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The WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup 2025 presented by RAXUS is set to open this week, on Friday, July 25. There’s a lot that baseball fans may already know about this unique competition and below are our top 10.
1 – The U-12 Baseball World Cup is a relatively new WBSC event. Taipei City hosted the first edition in 2011. The Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA) has been the only host so far. Taipei City also hosted the second edition in 2013. Tainan has been the host city since 2015 and has also gained hosting rights for the IX edition in 2027.
2 – The Asia Pacific International Baseball Stadiums and Training Centres (ASPAC) has been the tournament’s home since its inauguration in 2019. Over the years, the facility has grown. Construction for the adult baseball fields began in September 2020 with the infield practice field. The adult baseball auxiliary field and indoor pitching and batting practice field followed. The Taiwan City Government announced the completion of the main adult baseball field in February 2025. “The completed adult baseball main field marks the completion of Taiwan’s largest and most comprehensive baseball training base,” stated the government’s website, “and heralds a new chapter in Tainan’s long history of baseball.”
3 – CTBA President Jefferey Koo, Jr., recently announced that the Asia-Pacific International Baseball Stadiums and Training Centres will be the “home” of the Chinese Taipei teams. “My predecessors have been working hard for decades in the hope of establishing a training base for the Chinese Taipei teams, and I have always kept it in my mind,” said Koo during a press conference. “We at CTBA have been working on the goal to realise the expectation
4 – Tainan City built its first baseball stadium under Japanese rule between 1930 and 1931. The Tainan Municipal Stadium, situated in the city’s South District, remains in use. The Uni President 7-Eleven Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) called the Municipal Stadium home during the 2025 season.
5 – Tainan City is the oldest city on the island, incorporated in 1624 by the Dutch under Fort Zeelandia, a fortress built over the decade from 1624 to 1634 by the Dutch East India Company in the town of Anping. Zheng Chenggong, better known as Koxinga and a Ming loyalist, ended Dutch rule. Tainan became the capital of the Kingdom of Tungning in 1661. As a consequence of the Chinese losing the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, a Japanese army arrived at Tainan in October 1895 and took the city without facing resistance. Tainan gained the status of Provincial City on October 25, 1945. Tainan has been a Special Municipality since 2010.
6 – The U-12 Baseball World Cup is a unique event. The WBSC is the only International Federation to hold a World Cup for this age bracket. It is the only WBSC World Cup with games lasting six innings. The participating countries or territories cover the five Olympic continents.
7 – Every U-12 Baseball World Cup game has a pitch count. The young pitchers are limited to throwing no more than 85 pitches. If they reach the limit, they must rest for four days. Pitchers don’t have to rest if they are limited to 30 pitches, must rest for one day if they throw 31 to 45 pitches, two days if they deliver 46 to 60 pitches and three days if they throw 61 to 75 pitches.
8 – The 2025 edition is the VIII WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup. USA (five) and Chinese Taipei (two) are the only winners so far.
9 – Chinese Taipei is the only team that has stepped onto the podium in every edition. They won in 2011 and 2019, finished second in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2023 and won bronze in 2022.
10 – Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea and Mexico are the programmes that have participated in every edition.
