World Champions: USVI 18U Beats Houston 3–1 to Win the Nike RBI Softball World Series

The U.S. Virgin Islands are world champions. The territory's Nike RBI 18U girls' softball team defeated the Houston Astros Nike RBI team 3–1 on Thursday, August 13, to win the 2026 Nike RBI Softball 18U World Series at Major League Baseball's Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Florida.

The Virgin Islands were one of eight teams in the field and the only one representing a U.S. territory. Every other club came out of a mainland region, most of them backed by Major League Baseball organizations. MLB.com reported that the title made the USVI the first team from outside the continental United States to win the tournament.

The championship was a rematch. On Wednesday morning, Houston handed the Virgin Islands their only loss of the week, 4–2 in eight innings, on a walk-off two-run home run by Kennedy Gray. The game had been delayed about two hours after a Houston infielder was injured in a collision while chasing a foul ball.

The Virgin Islands had no time to dwell on it. That afternoon they faced elimination against the Detroit Tigers Nike RBI program, the 2025 champions, and won 4–3. Amanda Thompson pitched all eight innings and struck out 10, and Brielle Creque drove in two runs.

In Thursday's final, Ryann Giddins started in the circle and gave the Virgin Islands four strong innings. Creque scored the first run to put the USVI up 1–0, and the team added runs in the third and fourth. Houston's only answer was a solo home run by Hailey Jones-Calais. Thompson came on in relief and recorded the last six outs to finish it.

The week started with a statement: a 9–0 win over Royals Elite RBI 18U, with Thompson allowing two hits and striking out seven while leadoff hitter Keira Frazier collected four hits, including a double and a triple. Next came a 4–2 comeback win over the Atlanta Braves RBI 18U after Atlanta scored twice in the first inning. Alina Muhammad started that game, and Thompson came on in relief and struck out 11.

The team reached Vero Beach as champions of the Caribbean Region, having gone 5–0 against teams from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic at the regional tournament in June. It was the second straight year the program reached the World Series. In 2025, the Virgin Islands made a run to the semifinals.

The team is managed by Elroy Hill, with coaches Richard Clendinen, Brock Creque and Inocencia Bermudez, and is sponsored by the Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation.

"This is an incredibly proud moment for the Virgin Islands," Governor Albert Bryan Jr. said after the win. Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett said the players "represented our Territory against teams backed by Major League Baseball's biggest organizations" and "came out triumphant as World Series Champions."