The 2026 World Baseball Classic, which enters the semifinal round Sunday, has featured 14 former Chatham players from 11 different A’s teams, dating as far back as 2006 and as recent as 2024. The semifinals, which pit the United States against the Dominican Republic Sunday and Venezuela against Italy Monday, are set to feature three of the former A’s who participated.
Yan Gomes - Coach, Brazil - Chatham 2008
The first Brazilian-born player in MLB history, Gomes joined manager Yuichi Matsumoto’s staff for the WBC as Brazil’s catching coach. Team Brazil went 0-4 in pool play. After the 2008 season at Tennessee, Gomes batted .313 with Chatham, compiling 20 hits. He went on to enjoy a 13-year major league career.
Micah Ashman - Pitcher, Canada - Chatham 2024
A 6-foot-7 left-hander who came to Chatham after junior season at Utah, Ashman pitched to a 1.93 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 9.1 innings with the A’s. He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 2024. With Team Canada, Ashman punched out three hitters and allowed one earned run across three innings of work. He threw 2.1 scoreless innings against Team USA in the quarterfinal round.
Matt "Tugboat" Wilkinson - Pitcher, Canada - Chatham 2023
Wilkinson, then a relatively unknown native of Okotoks, Alberta, dazzled the Veterans Field crowd when he struck out eight batters across five hitless innings in his Cape League debut. The left-hander compiled nine scoreless innings with Chatham and later went on to be selected by the Cleveland Guardians, for whom he was named Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2024. For Team Canada, Wilkinson pitched 2.2 scoreless innings in relief during the WBC, including two hitless innings against the United States in the quarterfinals.
Stuart Fairchild - Outfielder, Chinese Taipei - Chatham 2016
Fairchild played 34 games for Chatham in 2016 after his sophomore season at Wake Forest, batting .232 for the A’s while knocking eight extra-base hits. The outfielder has played parts of five seasons in the Majors, most recently with Atlanta. He signed a minor league contract with Cleveland in December. With Team Chinese Taipei, Fairchild slugged a team-best two home runs in pool play.
Austin Bergner - Pitcher, Columbia - Chatham 2017, 2018
Bergner, a right-hander out of North Carolina, pitched for parts of two summers for the A’s. He was Chatham’s ace in 2017, racking up 30 strikeouts in 31 innings pitched with a 1.16 ERA. He was named to the All-Cape League team that summer and was given Chatham’s Willard Nichols Most Outstanding Player Award. He returned to the A’s in 2018 and compiled 26 strikeouts and a 2.38 ERA in 22.2 innings. With Team Venezuela — which faces Italy in the WBC semifinals Monday — Bergner has appeared twice out of the bullpen, pitching three innings with two strikeouts and two hits surrendered.
Miles Langhorne - Pitcher, Great Britain - Chatham 2023
Langhorne struck out 15 hitters in 11.1 innings pitched for Chatham across four outings after his freshman season at UNC Charlotte. He later went on to join the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He did not allow a run and picked up a strikeout in his one appearance during his first World Baseball Classic.
Jack Seppings - Pitcher, Great Britain - Chatham 2023
Seppings was one of Chatham’s most reliable arms down the stretch of the 2023 Cape League season that saw the A’s win five of their final six games. The right-hander from Brown pitched to a 3.77 ERA in 14.1 innings with 17 strikeouts for the Anglers. He’s since joined the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Seppings made one appearance, pitching 1.1 innings out of the British bullpen in his WBC debut.
Andre Scrubb - Pitcher, Great Britain - Chatham 2015
Scrubb pitched for Chatham after his sophomore season at High Point, striking out 13 hitters in 11 innings while pitching to a 2.45 ERA. He went on to become an eighth-round selection of the Dodgers and pitched in parts of two MLB seasons. He made one appearance out of the Great Britain bullpen in the World Baseball Classic.
Vance Worley - Pitcher, Great Britain - Chatham 2006
Worley, who went on to pitch eight big league seasons, was a mainstay for Chatham during the 2006 Cape League season. The Long Beach State right-hander struck out 36 hitters in 35.2 innings and pitched to a 3.03 ERA for the A’s. He participated in his second World Baseball Classic for Team Great Britain, surrendering a run in two innings on the mound against Team USA.
Daniel Federman - Pitcher, Israel - Chatham 2019, 2021
Federman pitched in two different seasons for Chatham out of Miami, compiling 24 strikeouts to just seven walks in 25 innings in 2019. He returned the A’s and shined in 9.2 innings in 2021, allowing a single earned run and striking out 15. Federman signed with the Baltimore Orioles and, after pitching a scoreless inning in his World Baseball Classic debut for Team Israel in 2023, returned to the team and appeared twice in the 2026 WBC. He allowed one hit and added a strikeout in 2.1 innings.
Sam Antonacci - Infielder, Italy - Chatham 2023
Antonacci — who played for Chatham between stops at Heartland Community College and Coastal Carolina — has emerged as a key contributor for Team Italy, which plays its first-ever WBC semifinal Monday against Venezuela. Through four games as the Italians’ starting shortstop, Antonacci has scored four times, driven in three runs, and logged a .944 OPS, including a home run in his team’s upset win over Team USA. With the Anglers, Antonacci picked up 11 hits in 17 games. MLB.com ranks him as the ninth-best White Sox prospect.
Joey Cora - Coach, Puerto Rico - Chatham 1984
Cora, the 1984 Cape League MVP, has gone on to a successful coaching career since his MLB playing career ended in 1998, and now features another stint on Puerto Rico’s WBC staff, this time under manager Yadier Molina. As a major leaguer, he hit .277 and drove in nearly 300 runs across 11 seasons. He’s served on staffs for the White Sox, Marlins — for whom he briefly served as interim manager — Pirates, Mets and is currently the Tigers’ third base coach. Cora, from Vanderbilt, hit .373 with a league-best 28 stolen bases in Chatham in 1984.
Nolan McLean - Pitcher, United States - Chatham 2021
McLean, who came to Chatham primarily as an infielder out of Oklahoma State, appeared in eight games for the A’s in 2021, racking up six hits, scoring nine times and clubbing a pair of home runs. He was drafted by the Mets and emerged as one of the game’s top pitching prospects before debuting in 2025. He made his first WBC appearance in a start against Great Britain, punching out four across three innings. McLean is lined up to start the WBC final on Tuesday if Team USA advances.
Garrett Whitlock - Pitcher, United States - Chatham 2016
Whitlock, a hard-throwing right-hander from UAB, didn’t surrender a run in his six innings with the Anglers in 2016, striking out eight and allowing just two hits. He went on to become an 18th-round selection of the Yankees, but has spent all five of his MLB seasons with the Red Sox. He’s pitched to a career 3.13 ERA in the Majors, four times reaching 70 innings pitched out of Boston’s bullpen. For Team USA — which continues its WBC run in the semifinals against the Dominican Republic Sunday — he’s dealt two scoreless innings of relief with a single hit allowed and three strikeouts.
