A trio of Seminole County high school products helped Team USA take down host Panama, 4-2, in the Gold Medal Game of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier at Estadio Nacional Rod Carew (Rod Carew National Stadium) in Panama City, Panama.
The Championship was the seventh consecutive for the United States in 18U World Cup Qualifiers since 2009, during which it has posted a 57-1 record.
In addition to winning the gold, Team USA, led by the Sanford brother duo of Manager Rick Eckstein and Assistant Coach/Infield Coach David Eckstein, also secured its spot in the 2025 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup.
The U.S. team, which included Trinity Prep junior Aiden Stillman, went 8-0, outscoring its foes 58-9.
Stillman, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound left-handed pitcher, got two starts, including hurling six clutch innings to get the win in a 1-0 victory over Mexico in the Quarterfinals. The 17-year-old totaled eight innings in Panama, striking out five and allowing just two hits.
Stillman was in control immediately against Mexico, retiring the first eight batters he faced before surrendering his only hit, a two-out single in the third. The southpaw immediately locked back in and retired the next batter to keep the game scoreless, setting the U.S. offense up to scratch the game’s only run across in the bottom of the inning.
With a lead in hand, Stillman returned to the mound in the fourth and worked around a two-out walk for a scoreless frame. He then retired the next six batters he faced, getting him through six shutout innings with four strikeouts on just 74 pitches.
Overall, the U.S. pitching staff allowed just nine run, eight earned, on 27 hits, for a 1.08 earned run average.
The journey for the team had began in July with 84 players taking part in a five-day camp at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina, followed by another three days of practice and preparation for a 20-player team.
For those training sessions, Rick Eckstein tapped his MLB connections to have former big-leaguers including his brother David, Brad Penny, Doug Mientkiewicz and Stephen Strasburg share advice and encouragement. The list also included another Seminole High alum, Tim Raines Jr., who played three MLB seasons.
This is David Eckstein's second appearance on an 18U National Team coaching staff. His first stint with Team USA came in 2015 when he helped lead the U.S. to an 8-1 record and a gold medal at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in Osaka, Japan. After the stars and stripes dropped their second game of tournament play, Eckstein – coaching under two-time U.S. manager Glenn Cecchini – helped guide the club to seven consecutive victories to claim gold, including a gold-medal game victory over host Japan.
After walking on at the University of Florida and becoming a First-Team All-SEC selection in 1995 and 1996, Eckstein was drafted in the 19th round of the 1997 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox. He made his big-league debut four years later with the Anaheim Angels in 2001, batting .285 with four homers and 41 RBIs en route to finishing fourth in American League Rookie of the Year voting. He spent four seasons in Anaheim as the team’s everyday shortstop and won his first World Series in 2002, batting .294 in 16 postseason games. Eckstein then signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2005 and had an All-Star season that year, hitting .294 with eight home runs and 61 RBIs. The following season was his most notable as he earned his second consecutive All-Star selection and was named World Series Most Valuable Player after batting .364 in the Fall Classic, including a 4-for-5 performance in a pivotal Game 4. Eckstein played one more season in St. Louis before spending the 2008 season split between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Arizona Diamondbacks. He wrapped up his career with two seasons with the San Diego Padres, batting .263 over the two campaigns while playing second base. Eckstein finished his decade-long career with 1,311 games played and a .280 batting average.
MORE COACHING NEWS
USA Baseball and Premier12™ team manager Mike Scioscia have finalized the coaching staff for the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12™ tournament, the organization announced on Thursday. Scioscia will be accompanied by Ron Roenicke (Bench Coach), Dave Wallace (Pitching Coach), Rick Eckstein (Hitting Coach), Dino Ebel (Third Base Coach), Jemile Weeks (First Base Coach), LaTroy Hawkins (Bullpen Coach), and Carlos Muñoz (Bullpen Catcher).
Six of Scioscia’s seven additions have previous ties to USA Baseball, five of whom have previously coached for the organization. Eckstein recently won a gold medal as manager for the 2024 18U National Team, Hawkins was the pitching coach for the 18U squad in 2023, and Wallace led the pitchers at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Ebel and Muñoz return to the U.S. dugout after serving on the World Baseball Classic staff in 2023, helping the stars and stripes secure a silver medal. Meanwhile, two-time World Series champion Roenicke makes his USA Baseball debut and Weeks joins the staff after playing on the gold-medal-winning 2006 Collegiate National Team.
Six-time Team USA coach and 2024 18U National Team Manager Rick Eckstein will be the hitting coach for the 2024 Premier12™ team. Eckstein most recently led the 18U National Team to a gold medal at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier in early August, guiding the stars and stripes to a perfect 8-0 record. He has also served on the coaching staff for the Professional National Team on five separate occasions from 2005-2008 and helped guide the red, white, and blue to three medals under longtime big-league manager Davey Johnson. Following the 2008 season in which he helped lead the U.S. to a bronze medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Eckstein earned USA Baseball’s “Doc” Counsilman Science Award for his coaching efforts through scientific data and technology. Eckstein started his coaching career at the University of Florida in 1997 before he joined the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as a bullpen coach and batting practice pitcher in 1999. He took the same role with the Minnesota Twins a year later and got his first hitting coach position shortly after, joining the University of Georgia’s coaching staff during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. In the subsequent years, he bounced around multiple minor league teams in that role before he got his first major league coaching role at the end of 2008 with the Washington Nationals, where he served as the hitting coach until the end of the 2013 season. Eckstein joined the Los Angeles Angels as a player information coach in 2014 and then returned to the college ranks as an assistant coach for the University of Kentucky, a position he held for two years. After that, he was brought on by the Minnesota Twins as a minor league hitting coordinator and worked in that role from 2016-2018. His most recent coaching position was as the hitting coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates until the end of the 2021 season.
USA Baseball alum Jemile Weeks, an Altamonte Springs native and Lake Brantley High School alumnus, joins the 2024 Premier12 team staff as first base coach after previously playing for Team USA. Weeks competed with the gold-medal-winning 2006 Collegiate National Team in Havana, Cuba, helping his country win gold at the international level with his bat. The alum recorded 37 hits, four home runs, and 21 RBIs in the summer of 2006 and helped the U.S. win a gold medal at the International University Sports Federation (FISU) World Championships. Weeks played at the University of Miami (FL) and was named an All-American after a stellar freshman season. Selected by the Oakland Athletics with the 12th overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft, Weeks went on to play with several major league clubs including the Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, and San Diego Padres. Weeks has remained involved in baseball since retiring from his playing career and has coached at several MLB/USA Baseball diversity-focused amateur development events, including serving as a manager at the 2024 Hank Aaron Invitational. He is currently the baserunning coordinator for the New York Mets.
The 2024 Premier12 will feature the world’s 12 top-ranked teams in an international competition in Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan. After placing second in the first rendition of the competition in 2015 and fourth in the 2019 tournament, Team USA _ which will be made up of professional players that will be announced later _ looks for its first gold medal in Premier12 history. The team will begin its 2024 Premier12 campaign in Guadalajara and Tepic, Mexico, from November 9-14 and will look to advance to Tokyo, Japan, for the final round of the competition.
For more information on USA Baseball and the 2024 Professional National Team, follow @USABaseball on social media or visit USABaseball.com.
