Cuba’s U-18 Pan American Squad Takes Shape — With a Second Frederich Cepeda

As of 6 October 2026. Cuba will choose its team for the U-18 Pan American Championship from a shortlist of 28 players who have been training at Estadio Guillermón Moncada in Santiago de Cuba under manager Alexis Moré. Twenty of them will travel to Santo Domingo for the tournament, which runs from 22 to 29 October and hands out four places at the 2027 U-18 Baseball World Cup in China. The best-known name in camp belongs to an 18-year-old left fielder from Sancti Spíritus: Frederich Cepeda Jr., son of one of the most decorated hitters Cuba has produced.

None of this has been reported in English. Below are the tournament groups, Cuba’s recent record at this level, and the 27 shortlisted players we can confirm in two independent reports.

The tournament: twelve teams, three groups, four tickets

WBSC Americas announced on 24 August that the championship will be played in the Dominican Republic from 22 to 29 October as the Americas qualifier for the 2027 World Cup in China, with twelve teams in three groups of four. The Cuban reports (Tele Rebelde, Tiempo21 and Radio Bayamo) give the same dates and Santo Domingo as the host city, and Tele Rebelde and Tiempo21 both put four World Cup places at stake.

Groups as announced by WBSC Americas (24 August) and repeated by Tiempo21 (16 September).

The group stage feeds a second phase. WBSC Americas had not published the game-by-game schedule when we checked on 6 October, so we have not printed one.

Where Cuba stands at this level

Cuba have won the U-18 World Cup eleven times (WBSC; Wikipedia’s tournament record), but the recent results are more modest. At the 2024 Pan American Championship in Panama, Cuba finished fourth after losing the bronze-medal game 3–2 to Puerto Rico (WBSC Americas; OnCuba). It was still enough for a World Cup place: WBSC Americas lists Cuba with Puerto Rico, Panama and the United States as the region’s 2025 World Cup teams.

At that World Cup in Okinawa in September 2025, Cuba beat South Africa and Italy, lost 3–0 to Japan and then lost to Puerto Rico, finishing 2–3 in their opening-round group and missing the Super Round. WBSC’s final standings place Cuba seventh of twelve with a 5–3 overall record. In 2024 the Americas had three qualifying places, with Panama going through as host (Baseball Canada’s preview; WBSC Americas). This time there are four.

How the shortlist got to 28

The camp opened in Santiago in late August with more than 40 players (Tele Rebelde, 23 August; Vanguardia counted 55 called up from 24 August). A first cut took it to 30 by early September (Vanguardia, 5 September; Tiempo21, 1 September). A second cut left 28 (Tiempo21, 16 September), and Radio Bayamo still counted 28 on 27 September. Both of those later reports say 20 will make the final team. Vanguardia’s early-September figure was 24, so the squad has been trimmed further since then.

Alexis Moré, from Villa Clara, is the manager. Tele Rebelde and Vanguardia both credit him with Villa Clara’s last two national U-18 titles.

Frederich Cepeda Jr.: the name in the lineup

Frederich Cepeda Echemendía is the son of Frederich Cepeda Cruz (WBSC; Tele Rebelde). The father won Olympic gold with Cuba in Athens in 2004 and played for the Yomiuri Giants in 2014 and 2015, and he is still playing. The son already has international experience: he was on Cuba’s team at the 2025 U-18 World Cup in Okinawa, where WBSC interviewed him about following his father (WBSC, 8 September 2025; Tele Rebelde).

He has also already played in the Serie Nacional beside his father. Tele Rebelde reports his debut for the Sancti Spíritus Gallos in the 64th series. Escambray, the Sancti Spíritus paper, records that on 2 October 2025 at Estadio José Antonio Huelga both Cepedas were in the same lineup: the son batting eighth in left field, his father’s old position, and the father as designated hitter batting second.

For the 65th series, Sancti Spíritus named them both again. Escambray lists the father, at 46, at the head of the Gallos roster and the son, at 18, as its youngest player. Our Serie Nacional 65 rosters tracker notes the pairing. So Cepeda Jr. is now on two lists at once: his province’s Serie Nacional roster and the national U-18 shortlist.

Tele Rebelde asked the father about him. His answer, in our translation: “We are different, in life and on the field. He will make his own career, and I hope it is better than many who have played in national series, mine included.”

Phil Selig photographed the elder Cepeda for Cuba Dugout. More of those frames are in Frederich Cepeda Through My Lens.

The shortlist: 27 confirmed names

Tiempo21 published the 28-man list on 16 September. Twenty-seven of those names also appear on Vanguardia’s list of 5 September, made before the second cut, and they are listed below. The remaining pitcher appears only in Tiempo21’s list, so we have left him out until a second report confirms him. Radio Bayamo’s 27 September report independently confirms Granma’s four: Frías, Cabrera, Espinosa and Céspedes.

(L) = left-hander, marked “Z” (zurdo) in both source lists. *Vanguardia lists Leroy Cruz in the infield and Tiempo21 in the outfield. Spellings differ between the reports for some players: Crusá/Cruza, Dairon/Dayron, Cristian/Cristhian. We use the Tiempo21 spelling. The final 20 has not been announced; we will update this page when it is.

By province, the 27 come from twelve: Granma and Cienfuegos have four each; Villa Clara, Matanzas and Santiago de Cuba three each; Holguín, Pinar del Río and Sancti Spíritus two each; Mayabeque, La Habana, Las Tunas and Camagüey one each.

What to watch before 22 October

• The final 20. Eight of the 28 will be cut. Provincial papers have reported each cut so far.
• The schedule. Once WBSC Americas publishes it, Cuba’s three Group B games against Venezuela, Mexico and Nicaragua decide whether they reach the second phase.
• Cepeda Jr.’s season. He is on the Sancti Spíritus roster for the Serie Nacional 65 schedule that began on 4 October, and on the U-18 shortlist at the same time.

Cuba’s U-15 team has already played this autumn: the U-15 World Cup in Mexico ended in the group stage.

Sources

• WBSC Americas, “U18 Pan American Championship to Determine Four Qualifiers for 2027 World Cup in China”, 24 August 2026: dates, teams, groups.
• Tele Rebelde (Randy Vasconcelos), “Cuba prepara en Santiago su camino al Panamericano Sub-18 de béisbol”, 23 August 2026, and “Cepeda Jr. construyendo su propio nombre en el béisbol cubano”, 2 September 2026.
• Tiempo21 (Gretel Yanet Tamayo Velázquez), “Dairon Michel Suárez se mantiene en el camino hacia el Panamericano Sub-18”, 16 September 2026: the 28-man list and the groups.
• Vanguardia (Osvaldo Rojas Garay), “Tres villaclareños permanecen en preselección al Panamericano de Béisbol Sub-18”, 5 September 2026: the 30 after the first cut.
• Radio Bayamo via CNC TV Granma, “Cinco granmeses se mantienen en la preselección sub 18 de béisbol”, 27 September 2026.
• WBSC, “Frederich Cepeda Jr.: ‘Somos cubanos, el béisbol lo llevamos en la sangre’”, 8 September 2025, and the 2025 U-18 Baseball World Cup final standings.
• Escambray, “Dos Cepeda al bate” (2025) and the Sancti Spíritus SN65 roster report (2026).
• WBSC Americas, 2024 U-18 Pan American Championship final report; OnCuba; Baseball Canada’s 2024 preview.

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