Chinese Taipei is the only team with a perfect record in Group A after Day 2 of the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup. Host Mexico and the Dominican Republic got their first wins Friday, as the race for three spots in the super round is heating up.
Dominican Republic-Germany 8-4 GAME REPORT BOX SCORE
Chinese Taipei-Czech Republic 4-1 GAME REPORT BOX SCORE
Mexico Cuba 5-0 GAME REPORT BOX SCORE
The Dominican Republic displayed a lot of power against Germany. Left fielder Francis Florentino, right fielder Sandro Fabian and catcher Fraudy Rodriguez all homered.
Clean-up hitter Fabian, who hit 15 home runs at Double-A for the St. Louis Cardinals of MLB this season, is regarded as the squad's star.
"This team plays together," commented Fabian. "We have been working a lot to get to this World Cup in good condition. We support each other, and we are here to make the Dominican fans proud."
Five Dominican pitchers limited Germany to a couple of hits. One of those was a three-run homer by first baseman Lou Helmig.
The 20-year old is a third-generation player. His grandfather Claus (1936-2016) in 1956 became the first German professional player when he signed with the Baltimore Orioles. His father, Martin (born in 1961), played in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
"I started to play at four. Other sports were never an option," commented Helmig. "Baseball is what I love and my dream is to play professionally".
"We suffered two losses now," added Helmig, switching the attention to the tournament. "The only thing we can do is go out there, play hard day after day."
Chinese Taipei scored four runs on 5 hits in the first inning against Czech starter David Mergans. They had only three hits in the rest of the game.
"I thought and expected that we were going to score more runs today," commented manager Shi-hsin Wu. "Nevertheless four were all we needed.
Starter Yu-hung Cheng was untouchable for the Czech hitters. He gave up a hit and a walk over six innings.
"I was nervous in the first inning," said Chen. "This was my first international game. The fact I had excellent control helped me relax as soon as I understood I was hitting my spots."
"You don't get to see many sidearm pitchers in Europe," said Czech Republic manager Vladimir Chlup. "My hitters struggled with the change of angle. We still were capable to stay in the game against World No. 3. We can be satisfied."
Cuba and Mexico's starting pitchers faced just nine hitters each in three innings. Cuba's Bryan Chi and Mexico's Alemao Hernandez were literally perfect through three. Fabricio Macias, a 23-year-old outfielder with the Triple-A team of the Pittsburgh Pirates of MLB, turned the first offering of Chi into a solo homer. He was not only the first batter to reach on a hit, he was also the first batter to reach base overall.
"I knew he was going to come after me," said Macias. "He had a high percentage of first-pitch strikes. From what I had seen, I thought fastball and I could make the most of it."
Macias believes the win could become a turning point.
"For sure, this win gives us a lot of confidence."
Alemao Rodriguez was simply dominant.
"I think I got to the mound well prepared. I have been working very hard for this tournament. We are here to defend a World Title."
Saturday 25 September-the schedule
10.30 am Germany @ Czech Republic
3 pm Chinese Taipei @ Cuba
7.30 pm Mexico @ Dominican Republic
