Seoul (Korea). Canada has won the duel of neighbors at the beginning of the second round at the XXV IBAF 18U Baseball World Championship. They prevailed 1-0 in ten innings in a classic pitcher’s duel against the United States. Nathan Desouza drove in the game-winning run in the top of the tenth inning. Team USA couldn’t counter in the bottom half of the frame and lost the game. They are now 1-2, while Canada is 2-1.
Both teams had played a game in the morning, completing the first round with victories over Panama respective Australia. Under the lights of Jamsil Stadium offenses struggled against great pitching. The teams weren’t able to score in the first nine innings and the IBAF Extra Inning Rule came into effect.
Canada chose the standard procedure and moved the two placed runners over with a sac bunt. After an intentional base on balls to load the bases and creating the force play, Desouza got the job done with a RBI single through the left side of the infield to plate Chris Shaw. They couldn’t take more advantage of the bases-loaded, one-out situation when Gareth Morgan and Brett Siddall struck and popped out to send the inning into the bottom half.
But it didn’t matter a couple of minutes later. With runners on first and second, Team USA decided against the sac bunt. Dominic Nunez grounded into a double play and Jeremy Martinez ended the game with a fly out to right.
Besides the dramatic ending in extra innings, the story of the game was the pitching of both staffs. Ryan Kellogg, who was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the MLB Amateur Draft in June, but didn’t sign to join Arizona State University, started for Canada and dominated the US bats. In 8 2/3 innings the left-hander allowed just two hits and a walk in 8 2/3 innings. He struck out five, but had to settle for the no-decision due to the missing run support.
Garrett Williams and Ian Clarkin gave up more base runners, but matched Kellogg by putting zeroes on the board. Williams issued four hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings, while Clarkin conceded one hit and two base on balls in the following 2 1/3 frames. In the end Dayton Dawe got the win and Keegan Thompson the loss.
