The WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup 2020 gets underway in Palmerston New Zealand, Saturday, February 22 and runs through March 1. (If you’re in North America, that means it starts Friday, since New Zealand is nearly a full day ahead of us) It’s the first time around for the new 18-and-under division of the WBSC (World Baseball Softball Confederation. (formerly 19U). The games will be streamed locally in New Zealand on Sky TV, and also available to a worldwide audience on the internet. (links at the tournament website below)
The official WBSC tournament website is at: https://u18mswc.wbsc.org/en/2020
Two of Ballpark Broadcasting’s crew will be serving as members of the SkyTV broadcast crew, including Lance Winn, who flew in from Toronto Canada. It marks the 4th consecutive WBSC Youth Division tournament in which Ballpark Broadcasting has been involved (2014 in Whitehorse, YK, 2016 in Midland MI, 2018 in Prince Albert), and 5th overall (2008 in Whitehorse).
The tournament will feature teams from twelve (12) countries, in two pools:
Group A
| Team | 2019 Ranking | 2018 Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| ARG | 2 | 5 |
| CAN | 4 | 2 |
| AUS | 5 | 4 |
| CZE | 7 | 7 |
| RSA | 10 | 12 |
| SGP | 17 | 22 |
Group B
| Team | 2019 Ranking | 2018 Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| JPN | 1 | 3 |
| NZL | 3 | 1 |
| USA | 6 | 6 |
| MEX | 8 | 9 |
| DEN | 11 | 11 |
| GUA | 21 | 15 |