myworldofbaseball

Below are the awards issued for the Under 12 World Cup.

MVP - Chen Kai-Sheng (Taiwan) - .471 batting average, 3-0, 1.32 ERA

The All World Team:

Catcher - Shinsuke Kuwamoto (Japan) - .625, 11 RBIs and six doubles
First Base - Christian Saez (Cuba) - .522, 10 runs scored, 14 RBIs and four homeruns
Second Base - Kazuki Takahata (Japan) - .571
Shortstop - Johan Rodriguez (Cuba) - .483, 12 runs scored and six doubles
Third Base - Huang Tien-Szu (Taiwan) - .567, 14 runs scored, 21 RBIs and three triples
Left Field - Chiang Tsung-Chun (Taiwan) - .552, 15 runs scored, 11 RBIs and seven stolen bases
Center Field - Alejandro Prieto (Cuba) - .583, 14 runs scored, 11 RBIs, seven stolen bases and six doubles
Right Field - Tae-Ho Lee (Korea) - .455, 11 RBIs and six stolen bases
Designated Hitter - Leonel Dominguez (Venezuela) - .550, 13 RBIs and six homeruns

Starting Pitcher - Chen Kai-Sheng (Taiwan)
Relief Pitcher - Sakumi Aoki (Japan) - 2-1, 0.69

The most outstanding defensive player was Rui Akazawa (Japan)

In the first Under 12 World Championship Taiwan was the winner but the United States did not participate. In the next three events the United States participated and Taiwan took second. It may have been better for Taiwan to have beaten the United States for the World Championship, but beating Japan was a second best option. The United States team failed to qualify for the Super Round eliminating their opportunity to defend their championship.

Taiwan relied on Kai-Sheng Chen to pitch five innings of three hit shutout ball before turning it over to Cheng-Yu Lin to close the game out in the final frame. Chen also showed some mastery with the bat hitting a solo homerun in the top of the sixth to close out the scoring for Taiwan. He finished the game with two hits and two runs scored.

Taiwan scored their first runs in the third on RBI singles from Tien-Szu Huang and Ting-Yi Jiang. Hung-Jen Yeh contributed a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.

Japan’s best opportunity for scoring came in the fifth when two singles and a stolen base put runners on second and third with two out. Chen was able to get the strikeout to end the inning. In the fifth two Taiwan errors put runners on second and third with one out. Chen was up to the task again getting out of the inning with two whiffs. He finished the game with five strikeouts.

After the win the blue ticker tape that can trap you like a spider’s web rained down upon the crowd.

Cuba 2 Korea 1

Cuba came on strong at the end and beat Korea for a second time to take the bronze. A two run homerun by Christian Saez in the first were the only runs Cuba needed to get the victory. Alejandro Prieto pitched 5.1 innings of one run ball to get the win. An error in the third, two stolen bases and a wild pitch resulted in Korea’s only run. Cuba called on Boris Sarduy to get the last two outs in the sixth inning.

For Cuba it is their first medal in the under 12 since 2011 when they finished second. For Japan the silver medal finish was their highest placement. In 2013 they took the bronze medal. Mexico, Venezuela and Nicaragua are other bronze winners.

Japan and Taiwan advance to the championship. Cuba got hot late, winning their last four games, but their two early losses against Japan and Taiwan eliminated them. As expected, three time champion United States won the lower round. They were upset by Venezuela and Mexico to be left out of the Super Round.

Cuba 10 Korea 8

Cuba rallied for six runs in the last two innings, while Korea could only score two runs to pull out the win and ultimately eliminate Korea from the finals. Christian Saez clubbed a big two run homer in the third but his biggest hit was his two run single in the sixth that broke a 7-7 tie. He finished the game going 4 for 4 with three runs scored and four runs driven in. Alejandro Pena scored three times for Cuba on a 2 for 3 day with one walk.

Japan 8 Korea 7

Both teams were tied at 5-5 after regulation. Korea scored two runs in the seventh after an error. The Korean bullpen was unable to retire a Japanese hitter in the home half and went on to win it. Shinsuke Kuwamoto drove in three runs for Japan to be the hitting star. Their big bat Shosei Takahashi pitched a scoreless sixth and drove in two runs in the seventh inning to tie the game. He ended up scoring the game winning run.

Taiwan 14 Venezuela 6

The home plate umpire was from Korea so the 9 walks by Venezuelan pitchers could not be blamed on home umpiring. Taiwan scored all their runs in two innings, the third and fourth, while Venezuela took an early 6-0 lead scoring three each in the first and second innings. Hung-Jen Yeh drove in three runs from the lead off spot with a three run double in the fourth while Chen-An Kuo drove in three runs in the third with a three run homer. Yan-Chang Yu was able to quiet the Venezuelan bats, pitching four shutout innings while striking out nine.

Mexico 8 Japan 3

Once Japan had defeated Korea they had already qualified for the championship. Mexico was playing against bench players and scored all eight of their runs in the last three innings to earn the victory, taking advantage of the Japanese bullpen.

The United States crushed Czech Republic 15-0 and then beat South Africa 18-0 to win the lessor round. Czech Republic was limited to one hit in their game while South Africa could not get a hit against United States pitching.

Cuba and Korea will battle for third place in a rematch of yesterday’s game. Japan and Taiwan will play for the championship.

Cuba and Taiwan keep winning but for Cuba it may be too late to play in the championship with two losses. Two teams have to be upset for that to happen and then they have to win the tie breaker. The big game Korea and Japan got rained out after three innings but Korea was pulling the upset, with a 4-1 lead. Japan does not have a loss while both Korea and Taiwan have one loss. It could turn into a three way tie for first or a three way tie for second where one or two teams could be eliminated by a tie breaker.

Cuba 5 Venezuela 4

Venezuela pitchers got a bit wild with four walks (one intentionally to load the bases) to allow the winning run to walk in for the game winner in the bottom of the sixth. In the second Venezuelan pitchers walked the first two hitters they faced and both scored on a Yeison Acosta double. Another walk in the fifth scored after a two run single by Alejandro Prieto. Venezuela pitchers walked seven and four scored.

Leonel Dominguez of Venezuela woke from his slumber. Leonel hit homeruns in four of his first five at bats in his first two games, but the bat has been relatively quiet since. He woke up a bit yesterday with a two run shot in the first and a solo bomb in the sixth that tied the game at 4-4. Johan Fernandez also went deep for Venezuela in the fourth.

Johan Rodriguez went the full six innings for Cuba to get the win. He also drew the final walk that forced in the game winning run.

Taiwan 11 Mexico 1

Taiwan knocked Mexico out of championship considerations. A nine run fourth fueled by three walks and two hit by pitches put the game out of reach. Yi-Rui Wu smoked a two run double and Kai-Sheng Chen smacked a two run single to contribute the big hits in the fifth inning. Chen-An Kuo pitched a complete game to get the win.

The lower round had the two second round leaders the United States and the Czech Republic squaring off. The United States had an 11-0 lead in the game after two when the rains came. The game will resume today with the United States ahead 11-0.

All the teams in the super round got the day off except Korea. They had to make up a rain out from earlier in pool play, even though the results of the game meant nothing. Perhaps they were a bit tired on the first day of the Super Round as Taiwan pulled an upset. Most of the games in the Super Round will be more competitive.

Taiwan 9 Korea 3

Taiwan scored six in the first and had an 8-0 lead after two. In a six inning game that was too much for Korea to overcome. Tien-Szu Huang had a perfect 3 for 3 day for Taiwan, crossing the plate three times. Huang is now hitting .667 for the tournament with 11 runs scored. He was limited to just one RBI, giving him 18 for the tournament, driving in at least one run in five of the six games Taiwan has played.

Japan 4 Venezuela 1

Japan tamed the big bats of Venezuela. Five different pitchers were used to limit the Venezuelans to three hits. The Japanese pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts. Haru Kataoka got the big hit for Japan, driving in three in the second with his single.

Cuba 10 Mexico 0

Cuba disposed of Mexico pretty quickly, scoring runs in five of the six innings to seal the victory. Alejandro Prieto threw four shutout innings to claim the victory. Cuba got some big hits from Christian Saez, who finished the game 4 for 4 with a double and a homerun to drive in five of the ten Cuban runs.

In the lower grouping Australia won their first game beating South Africa 7-4. In the battle for Europe the Czech Republic prevailed with their 8-1 win over Italy. The United States did not have any trouble over Fiji, taking advantage of 10 walks and seven errors to win 28-0.

Standings of the Super Round After the first day of games. The top two teams will play for the championship.

Japan 3-0, Taiwan 2-1, Korea 2-1, Cuba 1-2, Mexico 1-2, Venezuela 0-3

There will be a new champion. The three time defending champs were beaten by Mexico, eliminating them from advancing to the Super Round. They play undefeated Korea today, but the losses to Venezuela and Mexico, the two teams ahead of them in the standings were too much for them to recover. A win over Korea would leave them 3-2, tied with Venezuela, but the first tie breaker is head to head and Venezuela beat the United States earlier.

The teams advancing to the Super Round are Japan (5-0), Taiwan (4-1), Cuba (3-2), Korea (4-0), Mexico (4-1) and Venezuela (3-2). Each team will bring their losses with them to teams that advance to the Super Round. A loss by Korea to the United States will still leave them undefeated in the Super Round.

Mexico 2 United States 1

A win by the United States could have advanced them but they would still have had to beat Korea to prevent a three way tie breaker with Venezuela and Mexico. The United States could not solve Mexican pitcher Yustin Canizales, who pitched a complete game five hitter. He got into a bit of trouble in the fourth, giving up back to back singles to Lucas Tinajero and Josiah Hartshorn. A ground out advanced them to second and third and then a second ground out caught Tinajero out at the plate. A balk scored Hartshorn for the only run.

Yustin also helped himself with the bat, blasting a leadoff homerun in the first inning. In the third his RBI single put Mexico up 2-0. That was all the runs Mexico needed to seal the victory. The United States did get a runner to second on a walk and a balk in the sixth, the third balk called on Canizales in the game, but Canizales was able to get the third out of the game on a ground out.

Cuba 5 Czech Republic 0

In a game to determine who advances to the Super Round in Group A Cuba prevailed. Johan Rodriguez threw six innings of no hit ball, striking out nine to lead Cuba to the victory. Cuba scored their five runs early taking a 5-0 lead after three. Alejandro Prieto scored twice and drove in a run on a 2 for 3 performance. Both his hits were doubles.

Venezuela 13 Australia 0

Venezuela made sure they advanced, keeping the Aussies winless. Kennew and Jean Blanco combined for six of the Venezuelan 16 hits from the top two spots in the lineup. The Aussies could only muster one hit in the game.

Korea 11 Italy 0

Lead off hitter Dong-Hyeon Doo showed some pop, becoming the second player in this tournament to hit three homeruns in one game. Those three homeruns drove in six of Korea’s 11 runs. They were his first three homeruns of the tournament. Three different Korean pitchers combined for the five inning four hit shutout.

Japan 15 South Africa 0

Japan scored 10 in the first and the game was all but done. South Africa failed to get a hit in their four at bats. Kyonsuke Hayashi went deep for Japan, finishing the game 2 for 3 with two runs scored and three driven in. Shinsuke Kuwamoto was a homerun short of the cycle, finishing the game 3 for 3 with four RBIs and two runs scored.

Taiwan 32 Fiji 0

Fiji committed 11 errors. Tien-Szu Huang drove in seven runs with a double and two triples. Fiji did get one hit but that paled to the 23 by Taiwan. This was their first opportunity in the World Cup and they scored four runs in the tournament, giving up 147. Hopefully the kids will still bring back good memories that will motivate them to improve.

More blow outs. There was one big game with Korea beating Venezuela to stay undefeated. The rest of the games were decided by more than 10 runs. Below are the results from Day 4 of the Under 12 World Cup.

Korea 6 Venezuela 5

Korea is looking strong, remaining undefeated in the first round. A one out walk off homerun from Yee-Chan Park wins the game for Korea. Park finished the game 2 for 2 with a double, the walk off homerun and two runs scored. Park also walked with two outs in the second inning to ignite a four run rally that gave Korea an early 5-3 lead. Tae-Oh Lee got a clutch 2-run single in the inning to give Korea the lead. Venezuelan catcher Johan Fernandez hit a solo shot in the fifth to tie the game at 5-5. He has now homered in two consecutive games.

Mexico 21 Australia 2

Leadoff hitter Yustin Canizales went 5 for 5 with four doubles to lead Mexico to a blow out win over winless Australia. Jose Lavagnino drove in four runs with two doubles. For the game Mexico tallied 11 doubles out of their 26 hits. Javier Garcia threw almost three innings of perfect ball, striking out five. An error in the second allowed one runner to reach. Mexico ended the no hitter with two runs in the fourth, but behind by 19 runs the game was ended by the slaughter rule.

Japan 30 Fiji 0

Japan pitchers threw their third shutout in four games. Takuto Suzuki bashed two homeruns and drove in four in the rout. He ended the day a perfect 3 for 3 and is still batting 1.000 for the tournament, though that is only in four at bats. Another backup Hironosuke Namatame also went deep and drove in three runs. Lead off batter Shintaro Sakamoto and Yusei Izumi also drove in four runs. Japan only needed three innings to score their 30 runs.

United States 28 Italy 1

The United States only needed three at bats to put away Italy via the slaughter rule. Lucas Tinajero went deep twice, driving in four and Rashad Hayes went deep once and drove in four to lead the United States offense.

Cuba 13 South Africa 0

This was the second closest game of the day. Alejandro Prieto drove in six runs with two blasts and Christian Saez hit a solo shot to lead the Cuban offense. Three Cuban pitchers held the South Africans hitless, striking out 9.

Taiwan 16 Czech Republic 0

Taiwan ended the Czechs two game winning streak. Tien-Szu Huang and Yan-Cheng Yu each went deep in the rout, combining for 5 RBIs. Tsung-Chun Chiang was the big bat with his four runs driven in. He also went 4 for 4 with four stolen bases. It is his second 4 for 4 game and he is now batting .643 for the tournament.

It is day three in Taiwan at the under 12 World Cup. After Venezuela upset the United States, Mexico comes back and upsets Venezuela. Cuba was able to get their first win of the tournament, but it was against Fiji. The big game, the undefeated Koreans against the United States could not be played because of weather delays. After three days of play the only two undefeated teams are Japan at 3-0 in group one and Korea at 2-0 in group two.

Mexico 10 Venezuela 6

Mexico put themselves in a good spot with a win over Venezuela, moving them to 2-1. They restricted the big Venezuelan bat Leonel Dominguez to just one single in three at bats. In his previous two games he had gone 5 for 5 with four homeruns. Venezuela did jump out to a 3-0 lead but Mexico bounced back with five runs in the bottom of the first. A four run third gave them a nice cushion. Sebastion Baquera drove in two runs and scored twice on a 2 for 2 day with one double and a walk. Uriel Torres also drove in two runs for Mexico.

For Venezuela Johan Fernandez went deep with a solo shot in the fourth.

Japan 7 Taiwan 4

In a rivalry game, the two undefeateds from Group one did battle and Japan came out on top. Shosei Takahashi showed his pop with two homeruns, two run blasts in the first and third innings. He finished the day 3 for 3 and is now batting .714 for the tournament with two doubles and two homeruns.

Italy 6 Australia 4

In what could be a mild upset, Italy achieved their first win, sending Australia to 0-3. Six Aussie errors led to four unearned runs. Joshua Nati had a big day for Australia with his RBI double and two run homer driving in three of the four Aussie runs. Nati also started giving up four runs, one earned in his 3.1 innings of work. In addition to taking advantage of the errors the Italian bats peppered the Aussie pitching staff with nine singles. Riccardo Mazzanti pitched the last 3.2 innings, giving up two runs but striking out eight.

Czech Republic 21 South Africa 4

In their second game the Czech Republic was able to pick on Fiji. Yesterday it was South Africa. The Czechs collected 16 hits in the win to go 2-1. The big bat was replacement catcher Kristyna El Ghannamova who went 3 for 3 with a double, a homerun and four RBIs. So far in this tournament no team has found a way to get Kristyna out. Kristyna is 6 for 6 with 7 RBIs. Matyas Hasal scored three runs in the game and has now scored 8 runs in his last two games. He is batting .833 with five consecutive hits. He also pitched three innings to get the win.

Cuba 27 Fiji 1

The Cubans needed only three innings to score all their runs to get their first win. Johan Rodriguez went 5 for 5 from the leadoff spot, scoring four runs and driving in four with three doubles. Alejandro Cruz followed him in the lineup and went 4 for 5 with 5 RBIs, a double and two triples. The Cubans combined for six triples in the game.

Fiji actually had the lead in the game after scoring one in the top of the first. Cuba dispelled any hope of an upset and an 0-3 start with a seven spot in the bottom frame. The 15 run second put the game out of reach.

It is too bad the under 12 can not make all their games more competitive. Myworld can’t imagine playing in a 30-1 loss is lacking in fun. As a coach I always tell my players that the best way to get better is to play the teams better than you. It is tough to keep them motivated when they are just being blasted off the court. There were some competitive games, with one big upset, Venezuela nipping the United States.

Venezuela 7 United States 6

The United States rallied for four runs in the bottom of the sixth but fell short of the win. They had the tying run on first when the last out was made. Leonel Dominguez has been a beast. After going 3 for 3 with three homeruns and seven runs batted in against Italy he went 2 for 2 with a solo shot. So he is batting 1.000 with a 3.500 OPS and four of his five hits have gone over the fence. His solo homerun in the top of the second tied the game at 1-1. Kennew Blanco, who finished the game 3 for 4 added an RBI single to take a 2-1 lead.

Leonel started the 4-run fourth for Venezuela, leading off the inning with a single. Reinaldo Sarmiento tripled to score Leonel and then scored on a wild pitch. Venezuela scored their fourth run in the inning on a wild pitch. Jean Blanco went four innings, giving up two runs to get the victory.

Mexico 1 Italy 0

Italy almost pulled an upset but their lack of offense sent them down to their second loss. Mexico scored their lone run in the first inning on a walk to Yustin Canizales. He advanced to second on a ground out and scored on an Italian error. Kevin Orozco struck out the side in the first inning, but could only whiff one more batter in his next three. He limited Italy to just two hits and a walk in his four innings, yielding the ball to Alonso Gallegos and Gustavo Vargas to complete the shutout. Filippo Sabatini threw five complete innings to take the loss. For Mexico it was their first win while Italy went down to 0-2.

Japan 6 Cuba 0

Japanese pitchers threw their second shutout in two games. The Cuban bats were restricted to just three hits. Four different pitchers combined for the shutout. The big bat was Shosei Takahasi who delivered a clutch double in the first to drive in the first Japanese run. He also drove in a second run in the fifth on a ground out.

Czech Republic 30 Fiji 1

The Czech Republic did not mess around in this 30-1 four inning rout for their second win of the tournament. Ian Katz drove in five runs with his two doubles and triple while Matyas Hasal drove in four runs and scored five runs. Michal Cajz drove in three runs and scored four times. Italy failed to get a hit in the four inning shortened game.

Korea 13 Australia 0

Jae-Jun Lee and Tae-Oh Lee each collected three hits and three RBIs in the surprisingly easy win over Australia. For Australia it is their second loss while Korea remains undefeated. For Korea it was a perfect game by four different pitchers.

Taiwan 19 South Africa 0

Taiwan pitched the third no hitter of the day, with two walks preventing it from being a perfect game. Four different pitchers threw one inning each. Leadoff hitter Tsung Chun Chang went deep, going 4 for 4 with four runs scored and four RBIs. Tien-Szu Huang was 4 for 4, driving in five and crossing the plate four times.

It is not the Little League World Series, but it is one step better. Instead of the best Little League teams battling it out, these are the best from those top Little League teams battling it out. And they are playing in a newly built $130 million baseball field in Tainan, Taiwan. Below are the results from the first day with a lot of one sided ball games. There was one no hitter.

Taiwan 4 Cuba 2

This was the closest game. Tien-Szu Huang drove in three runs on two hits to lead Taiwan to the win. Cheng-Yu Lin pitched a perfect sixth inning to pick up the save after Kai-Sheng Chen went the first five to get the win. Alejandro Prieto pitched a complete game for Cuba but got poor support from his defense, who had two errors that led to three unearned runs. Taiwan was only able to collect three hits in the game, two of them by Huang.

Korea 7 Mexico 0

Korea scored quickly with seven runs in the first three innings. Tae-Oh Lee drove in three runs with his two doubles and Jae-Jun Lee drove in two. Korea used four different pitchers to complete the six inning shutout.

United States 10 Australia 0

The United States scored six in the fifth to end the game early because of the slaughter rule. Josiah Hartshorn, Jack Ruckert and Brenden Lewis all went deep for the United States. Lewis had the big hit with a three run homerun in the fifth. He also was on the mound and went the distance, giving up just one hit in his five innings of work, walking none and striking out 4.

Venezuela 15 Italy 0

Venezuela scored all their runs in three innings as the game was ended after Italy did not score in the top of the fourth. Leonel Dominguez blasted three homeruns to drive in 7 of the 14 runs for Venezuela. Sander Trujillo threw four innings of no hit ball, allowing just two baserunners on walks.

Japan 21 Czech Republic 0

Another game that went just four innings. As the visitors Japan batted four times. Shinsuke Kuwamoto and Ren Imai were the big RBI bats with three apiece. Japan lashed out 16 hits and walked 8 times, blasting five doubles. Four different Japanese pitchers worked one inning with the lone Czech hit coming in the fourth.

South Africa 28 Fiji 2

This should have been the game Fiji had a chance of winning, but their pitchers issued an amazing 23 walks in four innings and their fielders committed six errors in the blow out. South Africa only needed 9 hits to accumulate their 28 runs. Michael Barrett walked all four times he hit. South Africa had two pitchers each work two innings, with neither of them issuing a walk.