by USA Baseball
LOS ANGELES – The USA Baseball 12U National Team completed the exhibition portion of its schedule on Sunday, using a seven-run first inning to cruise to a 13-8 victory over a Southern California 13U squad at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif.
“The last few days have certainly been a whirlwind, but we are very excited about what we have seen out of our team and how it is starting to come together,” 12U head coach Dave Webb said. “After yesterday’s game we identified some areas where we needed improvement and we were able to address some of those today, both in practice and in our game. There is still plenty of work to be done but we are very much looking forward to getting to Chinese Taipei, representing this great country to the best of our abilities and, hopefully, bringing home a gold medal.”
Adam Crampton led the way offensively for the Red, White and Blue on Sunday, going 3-for-4 in addition to driving in three runs and stealing a base. Colton Olasin had three hits as well, while joining Garrett McMillan and Gabe Briones with two RBIs apiece.
In Sunday’s win, the SoCal 13U squad got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first but Team USA answered right back in resounding fashion, sending 11 batters to the plate in a seven-run outburst. The U.S. used two bases-loaded walks to first get on the scoreboard before Olasin and Crampton each had two-RBI singles. For Crampton, it was his second hit of the frame as he opened the home half of the inning with a leadoff single to center. Anthony Volpe rounded out the scoring with an RBI base hit of his own.
That stanza would later prove critical as the two teams matched each other run-for-run the rest of the way, scoring six runs each over the final five innings. Crampton would strike again in the fourth, driving a two-out RBI double down the left-field line to make it a 12-7 game.
Following a scoreless fifth, the only inning in which neither team managed to scratch across a run, McMillan roped a double to right in the sixth and final frame, plating Kyler Yates from third to finish off the scoring in the 13-8 contest.
Sunday’s victory marked the conclusion of the 12U team’s training schedule and three-day stay in Los Angeles, having also defeated a UYA team on Saturday, 7-5. The 18-man 12U team will head to the airport Sunday night to travel to Taipei City, Chinese Taipei, where it will compete in the II IBAF 12U Baseball World Cup, July 18-28. Team USA will open the competition against Panama.
