CARY, N.C. — USA Baseball’s 2026 18U National Team Training Camp Phase 1 got underway Thursday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex, as two competitive games highlighted the first day of action.
Team Grey 8, Team Light Blue 1
Team Grey jumped out early and pulled away late for an 8-1 victory over Team Light Blue.
Lukas Waite set the tone on the mound for Grey, tossing two scoreless innings with four strikeouts and just two hits allowed. Grant Sperandio matched him with two scoreless frames for Light Blue, also striking out four.
Grey broke through in the third when Luke Gladchuk singled, stole second, advanced on a miscue, and scored on Dylan Seward’s grounder. They added another run in the fourth on Lubin Rincon’s RBI ground ball after Caden Dawson walked and reached third on a misplay.
Light Blue cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth on Frank Thomas III’s RBI double that scored Jordan Ayala. However, Grey extended the lead to 4-1 in the eighth thanks to Rincon’s contributions amid defensive miscues and a sacrifice fly.
The Grey offense exploded in the ninth, scoring four more runs on singles from Jack Swanson and Seward plus a Dawson double. Isaac Vidal closed it out with a scoreless ninth.
Notable Performances:
- Caden Dawson and Sebastian Castillo each collected three hits; Dawson also scored two runs.
- Juan Diaz, Dylan Seward, and Frank Thomas III had two hits apiece.
- Ryan Donahoe led all pitchers with six strikeouts in two scoreless innings.
- Lukas Waite, Grant Sperandio, and Jake Ivey each recorded four strikeouts.
Team Red 10, Team Navy 7
A back-and-forth offensive battle saw Team Red hold off Team Navy for a 10-7 win.
Navy struck first in the top of the first on Drake Hawpe’s RBI double. Red answered immediately with three runs in the bottom of the frame aided by defensive miscues. Kinon Bastian’s second-inning double then plated two more runs (Max Phillips and Taylor Dodd) to give Red a 5-1 lead.
Navy roared back with four runs in the third — highlighted by Cooper Goff’s RBI single and Hawpe’s two-run triple — to tie the game at 5-5. Bastian put Red back ahead 6-5 with a run on a wild pitch.
Caden Boercherding launched the first home run of camp in the sixth, a solo shot to left that tied it at 6-6. Red responded decisively in the seventh when Cullen Scott blasted a three-run homer, followed by another Bastian run on a Brady Cunningham single to push the lead to 10-6.
Sullivan Reed’s RBI double in the ninth pulled Navy within three, but Red held on for the victory.
Notable Performances:
- Drake Hawpe led with three hits and three RBIs.
- Kinon Bastian scored three runs.
- Hawpe and Cullen Scott each drove in three runs.
- George Ferguson struck out seven batters in three innings.
- Navy’s pitching staff combined for 20 strikeouts, with strong relief work from Cooper Jones, Camden Boehm, and Chase Fuller.
On Deck Training Camp continues Friday, July 17, with Light Blue vs. Navy at 10 a.m. ET and Red vs. Grey at 1 p.m. ET at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.
