DOU-LIOU STADIUM. Venezuela closed out the first round at the XXVI 18U Baseball World Cup with a 6-2 win over the Czech Republic on Wednesday afternoon at Dou-Liou Stadium. Two runs in the first and three in the fourth decided the outcome early. The Czech team had its opportunities to come back, but couldn’t come through with timely hits.

Venezuela got off to the great start on Wednesday. After a seven-pitch 1-2-3 top of the first, they put two runs on the board in the bottom half of the same frame. Maiyerson Echegaray scored for a 1-0 lead thanks to an error on a pickoff attempt. A sac fly by Anthony Concepcion plated the second run.

Adam Hajtmar then got the Czech squad on the board in the top of the third. He singled home Filip Smola. However during the play Filip Mostek was thrown out at the plate, trying to tie the game from second. Venezuela meanwhile built up the lead to 5-1 with singles by Juan Quero and Echegaray in the fourth.

A RBI single by Smola in the seventh and a RBI triple by Lhenon Herrera in the eighth plated runs for each team without changing the outcome of the game.

Welmer Quintero went the distance allowing eight hits, two runs and three walks. He struck out eight in nine innings for the win. Svatoslav Kraut and Tomas Ondra shared the workload for the Czech Republic with Kraut taking the loss.

With the win Venezuela improved to 3-2 at the end of the preliminary phase, while the Czech Republic dropped to 0-5.