myworldofbaseball

It has been a pretty good 2019 baseball season for Taiwan. Earlier in the year they won the 12 and under World Cup by beating Japan. This time it was the United States who they beat in the older division.

Taiwan 2 United States 1

Chien Yu had major league scouts drooling, shutting out a group of potential number one draft picks on three hits for 6.2 innings, striking out seven. The four time defending champion United States could not figure out Yu, whose only other two appearances were in relief when he picked up two saves. He gave up just four hits in his 10 innings of work, striking out 15.

Taiwan broke a 0-0 tie in the fifth with an RBI single by Tzu-Wei Lin. Shun-Ho Wang got the inning started with a triple. Taiwan added an insurance run in the eighth on a Wie-Chieh Lo RBI single. Lo was a second round pick of the CPBL Uni Lions and just signed a contract prior to the tournament. Lin started the eighth inning with a single.

The United States attempted a rally in the bottom of the ninth. Singles by Robert Hassell and Colby Halter and an error scored one run and put runners on first and third with two outs. Po-Yu Chen, working his second inning was able to get Jack Bulger to fly out to right to end the game. Unlike Chien, Chen had started his first two games and he was called on in relief to secure the championship for Taiwan.

In pool play the United States had beaten Taiwan on the second day of the tournament 8-1.

Korea 6 Australia 5

Korea won the bronze medal game. Juh-Yeong Lee blasted a two run homer in the top of the ninth to give Korea the victory. For Lee it was his only two RBIs of the tournament. The leadoff hitter did score 10 runs and hit .364. Hyeong-jun So retired all three hitters he faced in the bottom of the ninth to clinch the victory for Korea. The Australians committed four errors in the game, allowing three unearned runs to score.

Chris Burke went 3 for 4 with three doubles and three RBIs to lead Australia. He finished the tournament with a .361 average and seven doubles.

The United States won their game against Korea. Taiwan could not beat Canada. They were fortunate that Australia beat Japan. Since Australia and Taiwan tied for second place in the Super Round, Taiwan won the tie breaker, since they beat Australia in their earlier meeting.

United States 8 Korea 5

Korea jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after the first two innings. The United States turned to Alejandro Rosario to finish out the first inning and he went 7.2 innings, giving up just the three unearned runs in the second inning. The United States pecked away in the third through sixth innings, scoring twice in three of the innings and once in the fifth to take a 7-5 lead.

Robert Hassell got things started with a two run homer in the third. In the fourth RBI singles from Nolan McLean and Jack Bulger pulled the United States to within one. The lone error by Korea in the fifth put Aaron Vuckovich on second where he eventually scored on a ground out. In the sixth a Drew Bowser RBI single put the United States up for good and Robert Hassell drove in an insurance run with a SF. Hassell finished the game with three RBIs. Nolan McLean pitched the ninth inning to pick up the save.

Canada 12 Taiwan 7

The Canadian bats came alive with 17 hits in their rout of Taiwan. Dasan Brown led the charge with three hits and three runs scored. Sam Schofield and Owen Diodati each drove in three runs for Canada. Canada used three big innings to score their crooked numbers.

Wie-Chieh Lo contributed three hits for Taiwan, driving in two runs and scoring once.

Australia 4 Japan 1

Brandan Bidois had his second strong start to allow Australia to pull off a mild upset of Japan and knock them out of any hope of a championship playoff appearance. In his last outing against China he allowed just one hit and two runs in six innings of work. Against Japan he allowed just a first inning run and three hits to shut down the Japanese bats for seven innings.

Australia erupted for four runs in the second inning to come away with the upset. Sota Asada could not retire any of the five hitters he faced in the second inning, giving up four hits and a walk. Another Japanese fielding error created an unearned run for Australia in the inning.

The loss by Japan vaulted Taiwan into the championship game against the United States. Korea and Australia will play in the bronze medal game. Japan has to settle for fifth place, one of their lowest finishes in youth international tournaments.

The championship appears to be down to two teams. The defending champs the United States and Taiwan. If one of those two teams loses tomorrow it would be a mess of a tie breaker, with Japan, Australia and Korea at 2-2. The only team myworld is aware of that is eliminated from the championship game is Canada.

Taiwan 12 Australia 0

An 8 run seventh ended this game early. Yu-Min Lin shut out Australia for six innings. Heng-Yu Ho led the offense with three RBIs. Shun-Ho Wang was a perfect 3 for 3 with three runs scored and a walk. Taiwan will play Canada on the last day of the Super Round. Canada has yet to win in the Super Round.

United States 10 Canada 0

The United States scored five first inning runs and ended the game after seven. Ben Hernandez pitched a complete game seven inning shutout. Robert Hassell drove in three runs and scored twice on a 2 for 3 day. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit two triples to score twice. The first three hitters in the United States lineup, Crow, Hassell and Aaron Vucovich scored twice each to account for six of the ten runs. The United States may have the toughest match when they play Korea.

Korea 5 Japan 4

A mild upset knocked Japan to 2-2. It was a 0-0 shutout after six. Japan struck first in the seventh on RBI singles from Toyo Kumada and Kei Mizukami. The eighth was a nightmare for Japan. After loading the bases with one out a ground out double play ended the threat. Then a two out error in the bottom frame allows two runs to score for Korea to tie the game.

It went to the 10th where a two run double by Ryusei Takeoka gave Japan another two run lead. Korea came back with three runs to win the game without the benefit of a hit. Another Japanese error led to Korea’s first run scoring on an attempted bunt. A bases loaded walk scored the second run and a sacrifice fly gave Korea the 5-4 win.

Korea did have the go ahead run thrown out at home in the bottom of the ninth.

A walk off high lighted the first day of the Super Round. There are now four teams tied for first place at 2-1. Canada is probably the only team eliminated from a championship opportunity.

United States 2 Australia 1

Two hit by pitches and a bunt single loaded the bases with no outs to set the stage for the walk off single by Drew Romo, a ground single up the middle off a drawn in infield. It negated another stellar start by the Aussie pitchers, six innings of one run ball by Liam McCallum. Maxwel Rajcic matched him with 7.2 innings of one run ball.

The United States scored their first and only run off McCallum in the sixth after a leadoff walk to Robert Hassell. He advanced to third on a ground out and fly out where he eventually scored on an RBI single by Nolan McLean. Colby Halter followed with a double but McLean was thrown out at home.

Australia broke through against Rajcic in the eighth. Jaylin Rae got on base with a hit by pitch after Rajcic had retired the first two hitters in the inning. Jason Savacool replaced Rajcic and Chris Burke greeted him with a double to score Rae to tie the game. Alejandro Rosario retired the last hitter in the eighth. In the ninth Rosario gave up two singles to the first two hitters he faced but a failed bunt attempt resulted in a force out at third. Rosario retired the final two hitters on fly outs.

Rae finished the day a perfect 2 for 2 with a triple. He leads the tournament in batting average at .579, almost 100 points ahead of his closest pursuer.

Taiwan 7 Korea 2

Po-Yu Chen pitched six innings of one run ball and Hao-Yu Lee was a perfect 3 for 3 with two RBIs and one run scored to lead the offense. He started a 3-run second with a single, scoring on a two run triple from Shun-Ho Wang. His two run single in the fifth extended the Taiwan lead to 5-1.

Ju-Hong Park hit a solo shot for Korea in the bottom of the ninth. For Park that was his second homerun to tie him for the tournament lead with three other players.

Japan 5 Canada 1

Keito Mori walked four times and slashed a single to score twice to lead Japan to a win. Yasunobu Okugawa pitched seven innings of two hit ball, giving up a solo shot to Owen Diodati in the fourth. For Diodati it was his second homerun of the tournament.

All five runs scored by Japan were unearned. They even had a bases loaded walk to score the last run. The only true RBI was a single by Yuya Nirasawa.

In one of the consolation games, China got their first win 6-0 over Spain. Shijie Xie threw 8 innings of shutout ball for China. BinBin Lu stroked a grand slam homerun to take the RBI lead for the tournament with 10.

They played the rainout games yesterday. After those games a couple of teams advancing to the Super Round were determined. Surprisingly, only one team goes into the Super Round undefeated, and that is Australia, who lost two games in Group A. Both those games were to teams that did not advance to the Super Round, so they did not have to carry their losses. Korea and Canada also advanced from Group A, but even though they finished first and second in the Group Australia bounced ahead of them in the Super Round because they beat them in pool play. Korea goes into the Super Round 1-1 and Canada 0-2.

From Group B the three 4-1 teams advance, Japan, United States and Taiwan. But because Japan beat the United States, Taiwan beat Japan and the United States beat Taiwan, each team goes into the Super Round 1-1.

Australia 7 Canada 6

This was the biggest win for Australia in the tournament. A loss would have meant elimination from the Super Round. This may have been the first game in which the Australian starting pitcher did not pitch well. William Sherriff pitched four shutout innings to start the game. In the fifth inning Elijha Hammill rocked him for a two run double and Micah McDowell blasted a two run homer to give Canada a 4-2 lead. Australia fought their way back on a 3-run double from Byron Armstrong in the top of the sixth to put them up by one. Both teams traded two spots in the eighth. In the ninth Australia had a runner thrown out at home after a base hit. In the bottom frame Canada put the tying run at third with two out but could not score.

Netherlands 10 China 6

Netherlands kept their hopes of a Super Round alive with their win. At 3-2 they finished in a three way tie for second with Canada and Australia. Only two of the three teams could advance and Netherlands lost in the tie breaker. Darryl Collins and Max Kops each drove in three runs for Netherlands.

United States 5 Panama 3

The United States had already clinched a spot in the Super Round and a loss would not carry over since Panama had already been eliminated. The United States scored early to take a 5-0 lead and then held on to claim the victory. Robert Hassell and Nolan Mclean each hit two run homers in the win. Colby Halter went 4 for 4 for the United States and was matched by Jose Ramos from Panama who also went 4 for 4.

Spain 16 South Africa 8

Spain played some competitive baseball, but had already been eliminated from appearing in the Super Round. That did not stop their bats from working. Frank Hernandez finished 6 for 6, driving in six runs to lead the Spanish offense. Leadoff hitter Jostin Castillo went 4 for 5, scoring four times and driving in three runs.

Final Standings for Pool Play

Group A

Korea 4-1, Canada 3-2, Australia 3-2, Netherlands 3-2, Nicaragua 2-3, China 0-5

Group B

Japan 4-1, Taiwan 4-1, United States 4-1, Spain 2-3, Panama 1-4, South Africa 0-5

Super Round Standings

Australia 2-0, Japan 1-1, Korea 1-1, United States 1-1, Taiwan 1-1, Canada 0-2

The weather cooperated a little to get all the games in. No real major surprises on this day.

Netherlands 4 Australia 3

The Netherlands put themselves in the race for the Super Round with the win over Australia putting both teams in a tie for third at 2-2. Solomon Maguire hit a big two run homerun for Australia in the bottom of the ninth to pull Australia to within one. Arij Franson came on to retire the last two hitters to pick up the save. The Netherlands got a big hit from Nathaniel Bentura in the fourth inning with his three run homerun to give the Netherlands an early 3-0 lead.

Except for the three run homer, Liam Evans pitched seven innings for Australia, striking out 10.

United States 8 Spain 3

The United States rallied for six runs in the seventh to overcome a 3-2 deficit. Milan Tolentino got the big hit in the inning with a two run single to close out the scoring. The United States scored two runs prior to that single with two bases loaded walks.

Korea 7 China 2

The hosts put themselves in first place in Group A with their win over China. Park Ju-hong slugged a two run homer in the sixth and Hyun Won-Hoe contributed a 2-run double in the second to lead the offense. Oh Won-seok pitched a perfect three innings, striking out five of the nine hitters he faced in the start.

Canada 9 Nicaragua 0

Jack Seward was a little wild, walking six in 5.2 innings. He gave up just four hits. Nicaragua could not cross home plate, but they did strand 12 runners on the day. Noah Hull hit a two run homer in the second and slashed an RBI single in the ninth.

Japan 5 Panama 1

The drizzle shortened this game to six innings. Junya Nisha pitched a six inning complete game, giving up just one unearned run. Takaya Ishikawa blasted a 3-run homer in the fifth to give Panama a large deficit they were unable to overcome. Panama drops to 1-3 in Group B and Japan improves to 4-1 to take over the top spot.

Taiwan 15 South Africa 0

Taiwan stays tied with Japan for first place in Group B, but head to head they are ahead of them. Chen Chih-Chieh pitched four innings of no hit ball. Lo Wie-Chieh blasted two triples with three runs scored and three RBIs to lead the offense in a shortened five inning game.

After 18 straight wins the four time defending champion United States suffers a loss. Japan took batting practice against the United States pitching staff, scoring 16 runs. Canada and Nicaragua also took their first losses leaving Japan as the only undefeated team in the tournament.

Japan 16 United States 7

The Japanese bats were ruthless, scoring 10 runs in the third and fourth innings to seal their victory. Down 11-1 the United States got to 11-7 going into the bottom of the seventh but that was as close as they got. The eight and nine hitters in the Japanese lineup, Haruki Yokoyama and Shoma Sakashita delivered seven RBIs between them. Yokoyama had an RBI walk and hit by pitch and sealed the win with a momentum breaking solo homerun in the bottom of the seventh. Sakashita drove in two runs in the fourth with a single and again two more runs in the eighth with a single. Toyo Kumada also drove in four runs.

Korea 8 Canada 5

Korea recovered from their 1-0 loss to Australia to give Canada their first loss. The first seven hitters in their lineup delivered hits in their six run explosion in the first. Canada could not recover after that. They did bring the tying run to the plate in Micah McDowell in the ninth inning but he grounded out to second to end the game.

Netherlands 4 Nicaragua 2

Nicaragua lost their first game to the winless Dutch team. The Netherlands received three RBIs from Darryl Collins. Darryl got the scoring started with a two run homer in the first. He also added a sacrifice fly in the two run fourth. Arij Fransen closed out the ninth inning to pick up the save.

Samuel Mendoza kept Nicaragua in the game with 4.2 innings of shutting out ball.

Australia 13 China 2

Australia took over first place in pool A with their rout of China. They got another solid pitching performance from their starters, this one from Brandan Bidois, who allowed just one hit in his six innings of work. Australia put the game away with a six run second inning. Byron Armstrong drove in three runs and Jaylin Rae crossed the plate three times to lead the offense.

Taiwan 5 Spain 4

Yu-Min Lin pitched 6.2 innings of one hit ball to lead Taiwan to their second win. Spain rallied for three runs in the eighth but they came up short. Yu Chien struck out the side in the ninth inning to secure the victory for Taiwan. Hao-Yu Lee led the offense with two doubles.

The games were more competitive yesterday but there were a couple upsets on the day. The big game will be on the third day when the United States plays Japan.

Australia 1 Korea 0

The hosts were stung by the second straight excellent pitching performance from the Australian starting pitchers. This time it was Lachlan Waite who shutout the Korean bats for six innings. Unlike the previous day, the Aussie bullpen was up to the task, finishing off the last three innings without allowing Korea to score. Korea had some fielding issues, committing four errors, one of those scoring in the fourth inning on a Solomon Maguire RBI single to account for the only run of the game.

Korean starting pitcher Heo Yun-Dong was almost unhittable, striking out 10 in his 5.2 innings of work, but he was hurt by one of the four Korean errors.

Spain 12 Panama 3

Spain looks tough. Their bats pounded Panama for seven runs in the first two innings and rode that to victory. Justin Castillo launched the first four bagger for the tournament, a two run homer in the sixth inning. He finished the day 3 for 5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Ruben Fernandez got the big hit with his three run double in the first inning. Fernandez drove in both runs against Japan the previous day when Spain almost pulled the upset. This was the first win for Spain and hit Panama with their first loss.

Japan 19 South Africa 0

Japan roughed up South Africa, scoring runs in all six innings. Sota Asada no hit South Africa for the first five innings, striking out eight. Yuki Hayashi completed the no hitter in the sixth and final inning of the game. Junya Nishi drove in eight with a three run homer in the fourth and a two run homer in the sixth. He also added a two run single in the fifth.

United States 8 Taiwan 1

The United States stayed undefeated, knocking Taiwan to their first loss. The United States scored five of their eight runs in their last two innings to put the finishing touches on the game. Tyler Soderstrom drove in three, his only hit of the game a big two run double in the eighth.

Canada 11 Netherlands 0

Canada scored all their runs in the two middle innings to retire the Dutch in seven. Connor O’Halloran threw six innings of shutout ball. Ryan Leitch and Owen Diodati each went deep for Canada and drove in two runs and scored twice. The Dutch pitchers walked 10 hitters in the game, contributing to the Canadians victory. Canada only needed five hits to score their 11 runs, two of those hits traveling over the fence.

Nicaragua 6 China 3

Nicaragua remained undefeated with their win over China. A four run second proved to be the difference in the game. Yeffry Montiel and Felipe Aguilar each contributed two run doubles in the inning to contribute to the win.

Shen-Gao Yang hit two doubles to account for two of the three runs for China, scoring twice.

Myworld has been a bit busy with two a days in volleyball so the blogging has taken a hit. But the 18 and under World Cup has completed two days. Below are the results from the first day. There were no homeruns hit the first day but a lot of close games.

Canada 17 China 3

T.J. Schofield went a perfect 4 for 4, driving in four runs and scoring two as Canada cruised in their opener. Austin Gomm also drove in four runs with a double and triple. China scored three runs in the fourth to pull to within 5-3 but Canada erupted for 12 runs in the next two innings to put the game away.

Taiwan 4 Panama 1

Panama proved pesky trailing by only one run until Taiwan scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to give themselves some breathing room. Tsai Chia-Yen scored twice and drove in a run in the eighth with a double. He scored the first run in the third after hitting a two out triple. Chen Po-Yu worked six innings and gave up just one run, that run scoring on a balk in the sixth. Yu Chien pitched two shutout innings to earn the save, striking out four.

Japan 4 Spain 2

Japan had to rally for four in the eighth to sneak out a victory over a tough team from Spain. Justin Luna had shutout the Japanese for the first seven innings, allowing just two hits. When Spain went to their bullpen Japan erupted for four runs. All the runs were unearned after a two out error extended the eighth inning. After the error Yuya Nirasawa drove in the first run with an RBI single. Takaya Ishikawa tied the game with a single and Jo Endo gave the Japanese the lead with his two run double. Shuto Iizuka worked the ninth to pick up the save.

Ruben Fernandez drove in both runs for Spain with a two run triple in the fourth.

Nicaragua 3 Australia 2

Yeffry Montiel broke a 1-1 tie with a two run single in the ninth. Chris Burke hit his second double of the game and scored after a wild pitch and ground out pulled Australia to one. Samuel Mendoza was able to retire the last two hitters on ground outs to secure the victory. William Sherriff pitched eight strong innings for Australia, allowing just the one run and striking out nine.

Both runs Nicaragua scored in the ninth were unearned after a two out error by Australia extended the inning.

United States 11 South Africa o

Kyle Harrison pitched 5.1 shutout innings to earn the victory. He gave up two hits and struck out nine. Leadoff hitter Robert Hassell scored four runs and drove in two. He went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a walk. Tyler Soderstrom drove in three. The United States scored in every inning but the fourth in a game shortened to seven innings by the slaughter rule.

Korea 5 Netherlands 4

It took 10 innings but the hosts were able to squeak past a stubborn Netherlands team. The Netherlands rallied for four runs in the eighth to tie the game. Despite putting a runner on first and second to start the 10th Netherlands could not score. Korea was able to get their run across after a single by Min Park loaded the bases and Ju-Hong Park drove him in with a SF.

Hyeong-jun So pitched six shutout innings for Korea. The Netherlands were able to score their four runs off the Korean bullpen. Ji-Chan Kim was 4 for 5 with two stolen bases and one run scored for Japan.

More teams get eliminated. Below is a summary of yesterday’s games.

Latin America (Venezuela) 8 Mexico 7

In a wild game Venezuela scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth courtesy of two errors and two hit by pitches. The only hit of the inning was a single by Luis Atencio that drove in the tying run. An error by the right fielder allowed the go ahead run to score. Jonathan Rangel finished Mexico off in order in the sixth to secure the victory. Rangel quieted Mexico’s bats after they scored six runs in the first two innings. Rangel limited them to just one run in his 4.1 innings of work, striking out eight. Davirik Fuenmayor scored the go ahead run but also drove in two runs with a homerun in the first.

Angel Castillo went 3 for 3 for Mexico but that was not enough to keep them in the tournament.

Caribbean (Curacao) 8 Canada 1

Curacao eliminated Canada from the tournament with a convincing victory. Four early runs in the first two innings and four late runs in the fifth were too much for Canada to overcome. Six different players drove in runs with Kevin Rosina pitching all six innings to get the win.

West Region (Hawaii) 6 Mid-Atlantic (New Jersey) 0

Hawaii knocked Elizabeth into the loser’s bracket. Hawaii scored all their runs in the first three innings. Jaren Pascual got the scoring started with a solo shot in the first inning and Nicholas Nashiwa closed out the scoring with a pinch hit three run double in the third. Two different Hawaiian pitchers, Logan Kuloloia and Isaac Imamura, shutout New Jersey through six innings.

Southwest (Louisiana) 10 Midwest (Minnesota) 0

Southwest scored five in the fourth to end the game via the slaughter rule. Connor Perrot drove in four runs and Reece Roussel was a perfect 3 for 3, scoring three times to lead the offense. Reece is hitting .700 for the tournament. Derek DeLatte also went 3 for 3 with a run scored and one RBI. Three different pitchers combined for the shutout.

Great Lakes (Kentucky) 4 Australia 1

In a crossover game between two teams eliminated from the tournament, both teams accomplished a first. Kentucky got their first win while Australia scored their first run of the tournament. Chaze Huff pitched a complete game while Jackson Idlett drove in two runs to lead the offense.