USA Men’s Softball Wins Bronze at WBSC World Cup, Venezuela Takes Gold

The U.S. Men's National Team claimed its second consecutive bronze medal with a 10-1 win over Japan at the WBSC World Cup. | USA Softball

At the WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup Finals in Prince Albert, Canada, the U.S. Men's National Team claimed its second consecutive bronze medal with a 10-1 win over Japan. 

The U.S. advanced to the Super Round after defeating Australia 10-1 and the Dominican Republic 11-1 in the Opening Round. 

After getting walked off by both New Zealand and Venezuela in the Super Round, they dropped to fourth place and had to work their way back if they wanted to come home with hardware. They fell earlier on to Japan 5-4 in the Opening Round, but came back with vengeance and utilized long ball in the bronze medal game. 

Home runs from Tyler Johnson, Erik Ochoa, and Blaine Milheim combined late in the sixth and seventh innings to give the Eagles a comfortable 10-1 lead. 

Ace Marco Diaz had worked 23.1 innings in the tournament, collecting 29 strikeouts while giving up 11 runs. He threw the complete game against Japan, giving up just one run on eight hits while striking out six and walking two. 

🇺🇸💥USA brought rocket fuel today 🚀 Blaine Milheim with another no-doubter
WBSC Men's Softball World Cup Finals 2025#SoftballWorldCupM pic.twitter.com/HyUrydmxHv

— WBSC ⚾🥎 (@WBSC) July 13, 2025

"There's a lot of other teams that would have liked to have been here and getting a bronze medal, this is an extremely great accomplishment," Ron Hacket, head coach of the USA National Team, told the WBSC. "We didn't come here for a bronze medal, but we certainly worked hard the entire week. Didn't have some things go our way, but that's what happens in a tournament like this. A lot of teams didn't have things go their way, but I was really proud of the guys and how they fought."

Meanwhile, Venezuela and New Zealand went on to fight for the gold. In a 3-0 shutout victory, Venezuela won the country’s first-ever WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup title. 

Three Venezuelan pitchers combined for the shutout, including the MVP of the tournament, Maiker Pimentel, who left the field with an ankle injury but returned to toss 5.2 innings of one-hit ball, striking out nine against two walks.