Laos national baseball team

The Laos national baseball team represents Laos in international-level baseball competitions. Baseball was first introduced in the country in 2012, with the national team being founded two years later. Laos made its international debut at the 2018 Asian Games, with the Lao Baseball Federation officially recognized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation the following year.

The origins of baseball in Laos can be traced back to March 2012, when Je Sung-uk, a Korean missionary, first arrived in the country.^[2] The following year, he had amassed a team of ten men interested in playing the sport in the capital city of Vientiane.^[3] During this time, Je contacted SK Wyverns head coach and former all-star KBO player Lee Man-soo, asking him to visit Laos and help teach children to play baseball. Lee initially declined the offer, saying he'd visit "someday", sending donations of money and equipment in lieu of visiting. When he was let go by the Wyverns in 2014, Lee traveled to Laos two days later and helped Je recruit players.^[4] That same year, the two men founded the Lao Baseball Association^[2] and held auditions for the national team, narrowing a field of several hundred prospects to a final roster of 40, which became Laos' first national team.^[4]

In 2019, the Lao Baseball Federation was officially recognized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation.^[2] In April of that year, the National Olympic Committee of Laos approved the construction of a baseball stadium in the country, with work starting in June, funded partly through Korean business donations and personal contributions from Je and Lee. Prior, the team rented out soccer fields to practice on. Players on the national team even helped construct the stadium in order to save on costs.^[5] Sapphavisa Stadium officially opened in Vientiane in November, allowing for the first ever baseball league to be established within the nation.^[6]

The team made its international debut at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.^[3] In the first stage, they lost to Thailand by a score of 0–15^[7] and to Sri Lanka by a score of 10–15.^[8] With these two losses, Laos finished last in the field of ten at these Games.^[9]

They improved upon this performance at the 2023 East Asian Baseball Cup in Pathum Thani, Thailand. Despite dropping their first two group stage matches against Hong Kong and Thailand by scores of 0–18^[10] and 0–12,^[11] respectively, they won their two placement round games, defeating Cambodia 9–0^[12] and Malaysia 13–1,^[13] bringing Laos their first wins in a major international competition and leading them to a 5th place finish in the tournament.^[14] Further, starting pitcher Khounchaleun Soulapixu, who pitched the shutout win against Cambodia, was named the best starting pitcher of the tournament.^[15]

Four months later, they competed at the 2022 Asian Games in Shaoxing, China.^[a] Starting the first stage with a 1–4 loss to Thailand,^[17] they defeated Singapore 8–7 to advance to the second stage,^[18] where they were beaten 0–15 by China,^[19] 0–18 by Japan,^[20] and 0–7 by the Philippines.^[21] In the placement round, the loss over the Philippines counted as their head-to-head, while Laos then dropped games to Thailand and Hong Kong by scores of 0–6 and 0–11, respectively.^[22][23] With this performance, Laos finished eighth in a field of nine.^[24]

• "2023 III BFA East Asian Baseball Cup Daily Report Final" (PDF), World Baseball Softball Confederation, Baseball Federation of Asia, 2023
• "Official Result Book: Baseball" (PDF), 18th Asian Games, Olympic Council of Asia, 2018, archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2023