The German Baseball and Softball Federation has announced the roster for the upcoming WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025 presented by RAXUS, which will take place in Okinawa, Japan from 5 to 14 September.
Manager Georg Bull has invited 20 players to the team to make the trip to Okinawa.
Germany’s roster: Tom Apfelbaum, Vincent Arevalo, Benito Bull, Matthias Bullmann, Alessandro Carrasquilla, Owen Fierlbeck, Emilio Götz, Jakob Huber, Lukas Köttig, Noah Lorenz, Jules Moser, Finn Niemeyer, Kyran Norgren, Samuel Redle, Jann-Mikas Schierhorn, Robin Spies, Fabian Spieß, Pepe Stockhaus, Felix Ströll, Jona Widmann
“Its an honour for German Baseball to qualify for the Baseball World Cup in the prestigious U-18 age category,” Bull said. “We have high ambitions and will enter the event confident, but we must remain realistic. In most of the participating countries, baseball is one of the top sports and the competition will be challenging.”
The team is led by Matthias Bullmann, Alessandro Carrasquilla, Owen Fierlbeck, Kyran Norgren, Pepe Stockhaus and Jona Widmann, who are returning from last year’s team, which reached the final at the U-18 Baseball European Championship. They lost the Gold Medal Game to Italy, but still qualified for the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup for a second time.
Germany participated in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in 2004 in Taipei City, where they finished in 10th place.
The roster is composed of four players each from the Cologne Cardinals, Guggenberger Legionaere Regensburg and Untouchables Paderborn, as well as three from the Gauting Indians. The Dohren Wild Farmers, Heidenheim Heidekoepfe, Hünstetten Storm and Schriesheim Raubritters are also represented. The team features multiple players, who can play various positions. The pitching staff is seeing six left-handed and six right-handed players.
Winning the silver medal at the U-18 Baseball European Championship, world No. 18 Germany impressed with commanding wins over Spain and Israel during the group stage and a masterpiece 6-1 win over the Netherlands in the semifinals. Only Italy was able to beat Germany during the event, which was held on their home soil in Regensburg.
“Everybody on the team – players and coaches – are happy to play in the World Cup and are eager to represent German baseball well,” Bull added. “International baseball will be on site and has its eyes on the best U-18 athletes in the world. Let’s see how our guys will perform in this environment.”
Manager Bull, who is an inductee of the German Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame, is leading the coaching staff. Following a successful playing career, Bull has established himself as one of the most successful youth coaches in European baseball history. He has won multiple European Championships with Germany at the U-12 and U-15 levels and is now leading the German U-18 programme. His son Benito is also on the roster for the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025, playing as an infielder and pitcher.
Bull is assisted on the coaching staff by Heiko Schumacher and Kevin van Meensel, who were also on the coaching staff of Germany at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup 2025 presented by RAXUS earlier this summer. Clemens Cichocki is completing the staff as pitching coach.
Germany’s U-18 national team started preparations for the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025 in December with a training camp in Tenerife. In February they participated in an international tournament in Puerto Rico and then closed out the exhibition game schedule with a tournament in Regensburg.
In the forthcoming WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2025 presented by RAXUS, Germany will play Australia, China, USA, Panama and Chinese Taipei in Group B during the Opening Round.
The team travels to Okinawa this coming weekend to get acclimatised to the conditions in Okinawa and prepare with various practices and a couple exhibition games.
