The Italian and Dutch national teams were both fixtures of the European Baseball Championship, but neither had ever appeared in an Amateur World Series tournament until 1970.

They would be the first European teams in the tournament since Great Britain defeated the United States in the inaugural Amateur World Series in 1938.

While Italy and the Netherlands both won a game, the newcomers clearly struggled; nevertheless, within 35 years, both would make it to the medal round of the tournament.

[citation needed] This was the second year of competition for the United States national baseball team, which returned to the AWS after a near-three decade absence.

Jack Stallings, head coach of Florida State University, managed the team.