Experience, perseverance keys for top three players in WBSC eBaseball™ Series
26/11/2025 3 Minute Read

Experience, perseverance keys for top three players in WBSC eBaseball™ Series

Online dominance translates to offline success in WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS

When POME, Tomokun, and compass took home the top three places respectively at the WBSC eBaseball™ Series 2025 World Finals Presented by Visit Raleigh, held at the North Carolina State University Gaming and Esports Lab in Raleigh, North Carolina earlier this month, it was the payoff moment for what had been a long journey for all three of them in WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS.

In their careers in the game, they had all fallen short of the mountaintop in years past in one way or another, however their performances in the World Finals proved they belonged among the best players in the game.

Girl in a jacket

POME

POME has had the longest road of all three competitors. After winning the Home Run Derby phase of the baseball event at the Olympic Virtual Series 2021 on a different game in the POWER PROS series, he became one of the best online players in WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS, racking up a winning percentage north of 93 percent and having the highest Power Rate (PR) of any player in the game, at 65.53 as of 25 November.

However, his online dominance had not translated into offline success until this year. In 2023, he was the top player by Selection Points (SP) in the Japan Qualifier on the Nintendo Switch for the Olympic Esports Series 2023, but didn’t make it to the final knockout stages. In 2024, he lost in both the 1st and 2nd Global Qualifier Play-Off competitions to Tomokun – both by one run – to fall just short of qualifying for the HUGAN WBSC ePremier12. In 2025, he finished outside of the top four players in the Japan Open online qualifying tournament for the WBSC eBaseball™ Series 2025, but took the top spot in the Global Qualifier online tournament after an epic back-and-forth with former world champ SHORA to qualify for the World Finals.

Following his undefeated run in the World Finals and his sweep of Tomokun in the Championship Game, POME was emotional recounting his perseverance and his ascent to the top.

“I’ve played WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS since the game was published in 2023, and I was struggling and kept losing, but I finally could advance to the international competition and won this title, so I’m really happy about it,” POME said through an interpreter. “Thank you to all of the Japanese people who watched this game, and I hope POWER PROS can expand, not only in Japan, but globally.”

Tomokun

Despite falling just short of a world title, Tomokun has been an up-and-coming WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS player the last couple of years, having the fourth-highest PR (64.56) of all players as of 25 November. In 2024, he competed in both Global Qualifier Play-Off tournaments, falling in the semifinals in the first Play-Off before defeating second-seeded antimon in the finals of the 2nd Play-Off to make it to the ePremier12. Tomokun would finish just short of making it to the Tokyo Dome in Group B action in New Taipei City, losing 3-2 to eventual world champ SHORA in the final game to decide who would qualify for the Super Round.

In 2025, Tomokun would take the top spot by SP in the Japan Open online tournament and win the Japan Finals online tournament to directly qualify for the World Finals by having the highest PR among national tournament champions. He would top Group A at the World Finals with a 2-1 record and defeat compass 12-2 in the semifinals before losing two heartbreaking games to POME in the championship to finish as runner-up.

However, Tomokun looked back on his journey fondly in a post-match interview following the championship, and said he hopes to return in the future.

“I’m glad to be in the finals, my batting was very good, but my pitching was not that good, so I need to improve, but I’m glad to be at the final,” Tomokun said through an interpreter. “A lot of people cheered for me in Japan, and I feel sorry to them. I’ll definitely come next year for revenge, and definitely win the title next year.”

compass

With his third-place victory, compass became the first United States player – and the first player from outside Asia – to finish in the top three in the WBSC eBaseball™ Series. He had participated in the USA Finals in each of the three years of the WBSC eBaseball™ Series, making Group A of the ePremier12 in 2024 as runner-up in the USA Finals, and this year finishing as the USA champion over Jon'sCopyright to qualify for the World Finals.

Compass would finish 2-1 in Group A, finishing in third place in the group, then go on to defeat Italy champ MSQA in the quarterfinals before losing to Tomokun in the semifinals. In the third-place game, Compass would defeat Women’s Qualifier champion Hig Yurune 4-3 in extra innings to take home the podium place.

“It’s been so hard, I’ve been practicing very heavily for three years,” compass said after the game. “I’m always the annoying guy asking people if they want to practice against me every single day. I feel like those three years, they’ve paid off.”

For all three players, it’s taken a ton of hard work, but they all can say they are the best players in WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS in 2025.

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