Tien-Mou/Taipei City. Venezuela improved to 3-0 and into sole possession of first place in Group B one day before their matchup with rival USA at the 12U Baseball World Cup. On Saturday evening at Tien-Mou Stadium they defeated Korea 7-3. Four runs in the fourth and three in the fifth decided the outcome. Korea tried to rally in the sixth, but it was too little too late.
A RBI infield single broke by Humberto Merentes broke the scoreless tie in the fourth. Edwin Perez followed with a two-run double and Sergio Gutierrez capped the rally with a RBI groundout. One frame later three more Venezuelans crossed the plate on a double by Jose Zapata and a muffed throw with two outs.
Korea, which couldn’t do much throughout the first five innings of the game, tried to build a comeback in the sixth. A two-run double by Woo In Choi and a RBI single by Sang Won Lee cut the deficit to 3-7. However a strikeout with runners on first and second ended the rally and the game.
Carlos Fernandez picked up the win with 4 1/3 strong innings. He allowed just one hit and three walks, while striking out six. Garyl Camarillo bailed out Gabriel Moncada, who ran into trouble in the last frame. Korea’s Jae Min Seo got charged with the loss, surrendering four hits, four runs and a walk in 3 1/3 innings.
Venezuela will be in another tough night game on Sunday, taking on Team USA, which after a 2-0 start into the tournament had Saturday off. Korea will have a chance to rebound early, facing Hong Kong at Youth Park in the morning.
