myworldofbaseball

Hsin Chuan Wang delivered on the walk off single in the bottom of the 10th to give Taiwan a 3-2 win over Japan in the World Port championship held in Netherlands. Wang also came through in the second and fourth innings with RBI singles to account for all the runs for Taiwan. Yi Hung Chen scored runs in the second and the fourth innings after he led off each inning with a single.

Japan tied the score in the top of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. Ryoto Maeda slapped a two out single to score Takuya Okura with the tying run. Taiwan had an opportunity to win the game in the bottom frame. Ching Han Ko blasted a two out double. Han Lin singled to right center but Ko was thrown out at home to send the game into extra innings.

Japan had their opportunities to put this game away but they stranded 16 runners in the 10 innings. Japan slapped 13 hits with 5 walks. Taiwan stranded 13 runners with 11 hits and four walks.

Japan 15 Curacao 0

Japan gets to play Taiwan tomorrow for the championship of the World Port Tournament. After Curacao had upset Cuba for their first win of the tournament they did not seem to have anything left for Japan in the semifinal game. Masaki Otani drove in three runs with three doubles in four at bats. Takuya Okura and Kazuya Suzuki also drove in three runs. The game lasted just seven innings because of the slaughter rule.

Daisuke Yamagami toed the rubber for five innings to get the win, giving up just four hits. Kosuke Fukushima pitched the last two innings to close out the game. Japan scored in six of the seven innings to thrash the Curacao team.

Netherlands 3 Cuba 1

The last two port tournaments these two teams battled for the championship. This year the two were in a battle to see who could avoid last place. Netherlands used four different pitchers to restrict the Cuban offense to one run. Diegomar Markwell worked the first 3.1 innings without allowing a run. Jim Ploeger relieved him and gave up the lone Cuban run working 2.2 innings. Kevin Kelly got the game to two out in the eighth with 1.1 innings of shutout relief before turning it over to Mike Bolsenbroek to retire the final four hitters to pick up the save.

Dwayne Kemp got the big hit for the Netherlands in their three run third with a two run single. The third run scored on a double play ground out. Cuba scored their only run in the sixth on an RBI single from Yusniel Ibanez. It was his second hit of the game. With runners on second and third and one out two fly outs failed to produce the second run, The Netherlands bullpen pitched a perfect seventh, eighth and ninth inning to close out the game and avoid a last place finish in their own tournament.

The two favorites for the Port tournament, Cuba and the Netherlands will play a game where the loser finishes in last and the winner takes the fourth spot. These two teams played for the championship in the last port tournament and finished in first and second in 2015. Taiwan did win this tournament in 2011. How times have changed in two years.

Taiwan 4 Japan 2

Taiwan will play in the championship game between the winner of the Curacao and Japan game. Han Lin collected three hits and drove in two runs with a single in the fifth inning to give Taiwan an early 4-0 lead. He scored the first run for Taiwan after singling in the opening frame. Ju Liang Tai scored twice from the leadoff spot, once in the third inning after being hit by a pitch and again in the fifth after drawing a walk.

Sheng Feng Wu threw five innings of shutout ball before turning it over to the bullpen. Cheng Hao Wang pitched the final two frames without allowing a run to earn the save.

Curacao 5 Cuba 3

Curacao picks up their first win. Shurendell Mujica hit an RBI triple in the top of the ninth to break a 3-3 tie. Curacao then pulled off a first and third double steal with Mujica streaking home to score an insurance run. Cuba was able to load the bases with one out in the bottom frame. Claysandy Hariquez came on to pitch and struck out Yoelkuis Guibert, who was leading Cuba in average at .455 and got Frank Camillo Morejon to fly to center to clinch the victory.

Yusniel Ibanez hit a homerun for Cuba in the first inning, only the second homerun of the tournament. Guibert had three hits with an RBI single in the seventh inning to tie the game at 3-3. The only at bat he failed to get a hit was in the final frame with the bases loaded and one out.

Mujica drove in three runs in the game. In the first inning he hit a two run double to give Curacao a 2-1 lead and sending starting pitcher Geonel Gutierrez to an early shower. Mujica was a homerun short of the cycle finishing the game 3 for 3 with one walk. Raywendley van Gurp drove in the other run for Curacao with a double in the fifth.

In the double elimination tournament the two favorites Cuba and Netherlands were knocked to the loser’s bracket by their Asian counterparts.

Taiwan 4 Netherlands 3

This is the second time Taiwan has beaten the Netherlands. In their opening match Taiwan won 2-1. In this game Taiwan rallied from two down to score three in the last inning to win. The Netherlands closer Loek Van Mil had another rough outing. He retired the first hitter but then gave up a double to Chia Wei Huang. The Netherlands catcher Gianison Boekhoudt also had a tough inning. A passed ball advanced Huang to third where he scored on a single by Yi Hung Chen. Chia Yu Lin singled up the middle moving the tying run Chen to third bass. That was it for Mil who exited with a 13.50 ERA. Mike Bolsenbroek replaced him but the game ended without him facing an official batter. Lin attempted to steal second and the throw was off target scoring Chan and moving Lin to third. Lin scored on a passed ball to end the game. A tough way for the Netherlands to lose this game.

Kevin Heijstek pitched well for the Netherlands going six innings and allowing an unearned run in the third. An error by shortstop Stijn Van de Meer (recently released by the Astros) put the leadoff runner on where he eventually scored on a Han Lin single. The Netherlands had jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a Dwayne Kemp two run single. Kemp also led off the 8th with a double and scored on a Nick Urbanus single to give the Netherlands a 3-1 lead. That looked pretty safe until the chaotic ninth inning.

Japan 5 Cuba 2

Japan got some revenge on Cuba after losing to them in pool play. Ryosuke Fujii pitched the last 3.2 innings without allowing Cuba a run to earn the win. In the 11th inning when teams were allowed to put runners on first and second Japan scored three runs and Cuba scored none to prove the difference in the game. Cuba was able to get two outs on a sac bunt and a force out at home. A Hiroto Kobukata single scored one. Up until that at bat he had been held hitless four times. A walk to Masaki Otani loaded the bases and set up the two run single by Takuya Okura.

Down by three runs it is difficult for the home to rally for a win. A bunt would only set up two in scoring position. The Cubans swung away and Dainer Galvez grounded into a double play.

Yoalkis Crus threw 133 pitches in his 9.1 innings of work for Cuba, scattering 11 hits and giving up two runs, one of them unearned. Okura was the hitting star for Japan. He drove in three runs with his three hits, including the two run single in the 11th.

Daisuke Yamagami tied up the Dutch bats for six innings, allowing just two hits and no runners to cross the plate. The Netherlands only hint of offense was in the ninth when they scored three runs, but Japan had already built a 7-0 lead by that point to win easlily 7-3. Kenta Fukuhara drove in two runs and Hiroto Kobukata delivered two hits from the lead off spot, driving in one run to keep his average at .545.

Taiwan eliminated Curacao from the four team playoff format with their 6-3 win. Two Curacao errors and a two run single from Wei Chuan Su fueled a three run sixth that proved to be the difference in the game. Cheng Hao Wang got the last five outs without giving up a run to earn the save. Curacao committed three errors to allow three unearned runs to score but their pitchers eight walks were also to blame for many of the Taiwan rallies.

A double elimination format will see Netherlands play Taiwan and Cuba do battle against Japan. The only loss for Japan in this tournament was against Cuba. The only loss for Cuba was against Netherlands. It has been a very balanced tournament with a number of closely contested games.

After being upset by Taiwan on the first day the Netherlands has come back and won their next two games, including a 6-1 over Cuba that puts the port tournament into a three way race. Japan knocked off Taiwan, who has not replicated their opening day performance while Japan moves to 2-1. It sets up a critical game between Netherlands and Japan. A win by the Netherlands will put them in first place. A win by Japan will make Cuba the pool winner.

Netherlands 6 Cuba 1

The Netherlands called on Lars Huijer to tame the Cuban bats. He went seven innings and gave up just one run. The Cubans sent Daniel Gongora to the mound and he was not as fortunate. He gave up five runs on nine hits in his six innings of work. Gianison Boekhoudt and Max Draijer each drove in two runs for Netherlands. Boekhoudt drove in the first two runs with a double in the first and a single in the third. Draijer collected RBI singles in the fourth and the fifth as Netherlands pricked Cuba to death with small rallies.

Japan 2 Taiwan 1

Japan went seven innings with Takahiro Yamamoto in their win over Taiwan. Ryosuke Fujii pitched two innings of perfect relief to pick up the save. Kenta Morinaka slashed what proved to be the game winning hit with a single in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie. Yi Hung Chen hit a solo homerun for Taiwan in the fifth to account for the only run for Taiwan. He also walked in his other two at bats.

Cuba 7 Taiwan 6

In a battle of the undefeateds Cuba came out on top. Five different Cuban players combined for two hits in Cuba’s 13 hit attack against Taiwan pitching. Edilse Silva and Adrian Camillo Morejon were the big RBI bats for Cuba with two apiece. It was Silva’s two run single in the seventh that gave Cuba a 6-5 lead.

Taiwan rallied in the ninth. A bases loaded walk put them within one run of Cuba. Luis Enrique Castillo replaced Alexander Rodriguez on the mound and got Tzu Chieh Lin to fly out to left to secure the victory. Chia Wei Huang got the big hit for Taiwan in the fifth with a three run double to give Taiwan an early 5-2 lead.

Japan 5 Curacao 2

Japan kept Curacao winless. They took advantage of three Curacao errors to score four unearned runs in the second inning and one unearned run in the fourth. After committing six errors in their first game Japan played errorless ball in this game. Leadoff hitter Togo Tada was the offensive star of the game, collecting three hits to score two runs and drive in one. He also stole a base. After two games the lead off hitters for Japan are hitting .700.

The United States college national team completed their sweep against Taiwan with an 8-6 win. It was the most runs scored by Taiwan in the four game series. The runs were scored after the United States had jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after two innings. Seth Beer and Braden Shewmake each drove in two runs to lead the United States offense.

Chung Yu Chen went deep for Taiwan to drive in two runs. The United States next does battle with Cuba in a five game series. The Cubans also have a team playing in the port tournament in Netherlands.

Taiwan upset Netherlands in the opening game of the World Port tournament 2-1. Yao Tso Kao pitched the first five innings for Taiwan, allowing just two hits and one unearned run. Chih Hung Cheng pitched the last four innings giving up just one hit to tame the Dutch bats.

The Netherlands scored their only run in the first inning after an error and walk put two runners on to start the inning. A double play ground out moved the runner to third where he later scored on a wild pitch. The Netherlands failed to advance a runner to third in the next eight innings.

Diegomar Markwell made that one run stand out through the first seven innings. He did not allow a Taiwanese runner to reach third before turning it over to the bullpen. He scattered five hits.

Berry Van Driel retired Taiwan in the eighth. Netherlands turned it over to their closer Loek Van Mil to pitch the ninth. The seven footer struggled. Chia Wei Huang led the inning off with a single. A bunt moved Chia to second and a passed ball advanced him to third. Chun Kai Liao tied the game with a single to center. A single by Yi Chen advanced Chun to third. Tzu Chieh Lin scored Chen with a fly to right. Two walks, one by reliever Mike Bolsenbroek loaded the bases but Taiwan could not add an insurance run.

The Netherlands were retired in order to start the tournament with a loss.

Cuba 3 Curacao 2

A young Cuban team squeaked out a game against Curacao. Yoalkis Cruz worked eight innings scattering eight hits and giving up one unearned run. Curacao collected three hits off Alexander Rodriguez in the ninth inning to score one run and put the tying run at second but Cuba escaped with the win.

Cuba scored their first run created by the wildness of Marverich Lourens, who walked three, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch that set up a sacrifice fly by Osvaldo Vazquez. Marverich lasted only 1.1 innings before being relieved by Temesh Lourens. Cuba scored additional runs in the third and fifth created by the errors by the Curacao infielders.

Cuba’s next game is against Japan while Curacao plays Netherlands.

The United States college national team defeated the Taiwan team in the first three games the two teams played in North Carolina. The fourth game was cancelled because of rain. There are two more games on the schedule, with one being played at Cary and the other at Durham. After that series Cuba comes to North Carolina for a five game series. The team will then close with a five game series versus Japan on an East Coast swing.

United States 6 Taiwan 3

Konnor Pilkington threw four innings of no hit ball to get the United States off to a good start. Jake McCarthy broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning with an RBI single. The United States broke the game open in the eighth inning with four runs to up the score to 6-1. Grant Koch and Johnny Aiello each contributed two run singles in the eighth.

United States 3 Taiwan 0

Casey Mize got the start for the United States team and gave up the only two hits for Taiwan in his four innings of work. Steven Gingery followed him and pitched four innings of no hit ball. Steele Walker and Andrew Vaughn each hit solo homeruns in the sixth to provide the bulk of the offense.

United States 3 Taiwan 1

Sean Wymer pitched four innings of shutout ball to extend the scoreless streak for the United States starting pitchers to 16 innings. Steele Walker drove in another run, this one with a sacrifice fly in the third. Travis Swaggerty scored a run after tripling in the third and drove in a run with a single in the sixth.