by Philipp Wuerfel
Super Round Robin
(1st to 6th)
Cuba 3 – Chinese Taipei 2
Cuba handed Chinese Taipei its first loss with a 3-2 victory in a nail-biter in the morning of day two at the Super Round Robin at the II 15U Baseball World Cup in Mexico. Three early runs in the first two frames lifted Cuba to the win. CT answered with two in the fourth, but afterwards neither team got on the scoreboard as pitching prevailed.
USA 6 – Venezuela 2
With Chinese Taipei’s loss to Cuba Team USA became the lone undefeated team in the tournament after prevailing 6-2 against defending champion Venezuela. Three runs in the fourth and three in the seventh provided the run support. Venezuela had cut the deficit to a run in the top of the seventh, but couldn’t score further. Once again leadoff hitter Bryce Turang set the tone, going 4-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Raymong Gil drove in two. Kristofer Armstrong pitched six one-hit innings for the win.
Mexico 3 – Panama 2
Mexico rebounded with a 3-2 win over Panama after their loss to Venezuela on Wednesday. Ivan Paredes doubled in two runs in the eighth and later scored on an obstruction call to highlight the decisive three-run rally. Panama led since a two-run fifth. Marco Martinez pitched three scoreless innings for the win. Wilfredo Pereira took the loss in relief, after starter Agustin Velasco had issued just four hits and a walk in seven frames.
(7th to 12th)
Japan 11 – Argentina 0
Yudai Tada and Masaki Kaminakao struck out 11 batters in seven scoreless one-hit innings to lead Japan to an 11-0 shutout over Argentina. Six runs in the sixth blew the score wide open. Shu Masuda went 4-for-4 with two stolen bases and two RBI. Lautaro Gambetta took the loss, conceding four hits, three runs and a base on balls.
Italy – Germany, Brazil – Australia
Both games will be made up on Friday. The contest between Italy and Germany got suspended due to rain in the fifth inning with Germany leading 7-2 behind another strong start of Florian Seidel. The game will be re-started at 0-0 at 9am at the Academy field in Culiacan. The Brazil-Australia game got postponed altogether due to the weather and also will be made up on Friday.
(13th to 18th)
New Zealand 17 – Lithuania 2
New Zealand scored in five of the six innings played to rout Lithuania 17-2. The Kiwis took advantage of 15 walks. Aotea Parata walked four times and scored four runs. Eden Singe collected three walks, two runs and three RBI. Pitchers Liam Wilson, Kane Swanson and Tama Wright Pihama also had their share of control problems, but managed to keep Lithuania hitless in the game. Dziugas Gavrilcikas got charged with his third loss in the tournament.
Guatemala 10 – South Africa 4
Guatemala got its second win at the 15U Baseball World Cup with a 10-4 victory over South Africa. Two runs in the third gave them the lead, six in the fifth blew the score open. South Africa didn’t get on the board until a four-run rally in the seventh. Jarlin Tecu struck out ten in six-plus solid innings on the mound to earn the win. He also collected three hits, three RBI and three stolen bases offensively. Na’Eem Dollie got charged with the loss.
Czech Republic 18 – Hong Kong 3
The Czech Republic celebrated its second straight blowout in the tourney, defeating Hong Kong 18-3 in five innings. Five runs in the first set the tone early. 11 in the third put them en route to a mercy rule win. Jakub Grepl scored four times. Marek Chlup went 2-for-2 with a triple, three runs scored and three RBI. Ondrej Furko drove in five.
