In the end it was a hard-fought victory for Brazil, which downed Nicaragua 7-6 on Thursday afternoon at the I IBAF 15U Baseball World Championship in Mexico. The South Americans built a quick 7-1 lead, but their opposition rallied in the end, missing out on the tie in the ninth.
Five combined RBI by Salomon Koba and Thiago Kubo gave Brazil a fast 7-1 advantage through four innings. Lucas Sakay scored twice. Nicaragua cut the deficit to two runs in the top of the seventh thanks to a pair of RBI singles by Jairo Mendoza and Brandon Leyton and a RBI fielder’s choice by Chris Cerda.
After a scoreless eighth, Nicaragua threatened again in the ninth. A wild pitch on strike three put Roniel Raudes on first with one out. Pinch hitter Mario Pasos followed with two outs and doubled to right field, bringing the score to 6-7 and tying run on second base. But a groundout ended the comeback try and gave Brazil the win.
Gustavo Shiomatsu allowed four hits, two runs and six walks in six innings for the win. He struck out seven. Dilmer Mejia issued three hits, three runs and a base on balls in the first, getting charged with the loss.
