by Philipp Wuerfel

Chinese Taipei 10 – Guatemala 0 (8 innings)

Chinese Taipei opened the 2014 U15 Baseball World Cup in Mexico with a 10-0 shutout over Guatemala on Thursday morning. Pitchers Yu-Hao Huang, Chao-Ching Wan and Ting-Wei Wu combined to keep Guatemala to two hits and three walks in nine scoreless frames. Wan picked up the win with seven strikeouts in three innings of relief. Offensively it was a close game until Chinese Taipei blew it open with a six-run eighth. Jose Lopez got charged with the loss, issuing six hits, three runs (2 ER) and four base on balls.

New Zealand 1 – Germany 13 (7 innings)

Germany picked up a 13-1 victory over New Zealand in their first game of the tournament. The bronze medalist of the recent European Championship scored all 13 runs in the first three frames. Samuel Steigert led a balanced attack with two runs and two RBI. Niklas Rimmel earned the win, issuing two hits, an unearned run and two walks in three innings. Kyle Glogoski got charged with the loss, surrendering three hits, ten runs (9 ER) and eight base on balls in 2 2/3 innings.

Venezuela 15 – Hong Kong 0 (5 innings)

Defending champion Venezuela shut out Hong Kong 15-0 in five innings. Angel Ortega dominated from the start, conceding just a walk in five strong frames on the mound. He struck out 12. On offense Venezuela scored in each of the five innings, highlighted by a seven-run fifth. Daniel Montano went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, three runs scored and five RBI. Ching Connor Kwok took the loss, being responsible for five hits, five runs (4 ER) and two base on balls.

Japan 15 – South Africa 1 (7 innings)

Japan celebrated a 15-1 victory in seven innings over South Africa. Team Nippon scored in each of the first six innings. Kazuya Murata and Taiki Kato each scored three times. Four pitchers kept South Africa to a lone run in the game. Ren Hirashima issued three hits and a run in two frames to get the win. Keagan Lazarus took the loss, issuing two hits, four runs and a base on balls.

Brazil 12 – Czech Republic 2 (7 innings)

Brazil defeated the Czech Republic 12-2 in the afternoon at Culiacan. It was a close game with Brazil leading 5-2 until the South Americans put seven runs on the board in the bottom of the seventh to run up the score and end the game on ten-run rule. Douglas Takano went 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI. Gabriel Maciel scored four times. Igor Santos got the win in relief, Ondrej Furko took the loss.

Australia 19 – Lithuania 0 (5 innings)

Australia had no trouble with Lithuania in a 19-0 blowout. The team from Down Under scored 16 runs in the first two frames en route to the victory. Additionally the pitching around Dermot Fritsch, Flynn Stallworthy and Alex Osborne issued just two hits and four walks in five scoreless innings. Jesse Hunter led all batters with four hits. Lukas Paskevicius took the loss, surrendering 14 runs (13 ER) on 12 hits in one-plus frames.

Mexico 23 – Italy 0 (5 innings)

Host Mexico kicked off the U15 Baseball World Cup with a 23-0 rout over Italy. Pitchers Faustino Carrera and Darrell Torres allowed just two walks in five scoreless no-hit frames. Offensively Mexico scored ten runs in the first two innings and 11 in the fourth. Isaac Paredes and Jaime Garza scored four runs apiece. Marco Martinez drove in five.

Argentina 2 – Cuba 12 (7 innings)

2012 runner up Cuba earned a 12-2 victory over Argentina in their tournament debut. Three runs in the second, fourth and sixth blew the score open. Mailon Alonso scored three times. Three players drove in two. Angel Diaz earned the win, pitching five three-hit, three-walk innings. Esteban Cardozo took the loss.

Panama 2 – USA 14 (7 innings)

Team USA defeated Panama 14-2 in seven innings in the evening game in Mazatlán. Five runs in the second and four in the seventh secured the victory. Alejandro Toral hit a home run and drove in two. Shortstop Mark Vientos collected three RBI. Hunter Greene and John Dearth shared the work load on the mound.

Coverage of the eighty-three matches of the II 15U Baseball World Cup will be enhanced by online play-by-play (i.e., CBS Sports GameTracker) and through social media (by following @BWC15U on Twitter and “BaseballWorldCup” on Facebook and Instagram; official hash tag #BWC15U).

About the 15U Baseball World Cup:

Launched in 2012 by the International Baseball Federation and played every two years, the 15U Baseball World Cup is baseball’s highest and most elite level of competition in this age category, like the 12U Baseball World Cup. And also like the 12U event, the 15U Baseball World Cup is the only world championship across all of sport to feature National Teams within this age range.

Past players who have competed on the youth Baseball World Cup platforms include Canada’s Brett Lawrie, Japan’s Yu Darvish and Shohei Ohtani, South Korea’s Shin-soo Choo, Cuba’s Aroldis Chapman and Yasiel Puig, and USA’s Clayton Kershaw, Justin Upton and Buster Posey, among countless others past and future stars.

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