
Great Britain attempted to mount a comeback, with a leadoff runner in the fourth (on a LeClair walk) and a Jake Lambdin double in the fifth, but both were stranded aboard, and the game ended via run rule after five.
Great Britain continues Group B play with their first visit to Estadio Rigoberto López Pérez in León as they take on South Africa. First pitch set for 00:00 GMT on 9 November (18:00 on 8 November in Nicaragua). The 2026 WBSC U23 Baseball World Cup can be watched on gametime.sport.
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.