The South African U12 National Baseball Team has officially arrived in Tainan, Taiwan, ready to begin their final preparations ahead of the VIII WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup. After a long and testing journey that included full day flight delays in Johannesburg and an extended midnight layover in Hong Kong, the team touched down in Taiwan late Sunday (Monday Morning SA Time ).
Although exhausted the team, players and management put on brave faces ready to tackle the next steps. The boys remained positive and united throughout, showing the kind of team spirit that has defined their campaign from the start.
The team now moves into a pre-tournament training camp in Tainan, where they will spend the next few days acclimatising, adjusting to the time zone, and fine-tuning their game plan before the World Cup officially kicks off on 25 July.
This marks the culmination of months of preparation both on and off the field. National training camps, team-building sessions, and family coordination meetings helped pave the way for this moment. SABU, together with a dedicated management team, has worked closely with parents to manage all aspects of international travel—ensuring that accommodation, attire, documentation, and logistics were in place so that players could focus purely on the game.
The South African U12 team includes Quiwinn Adams, Kaleb Amos, Luke Bailes, Troy Branders, Riley Coleman, Luke De Lange, Evan Grobler, Seth Hains, Nate Lerwill, Jarred Long, Rebone Mphahlele, Mosa Mphahlele, Mason Sage, Sebastian Savides, Blaine Sawyer, Abulele Sotyato, Maahir Taliep, and Casey Uys.
The team is guided by Head Coach Shawn Schwartz, with Quinton Amos and Alroy Savides serving as assistant coaches. Anita Hains is the team manager.
Dr. Marc Moreau, President of the South African Baseball Union, praised the team’s arrival:
“We’re proud of how they’ve handled the journey. They’ve already demonstrated resilience and unity, and now it’s time to focus on the opportunity in front of them. South Africa is behind them all the way.”
