UNITED STATES – Baseball might not be America’s favorite pasttime anymore, but the United States continued to reap gold on the world stage in 2009.

USA Baseball fielded six national teams this past year in various competitions around the globe. And, with the exception of the World Baseball Classic squad of Major Leaguers, U.S. National Teams bagged tournament titles at each event.

The American Juniors (14U, 16U and 18U) combined to go 22-0 en route to a trio of gold medal game victories, while the collegiate and the World Cup squads posted records of 5-1 and 14-1, respectively.

The 14U Team, which edged Puerto Rico 4-3 at the Pan Am championships, remained perfect in international play with an all-time record of 26-0.

The 16U Team claimed its fourth consecutive international gold medal with a 7-6 win over Cuba at the ‘AA’ World Youth Championships. The Americans have reeled off 31 straight wins since falling to Cuba in the gold-medal clash at the 2005 world championship in Monterrey, Mexico.

The 18U Team ended Cuba’s dominance at the COPABE “AAA” Pan American Junior Championships with a 6-1 win in the title game. The U.S. finished 8-0 at the tournament and toppled the seven-time defending champion from Havana twice.

The U.S. Collegiate National Team knocked off Germany, 8-1, in the finals of the 2009 Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline World Baseball Challenge. The squad finished its summer tour with a 19-5 overall record.

The U.S. World Cup Team reeled off 14 consecutive wins – including a 10-5 win against Cuba in the title game – after a tourney-opening loss to capture gold at the 2009 IBAF Baseball World Cup. Team USA has finished on top of the event in 1973, 1974, 2007 and 2009.

The only USA Baseball national team that failed to win gold this past year was the World Baseball Classic squad of big leaguers. Team USA lost 9-4 to Japan in the semi-finals to finish the star-studded tournament with a 4-4 mark.

Photo courtesy of Marco Vasini/FIBS

Tags: USA Baseball