myworldofbaseball

When myworld watched the World Cup back in 2011 in Panama it was plagued by rain. Rain prevented two games from being completed today. The United States and Brazil could only play one inning with the United States scoring four runs before rain suspended the game. The game between Germany and Panama had to be postponed.

Taiwan 10 China 0

When the adults played China upset Taiwan in both the Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, embarrassing the fans and bringing on allegations that the games were fixed after gambling problems rocked the CPBL shortly after. The youngsters saved some face with the win. China was limited to two hits by Kuan-Yu Chen, who worked four innings. Yu-Min Lin struck out the side in his inning of work. When Taiwan scored five in the bottom of the fifth the game was over.

Tung-Sun Li and Chan-I Li both drove in two runs to lead the offense. Hao-En Chen and Hao-Yu Lee each scored twice. Four China errors resulted in five unearned runs.

Netherlands 22 Australia 7

The Australian pitching staff has now given up 42 runs in their last two games, dropping their record to 1-3 and ending any chance they may have had for advancing to the second round. The Netherlands has scored 40 runs in their last two games to even their record to 2-2. Emilson Haswell drove in three runs and scored four times to lead the Dutch offense. Australian pitchers could not find the plate walking 11 hitters.

Australia got a homerun from Jake Burns. They had a 1-0 lead after one and only trailed 4-1 after three, but the bullpen could not stop the Dutch bats.

Cuba 10 South Africa 0

Leonardo Reyes limited South Africa to two hits in 4.1 innings, improving Cuba’s record to 4-0. Cuba was limited to six hits but four errors and seven walks helped their cause. Carlos Chavez was a perfect 1 for 1 with two RBIs and one walk. Frank Gonzalez also drove in two runs. Both players hit triples to fuel the offense.

Japan 13 Dominican Republic 7

Japan scored early with nine runs in their first three innings. Seiya Fukuhara drove in four runs with his three hits and Haruto Uchiyama plated three. The Dominicans seven errors gifted Japan with four unearned runs. Their pitchers also walked 9 batters. Shinnosuke Kanai shut down the Dominican bats in the last three innings, retiring all nine hitters he faced, six of them on strikeouts.

Some interesting games. Day three tends to test the depth of a team’s starting pitchers. Some of the scores confirm the depth is not good.

Taiwan 2 United States 1

Chen-Yi Hung pitched 5.1 innings of one run ball as Taiwan handed the United States their first loss. Both teams move to 2-1, tied for second place behind Panama. Hung also delivered with the bat, doubling to lead off the fifth to score the first run of the game. He advanced to third on a passed ball and scored after an error by secondbaseman David Diaz. Luke Leto got the United States back in the game with a leadoff single in the sixth. He stole second, advanced to third on a ground ball and scored on a fly ball. The go ahead run scores on a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth.

The United States put two runners on in the top of the seventh but Shan-Tsung Peng got the final out to earn the victory. Kao-Hsiang Tsai was a perfect 2 for 2 including one walk. He scored the go ahead run in the sixth after leading the inning off with a single.

Netherlands 18 South Africa 2

The Netherlands won their first game while South Africa became one of two teams without a win. Jesse Velders drove in four runs and Jurrangelo Cijntje drove in three to lead the offense. Donovan Antonia knocked one out and scored three runs. Netherlands banged out 17 hits on the day and South Africa committed five errors to help with all that scoring. The game was done after five innings, though South Africa had a 2-0 lead after one inning.

China 5 Germany 4

China also won their first game. Germany is still winless but they scored their first four runs of the tournament. China got 4.2 solid innings from Ruo-Fei Ding, who walked five but allowed only two runs to cross the plate. After Germany had tied the game at 2-2 Jian-Cuo Luozang ripped a double to score the go ahead run in the bottom of the fifth. Germany scored two runs in the top of the seventh and had the tying run on third when Yu-Chen Wang got his only whiff in his 2.1 innings of work to earn his victory.

Dominican Republic 20 Australia 8

Not much of a pitcher’s duel. Oscar Aude drove in six runs, including hitting a grand slam homerun in the third inning. Esterlyn Sanchez and Deyvison de los Santos also went deep for the Dominicans. Manuel Beltre was a perfect 4 for 4 and scored four times. Ten of the 20 hits for the Dominicans went for extra bases.

Australia got a homerun from James Nati. Early errors by the Aussies allowed the Dominicans to tack on seven unearned runs in the first two innings.

Panama 7 Brazil 3

Panama became the only undefeated team other than Cuba in the tournament. Panama was only able to accumulate four hits in the game but they strung together three of them in the 5 run fourth to seal the victory. A couple errors, two walks and multiple wild pitches also contributed to the Panama scoring. Kenin Pinto pitched 5.1 innings allowing two hits and two runs. He struck out six and walked two.

Cuba 9 Japan 7

A mild upset here. It appears a lot of the 15 year old stars have not left the island yet, but if they continue to play well in Panama there will be boats waiting for them outside their hotel doors. Cuba scored seven runs in the first two innings to nip Japan. Frank Gonzalez drove in three runs and scored three times to lead the offense. Kevin Rosales retired all seven hitters he faced in closing out the game to get the win.

Japan had tied the score 7-7 after five innings on a solo homerun from Reiya Saka. Kevin Alcolea got the big hit for Cuba, a two run double in the sixth inning to give Cuba the lead they would not relinquish. Japan drops to 2-1 while Cuba goes to 3-0.

Day 2 has been completed in the Under 15 World Cup and there are four undefeated teams, Panama, Cuba, United States and Japan. Below is a summary of the second day of play.

United States 10 Germany 0

Two facts remained consistent after this game ended. United States pitchers have yet to give up a run in their first two games. Germany has yet to score a run. At least they were able to get two hits after being no hit in their first game. The slaughter rule ended the game after just five.

Christian Little threw three innings of shutout ball and was followed by an inning of work each from Timothy Williams Jr and Luke Leto. Davis Diaz was able to drive in two and scored two runs without benefit of a hit. He had two walks, a sacrifice fly and a stolen base. Thomas Dilandri went 2 for 2 with two runs scored and two doubles.

Japan 11 Netherlands 1

The Netherlands was actually winning this game 1-0 after four. Rick Rizvic had pitched four innings of no hit ball, walking three. When the Netherlands went to their bullpen Japan bats awoke for 11 runs in the last three innings. Hiromu Joshita drove in three runs and four different Japanese players scored two runs each.

Sota Hinoue shut down the Netherlands bats for one run in 4.2 innings. Yuito Suzuki struck out three of the four hitters he faced in relief. The Netherlands was restricted by Cuba to only one run in the opener.

Taiwan 9 Brazil 7

Taiwan got into the win column, sending Brazil down to their first loss. Taiwan erupted for 8 runs in the seventh inning for the dramatic come from behind win. Mao Ying-Chieh delivered a pinch hit RBI single that tied the game and Tsai Kao-Hsiang drove in the go ahead run with a single in the 8 run seventh. Brazil scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh and had runners on second and third with no outs. Lee Hao-Yu came on and struck out the next two hitters and got the last out on a ground out to nail down the save.

Australia 16 South Africa 6

Australia only collected six hits to score their 16 runs. 15 walks and three hit batsman allowed the Aussies to circle the bases without swinging their bats. James Nati slugged a solo shot for the Aussies and walked twice to cross the plate three times. Jake Burns also went deep to drive in four and Quinn Johnson was a perfect 2 for 2 with two walks and five RBIs.

Nicholas De Ascensao and Kyle Schwartz each drove in three runs for the South African offense. The five run fifth put South Africa in reach 9-6 but a big six spot in the bottom frame by Australia put the game out of reach.

Panama 2 China 1

After losing 27-0 to the United States on day one, China was a little more competitive for the hosts. In the sixth Leonardo Bernal led off the inning with a triple and the next two batters could not drive him in. No problem. A wild pitch allowed Bernal to score the go ahead run. Alexis Bernal pitched four innings of shutout relief to get the win for Panama.

Cuba 9 Dominican Republic 0

Osiel Veranes struck out 10 in his six innings of shutout ball. Jorge Broge followed him with an inning of work to complete the shutout. Frank Gonzalez was the only Cuban player to drive in two runs.

Luke Heimlich was considered a first round pick by major league baseball while a junior pitching for Oregon State in 2017, until it was discovered he pled guilty as a 15 year old of molesting his then six year old niece. He was required to list himself as a sex offender, though that history was not known until a local newspaper discovered it after he was required to report his status after moving to Oregon. He removed himself that year from the NCAA championship playoffs and the major league draft.

As a senior this year he was the ace pitcher who led Oregon State to the NCAA championship. Even though he was eligible for the draft major league teams refused to draft him, even lower in the draft when risky players are often selected. Many scouts changed their opinion on him, calling him nothing more than a mid or back end of the rotation pitcher at best. His tools did not justify facing the backlash of signing him, even though his sex offender status was recently removed after his probationary status had passed without any further violations. It should be noted two other players from Oregon State were drafted in the first round.

The Kansas City Royals considered signing him as an undrafted free agent, but nothing ever came of that review. Shunned by the major leagues the La Miga Monkeys of the China Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan signed him to a contract. Once the facts came out of his molestation charges there was fervent backlash from the Taiwan fans. The CPBL immediately terminated the contract citing their “zero tolerance policy on players with a criminal history.”

Perhaps the Manny Ramirez signing after two major league drug violations did not meet the “criminal” standards. Heimlich denies the molestation charges saying he only pled guilty to protect the niece from having to go through a trial. The parents of the girl molested have stated they would not trust any child to be alone with Luke.

So the Heimlich saga continues. Some league somewhere seeking publicity of any sort may take a risk of signing him. Otherwise he may have to find another craft to try to make a living since most baseball leagues are reluctant to sign him.

There were no surprises in the 15 and under World Cup on the first day, though host Panama surprised Taiwan in the night game 9-1. Below are the summaries for some of the earlier games.

Brazil 10 Germany 0

Brazil used three different pitchers to no hit Germany in the opener. The game ended after six innings because of the slaughter rule. Pedro Lemos de Costa worked the first four plus innings walking three and whiffing six. Kawan Silva de Araujo got the last two outs in the fifth getting credit for the win. Denis Silva pitched the sixth inning to complete the no hitter.

Gabriel Gomez was the big bat for Brazil with three RBIs. He contributed a double and two walks in his four at bats.

Japan 4 Australia 2

Japan got six shutout innings from Kyosuke Kuroyanagi (3.1) and Shinnosuke Kanai (2.2) to get their win. Australia rallied for two in the ninth to make the game close. Leadoff hitter Asahi Hanada crossed the plate twice, which proved to be the difference in the game.

United States 27 China 0

China committed 10 errors in the five inning game and their pitchers walked 9 in the United States battering of China. 17 of the 27 runs were considered unearned. Joshua Hartle drove in six runs with a single and two doubles in five at bats. Davis Diaz crossed the plate four times without benefit of a hit, walking twice.

Cuba 5 Netherlands 1

Cuba scored three runs in the opening frame to lead them to their opening day victory. Edgar Quero drove in two runs on two hits to earn Cuba the victory. Brander Guevara got the win, striking out seven in five innings of work.

Dominican Republic 5 South Africa 3

Ronny Polanco hit the first homerun of the event driving in three runs to prove the difference in the game. Dominican Republic pitchers did not allow a hit in the game, but walked 8 to provide South Africa with all their offense. Cristofer Gomez pitched 2.2 innings of perfect shutout relief to close out the game.

Panama 9 Taiwan 1

It was a bit of a surprise how easily Panama destroyed baseball power Taiwan. Carlos Gonzalez was a homerun shy of the cycle, driving in two and scoring two runs. Leonardo Bernal had a perfect 2 for 2 day with three RBIs to lead Panama. Taiwan scored their lone run in the seventh inning

Barranquilla, Colombia will be the hosts for the under 23 Baseball World Cup that will be played October 19-28, 2018. As the host they will get an automatic bid to participate in the tournament. It is also hoped that the tournament will help bring new stadiums to Repelon and Manati, which are part of an $8 million investment by the Colombia Atlantico Department, though it would be nice to have some of the funds from the games go to help finance the stadiums. Pending inspection by the WBSC the games will be played at the Santa Marte Baseball Stadium. Don’t know if the stadium will pass muster but the fact there are probably no other alternatives seems to indicate it will pass. The WBSC probably should have waited to inspect the stadium before making the announcement about hosting if they had alternatives.

The following teams have qualified for the tournament. The last event was played in 2016:

Africa: South Africa
Asia: Japan (defending champions), Taiwan, Korea (third place)
Europe: Netherlands and Czech Republic
Americas: Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic
Oceania: Australia (second place)
Host: Colombia

The United States is not eligible for the event because they did not participate in the qualifiers. Because of that they may lose their number one ranking to Japan this year. This tournament is the most important international event this year, distributing the largest amount of points given to teams who do well in this event. Cuba is another traditional baseball power absent from this event.

Taiwan had beaten Netherlands earlier in the day 7-5 to earn the right to play the championship match against undefeated Japan. Masato Morishita got the start and pitched three innings of shutout ball. Japan turned to Wataru Matsumoto, who pitched two perfect innings, striking out four of the six hitters he faced to get the win. It was his third win of the tournament.

The big hit was the three run homerun by Shunya Iwaki in the sixth inning.

This has to be a first for German baseball, to beat Cuba. It is also a reflection on how far down the Cuban talent level has gone. Most of their top players are in the United States.

Cuba started Leandro Martinez but it was not his fault Germany scored four runs off him. Three Cuban errors allowed three unearned runs to score. Germany committed six errors but they were able to dodge the bullet a bit better than Cuba allowing only two unearned runs.

A dropped fly ball by leftfielder Jorge Jhonson on what should have been the third out allowed Germany to score the first run in the opening frame. Errors by Anibal Medina and Jorge Aloma brought in two more unearned runs in the third to give Germany a 3-1 lead.

Cuba erupted for three runs in the fourth, assisted by two German errors, though only one of the runs was considered unearned. Orlando Acebey and Eduardo Blanco contributing RBI singles to give Cuba a 4-3 lead.

In the fifth Eric Brenk slashed his third single of the game. He scored his third run of the game, the tying run after Simon Guhring drove one deep enough to right field to score Eric on a sacrifice fly. A Max Boldt double, his third hit of the day set up the go ahead run in the seventh. After an intentional walk to load the bases Cuba failed to turn two on a ground ball and Germany scored the winning run.

Cuba did load the bases in the top of the ninth. After retiring the first two hitters in his third inning of work, Cuban born Enorbel Marquez loaded the bases on a single, walk and the sixth error by Germany. He ran the count full to Jorge Jhonson before getting him to fly out to center to end the game.

Japan 1 Taiwan 0

Japan won a second consecutive 1-0 game. They were able to string together 10 hits but two caught stealings and a ground out double play erased three rallies. They scored their only run in the fourth after a Toshiya Sato double and a Yuma Tongu single drove him in for the only run of the game. Matsumoto Wataru pitched seven scoreless innings allowing just four hits and striking out nine. Hiroshi Kaino was almost unhittable in his two innings of work, striking out five of the six hitters he faced. Taiwan only saw one runner settle on second base and that was in the fifth inning. C.W. Huang was picked off after he had doubled with two out in the fifth so he was not on second base long.

Netherlands 7 Italy 0

Netherlands made it two shutouts in a row over their two European counterparts. After blanking Germany 6-0 in their opener they went out and zipped their European rivals Italy 7-0. Ageless Rob Cordemans did the honors on the mound going six innings and allowing just two hits. He struck out nine and walked two. Nick Urbanus, Gilmer Lampe and Yurendell deCaster each drove in two runs for Netherlands.

The homerun derby was the most interesting result. The White team beat the Red Team 8-7 with Chih-Chieh Su winning the MVP award because of his two run double breaking a 2-2 tie to give the White team a 4-2 lead they would never relinquish. Chin-Lung Hu, who played shortstop for the Dodgers a number of years ago was the hitting star for the Red driving in four runs with his two hits.

For the homerun derby Taiwan invited two Australians to participate, Andrew Campbell and Logan Wade from the Australian Baseball League’s (ABL) Brisbane Bandits. Campbell got to the finals where he squared off against defending champion Yao-hsun Yang of the La Miga Monkeys in the finals. Campbell hit four while Yang could only send three over the wall, giving Campbell the homerun derby award. Don’t know if he will come back next year to defend his title or perhaps a Taiwan team will sign him to a contract even though CPBL teams prefer to use pitchers for their three foreign allocations.

The United States collegiate baseball team swept Taiwan in a five game series. All of the games were competitive with the United States not scoring more than four runs in any of the games. All the games were played in Cary, North Carolina with one game played in Durham.

In the first game the United States won 3-2, a foursome of United States pitchers not allowing a hit to Taiwan until the eighth inning when Taiwan scored two runs. Daniel Cabrera drove in two runs, an RBI single in the fourth and a solo shot in the seventh, the only home run of the series. Matt Meyer struck out the first two hitters in the ninth but a single, two walks and a two run single by Po Ting Hsiao brought Taiwan to within one. With the tying run on second Meyer struck out the next hitter to preserve the win. The United States pitchers combined to strike out 14 hitters.

The United States pitchers were strong again in game two, limiting the Taiwan offense to two hits and no runs in the first eight innings. Daniel Cabrera drove in his third RBI of the series with a bases loaded walk in the third inning. A ground out drove in the second run in the inning. In the ninth the United States scored their third run on a wild pitch. A line out double play after Taiwan scored their first run in the ninth ended the game.

In the third game the United States won again 3-1. Taiwan finally scored a run in an inning other than the ninth. Graeme Stinson struck out seven of the nine hitters he faced, but a walk, passed ball and single in the seventh gave Taiwan their only run. Shea Langeliers strung together three hits, starting the fourth inning with a double and scoring on a Zach Watson single and in the fifth delivering an RBI single for the third United States run.

The fourth game was a bit of a slugfest with the United States winning 4-2. The United States scored all their runs in the third inning, Daniel Cabrera driving in two with a single. Taiwan rallied for two runs in the fifth. Tzu Chieh Lin led all players with three hits. Max Meyer closed it out for the United States striking out three of the four hitters he faced in the ninth.

The United States completed the sweep in game five with a 4-1 win. A three run second put the game out of reach. Daniel Cabrera started the inning with a single. Patrick Bailey got his first start of the series and drove in all three runs in the inning with a double.