Group B: Panama joins Venezuela and Colombia into U-23 Baseball World Cup Super Round

Venezuela, Colombia and Panama had already secured a spot in the super round, but the Monday afternoon game between Panama and Venezuela was not meaningless. The only loss in group play may prove costly to Venezuela, that will now start the super round from a 1-1 record, the same as Colombia and Panama.

Nicaragua-Netherlands 6-1 GAME REPORT BOX SCORE
Panama-Venezuela 3-2 GAME REPORT BOX SCORE
Colombia-Korea 5-4 GAME REPORT BOX SCORE

• Venezuela (1-1), Colombia (1-1), Panama (1-1) advance to the super round
• Nicaragua (2-0), Korea (1-1), Netherlands (0-2) will play in the placement round

Designated hitter Alvaro Rubi, 2-for-4, led a nine-hit Nicaragua lineup to the second win in the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup.

"It's been a difficult tournament," commented Nicaragua's manager Sandor Guido. "Our expectations were higher, coming into the U-23 Baseball World Cup. We played great baseball in the Qualifier last year, we couldn't quite repeat here."

The Central American nation will now head into the 7th-12th Place round.

"We still want to finish in the highest possible place. We want to earn the most ranking points for Nicaragua," Guido said. "The future of Nicaragua in baseball is still bright. We have very young players on this roster, they will gain a lot of experience."

Starter Julio Avendano kept Panama in the game and the line up got to Venezuela's bullpen in the second half of the game. Rhandall Sanchez hit a two-run double in the fifth and pinch hitter Watts batted in the winning run in the seventh.

"This was a key game," commented Panama's manager Cristobal Giron. "We wanted to finish well and wanted to take our chances to get to the super round with the same record as Venezuela. We are here to respect our commitment with the country."

Giron likes his teams chances in the super round: "In particular, I like our pitching. Our ace Meliton Reyes has yet to perform at his best, but we have a lot of confidence in him."

Colombia came from behind to tie the early Korean lead and scored the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth on a base hit by leadoff hitter Gustavo Campero.

Both Campero, first baseman Leandro Emiliani and center fielder Brayan Buelvas had two hits.

Colombia used five pitchers on the night. Sergio Palacio earned the win, pitching two innings in relief. Jhon Peluffo earned the save.