The Under 21 World Cup of Baseball

The countdown to the first ever Under 21 World Cup of Baseball has come to an end, meaning it is now time for the 264 athletes whom are participating in the tournament to lace up their cleats and hit the diamond to battle it out for the World’s top prize at the Under 21 level. The tournament will officially get underway with a game that will feature two South American nations, Venezuela and Nicaragua on Friday the 7th of November, however all eyes will be on the evenings contest between the Chinese-Taipei vs. Mexico, which will include the tournament’s opening ceremony.

As for the Italians, their first matchup will be against New Zealand tomorrow, followed by South Korea on Saturday, Mexico on Sunday, the Czech Republic on Monday and Taiwan on Tuesday to close of the first round of play. The Italians objective will without a doubt be to reach the second round of play in tournament, something that is going to be a difficult task, especially seeing as if they have the powerhouses of Taiwan, South Korea, and Mexico in their bracket (top three move on, bottom three will match up in the consolation round.)

With the Premier 12 on the horizon in 2015 positioning counts now more then ever, as this tournament represents the final rankings in 2014 which will decide the top 12 nations whom will be invited to next years inaugural event. Currently Italy sits in 11th place on the World Stage, ahead of Mexico (13) and Australia (15), with only 72 points separating the Italians from the Aussies. The World Cup will award 100 points to the winner, 80 to the runner up, 60 to the third place team, 30 to the fourth, 26 for the fifth spot, 22 for sixth, 18 for seventh, 14 for the eighth place team, 10 for the 9th, 6 for the 10th, and finally 2 for the 11th place squad.