myworldofbaseball

It was not as easy as in previous years. Spain and Israel battled with Italy and Netherlands in the semi-finals, but the usual suspects prevailed.

Netherlands 1 Spain 0

Spain has some explosive bats but a trio of Dutch pitchers managed to deaden them. Diegomar Markwell went the first three innings, Tom De Blok worked five innings and Juan Carlos Sulbaran danced out of trouble in the ninth to shut down Spain and win 1-0. Netherlands scored the only run of the game in the eighth inning on a clutch Calten Daal two out single that scored Kaliam Sams, who had led the inning off with a single. Spain put two runners on in the top of the ninth, but Jesus Martinez grounded out to end the game.

Lowuin Sacramento had limited Netherlands to just two hits until the eighth. Sacramento slowed down Ademar Rifaela, who had hit 6 homeruns and drove in 16 runs in his last four games. Rifaela went 0 for 3.

Italy 7 Israel 6

Italy rallied for three runs in the eighth to pull out their victory over Israel. Chris Colabello slugged his fifth homerun of the tournament, a solo shot that pulled Italy to within one. Later in the inning Alberto Mineo gave Italy the lead with a two run homer. Israel put two runners on in the ninth but Alex Bassani, working his second inning was able to get the last out to earn the save.

Israel slugged three homeruns to account for all their runs. Daniel Valencia and Rob Paller each hit solo shots while Simon Rosenbaum hit a grand slam homer in the fourth to give Israel a 5-4 lead. Italy scored four runs in the third inning, benefiting from two Israeli errors that made three of those run unearned.

Below are the final pool standings. The big game on the final day of pool play was Netherlands sending Israel to their first loss in convincing fashion.

Pool A

1) Netherlands 4-1, 2) Israel 4-1, 3) Czech Republic 3-2, 4) Germany 2-3, 5) Great Britain 2-3, 6) Sweden 0-5

Pool B

1) Italy 5-0, 2) Spain 4-1, 3) France 3-2, 4) Belgium 2-3, 5) Austria 1-4, 6) Croatia 0-5

Netherlands 13 Israel 4

A six run seventh broke the game open. Ademar Rifaela continued to stay hot slugging a three run homer in the inning and finishing the game with five RBIs. He also mashed a two run homer in the fifth. That gives him five homeruns and 12 RBIs in his last two games. Hendrik Clementina and Kalian Sams also went deep with solo shots for the Netherlands. Daniel Valencia had a two run blast for Israel.

Italy 11 Belgium 4

Angelo Palumbo pitched five innings of two hit shut out ball and Chris Colabello slugged a three run homer to lead Italy to a win and a first place seed in the playoffs. John Andreoli got the scoring started with his solo homerun in the first. Alessandro Vaglio drove in three runs with a two run single in the fourth and an RBI single in the sixth. Beau Maggi drove in two runs, each with a double.

Spain 19 Austria 1

Spain scored a run in all six innings they batted. Jesus Ustariz started the scoring with a two run homer in the first inning. Javier Monzon finished the game with five RBIs, a two run double in the fifth and a three run homer in the sixth. Oscar Angulo scored four times on a perfect 3 for 3 day with one walk.

Great Britain 13 Sweden 7

Great Britain received 9 RBIs from the bottom of their lineup to trigger their win. Nateshon Thomas led the charge with three RBIs and two runs scored on a perfect 3 for 3 day. He also stole two bases.

France 23 Croatia 0

A 14 run second ended this game in six. Bastien Dagneau finished the game with six RBIs. Dagneau had two singles in the third inning that drove in three runs and blasted a 3-run tater in the third.

Netherlands 10 Great Britain 2

In a makeup game the Netherlands romped. Sharlon Schoop drove in three runs on three hits. Rifaela continued his RBI tear with two more. He and Chris Colabello share the RBI lead with 14, but Rifaela has driven in all 14 of his run in the last three games. Orlando Yntema tossed six innings of three hit shutout ball to net the win.

Czech Republic 10 Germany 6

The Czechs win put them in third place in pool A. Matej Hejma clubbed a three run homerun and drove in four to prove the difference in the game.

In a couple of play in playoff games between the bottom two teams in pool play Austria defeated Great Britain 6-1 and Croatia blasted Sweden 17-2.

Italy downed Spain to send them to their first loss. And there appears to be a new powerhouse in the European game, with Israel remaining undefeated after four games. The big test for Israel will be today when they play Netherlands.

Italy 13 Spain 3

This was the opportunity for Spain to show Europe that they could play with the big boys. The game was close until the bats for Italy came alive with 10 runs in the last three innings. Chris Colabello got the scoring started for Italy in the first with a two run homer. He would contribute three more RBIs with an RBI single in the 7th and a 2-run single in the 9th. Giuseppe Mazzanti blasted a 3-run homer in the 7th and added an RBI single in the third. Alberto Mineo added a three run homer in the six run ninth. Those three players combined to drive in 12 of the 13 runs scored by Italy.

Spain scored two in the sixth on a Aaron Galvan double to pull within one, 3-2, but that was as close as they would get.

Israel 7 Great Britain 4

Blake Gaillen broke a 3-3 tie with a two run homer in the seventh inning. He added another solo shot in the ninth for insurance. Zach Weiss came on in the ninth to close out the game.

Great Britain had jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on a 3-run homer from Ben Andrews in the first inning.

Netherlands 8 Germany 1

Lars Hujer kept the German bats quiet, limiting them to one run in 6.2 innings. He struck out 11, allowing just four hits. Ademar Rifaela had a pretty impressive hitting day, going deep three times to drive in 7 of the 8 Dutch runs. Sharlon Schoop drove in the first run for the Netherlands with an RBI single in the first. After that it was all Ademar, blasting a 2-run homer in the second, another 2-run homer in the fourth and finally finishing it off with a 3-run homer in the eighth.

France 12 Belgium 2

France stayed alive with a win over Belgium, both teams now sitting at 2-2. France battered the Belgium pitchers for 18 hits and three homeruns. Maxime Lefevre was a perfect 3 for 3 with two doubles and three runs scored. Maei Zan added a 2-run homer in the 4th, Andy Paz hit a 2-run homer in the 8th and Bastien Dagneau made it back to back with his solo shot in the 8th.

Marc-Andre Habeck went seven innings for France, giving up just one run and striking out nine.

Austria 12 Croatia 1

In a battle of the winless, Austria came out on top. An eight run sixth put the game out of reach. Alex Seidl pitched a complete game seven innings. Croatian pitchers walked nine batters. Samuel Hackl got the scoring started for Austria with a 3-run homer in the first. Dominik Talir closed out the scoring with a grand slam in the sixth.

Czech Republic 10 Sweden 3

The Czechs scored five in the first and it was over after that. Martin Cervenka drove in the first two runs with a single. Jan Tomek pitched six innings of one run ball. The Czechs are tied with Great Britain and Germany at 2-2 for third place in pool A.

Israel and Italy continue to roll. Great Britain bounces the Czech Republic for their second loss. Only Israel is undefeated in pool A while Spain and Italy have yet to lose in pool B.

Italy 10 Austria 1

Chris Colabello hit a grand slam homerun in the eighth to cinch the victory. Andrew Maggi and John Andreoli each went deep earlier in the game to lead the Italian offense. Austria could score only one unearned run off four Italy pitchers.

Great Britain 4 Czech Republic 3

Great Britain scored a run in the top of the tenth without benefit of a hit, the Czechs preferring to sacrifice a run while they turned a double play. Richard Brereton stuck out a critical hitter with runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the tenth to salvage the win. Martin Schneider whacked a three run homer in the seventh to account for all the Czech runs. Except for the three run homer, Alex Webb pitched well, striking out 12 in 6.2 innings of work.

Belgium 9 Croatia 6

Belgium kept Croatia winless, rallying for six runs in the eighth to pick up the win. Thomas de Wolf got the big hit in the inning with a grand slam homerun. He finished the game with 5 RBIs. Kenny Branden pitched the last two innings without allowing a run to pick up the victory.

Slobodan Gales drove in four runs for Croatia on a double and triple.

Netherlands 9 Sweden 0

Netherlands got their first win of the tournament. Donny Breek pitched six innings of shutout ball, striking out 10. Ex-major or minor leaguers Roger Bernadina, Curt Smith and Sharlon Schoop all went deep for Netherlands to account for 7 of the 9 runs. Schoop was a perfect 5 for 5 with three RBIs, falling a triple short of the cycle.

The Swede hitters could manage only two hits and they struck out 15 times.

Spain 6 France 3

Spain scored all their runs in the seventh to come up with the win. France committed six errors in the game, three in the nightmarish seventh inning that allowed four unearned runs to score. Leonel Cespedes pitched six shutout innings and France decided to go with their bullpen and Spain erupted for six.

Israel 4 Germany 2

It took ten innings but Israel escaped with a victory to remain undefeated in pool play. For the hosts it was their first loss. Israel got seven shutout innings from their bullpen, Dean Pelman pitching the last inning to secure the victory.

Israel scored two in the top of the tenth, two hitbatsmen benefiting the rally. Nick Rickles broke a 2-2 tie with an RBI single, a second run erased on a throw out at home. Benjamin Wanger drove in an insurance run with a SF. Germany wasted a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the tenth when Kevin Kotowski was thrown out at home on a Simon Guehring single. Don Lutz ended the game grounding into a double play.

A big upset on the second day with the up and coming Czech Republic upsetting the Netherlands. Italy also was almost taken down, needing extra innings to beat Croatia.

Czech Republic 8 Netherlands 6

It was the first game for Netherlands since their opener yesterday was suspended. The Czechs got a solo homerun from Orioles farmhand Martin Cervenka in the fourth inning to score their first run. Cervenka also drove in a run in the ninth with a double.

The Czechs appeared to put the game away in the fifth when they scored four, two Netherlands errors contributing to the scoring. Calten Daal brought the Netherlands back with a three run homerun in the bottom of the fifth. In the bottom of the ninth, down 8-5, Netherlands was able to load the bases with no outs. They could only score one run on a sacrifice fly.

For the Czechs it was their first win after losing to Israel in the opener.

Italy 2 Croatia 1

Pavao Karin quieted the Italian bats, limiting them to just one run in nine innings. That was a fifth inning solo homerun from Andrew Maggi. Murilo Brolo threw six innings for Italy, giving up just one unearned run. Matteo Bocchi followed with three innings of shutout relief.

In the tenth Croatia put runners on first and second but that did not matter to Alex Bassani, who struck out the side in his only inning of work. The first batter for Italy, facing the bullpen for the first time, John Andreoli, lined a walkoff single to right field to give Italy the 2-1 win.

Israel 4 Sweden 3

Israel may be tough this year, but they needed a two out rally in the bottom of the ninth to win this game. Israel scored their two runs on a wild pitch, and after an intentional walk to load the bases a walk off walk. The Swedes walked 11 in the game, Israel stranding 15 runners on base, leaving the bases loaded in the third and ninth and two runners on in the first, second, fifth and eighth.

Sweden got a solo homerun from Nicolas Filice in the fourth. Jeremy Wolf drove in two runs for Israel with an RBI single in the second and the walkoff walk in the ninth.

Spain 13 Belgium 5

Spain remained undefeated, slugging five homeruns in the victory. Engel Beltre, Jesus Ustariz, Aaron Galvan, Jesus Martinez and Daniel Martinez each went deep for Spain. Spain hit three homeruns in the first inning to jump out to a 4-0 lead.

Belgium hit two homeruns, one from Sam Boermans and the other from Thomas de Wolf to account for three of their five runs.

France 12 Austria 6

Frederic Hanvi hit a grand slam in the third and a three run shot in the sixth to drive in seven runs to lead France to an easy victory. All 12 of their runs were scored in those two innings. Andy Paz contributed a two run double in the sixth and Bastien Dagneau added a leadoff solo shot in the sixth.

Moritz Scheicher went 4 for 4 for Austria in the leadoff spot.

Germany 1 Great Britain 0

Michael Roth pitched well, but gave up a solo homerun to Marco Cordoso in the fifth. That was his only casualty in his eight innings of work. Sascha Koch pitched just as well throwing seven innings of four hit shutout ball. Sven Schueller pitched the last two innings to complete the shutout.

Great Britain’s greatest opportunity for scoring came in the sixth when they had runners on first and third with two out but could not capitalize.

The European Championships for baseball are now being played in two locations in Germany, Bonn and Solingen. The two teams that win are usually Italy and Netherlands. The Netherlands has won the last two championships. The last time a team other than Italy or the Netherlands won a championship was back in 1967 when Belgium won. The only other time Italy or the Netherlands did not win a championship was in 1955 when Spain won. In 2016 Spain pulled an upset by finishing in second, dropping Italy to third. That is probably the best hope for countries other than Italy or the Netherlands, to finish second.

Italy 16 France 2

Italy got off to a strong start with their rout of France. The Italians pounded out 21 hits with Sebastiano Pomo leading the charge with a 6 for 6 day, driving in five runs and scoring four times. Poma was a triple short of hitting for the cycle, blasting the second of back to back homers to lead off the fourth inning. Federico Celli started the inning off with a homerun and Italy was off to the races with a 3-0 lead. Ex-Cincinnati Red minor leaguer and NPB player Allessandro Maestri got the start for Italy, going four innings and giving up the two runs, one of those a solo shot by Andy Paz to lead off the fourth.

Ex-Twin Christopher Colabello is playing for Italy. He went 3 for 6 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Spain 3 Croatia 2

Spain scored two runs in the top of the 8th to take a 3-2 lead and hung on to earn the victory. Jesus Ustariz, Aaron Galvan and Jesus Martinez started off the inning with back to back to back doubles to score two. Ex-Astro and another NPB player Rhiner Cruz came on in the ninth and retired Croatia in order to earn the save. Jorge Balboa went seven innings to get the win for Spain. Marin Tadic also went seven innings for Croatia but took the loss after he gave up the three consecutive doubles in the eighth.

Leadoff hitter Kruno Gojkovic scored both runs for Croatia in the loss.

Israel 6 Czech Republic 1

Israel was led by Blake Gaillen, who went 4 for 4 with a solo homerun in the third, driving in two and scoring two and also falling a triple short of the cycle. The big hit was produced by Nick Rickles, whose double in the seventh was his only hit in the game, but it drove in three runs and broke a 1-1 tie.

Belgium 5 Austria 1

Axel Poesmans slugged a two run homerun in the second inning. It was all the runs Belgium needed to secure the victory. Cedric Desmedt worked seven shutout innings to get the win. Steven De Lannoy added a two run single in the eighth inning to add some insurance runs for Belgium.

Austria scored their lone run in the ninth on a Dominik Talir double. They loaded the bases in the inning, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Thomas De Wolf came on and struck out the only hitter he faced to clinch the win.

Germany 9 Sweden 1

The hosts scored early, and then late to blast Sweden. Pascal Amon blasted an RBI double in a three run first and a solo shot in the third to lead the German offense. Ex-major leaguer Donald Lutz drove in the first run for Germany with an RBI single in the first. He also added another RBI single in the eighth. Maximillian Boldt also contributed two RBIs for Germany. Samuel Steigert worked 5.2 innings of shutout relief to get the win.

Great Britain and the Netherlands was suspended. The Netherlands has Roger Bernadina on their roster if Nationals fans are wondering where he is at. Great Britain has South Carolina Gamecock star and ex-Angels pitcher Michael Roth on their roster.

It appears that with these Little League participants, on any given day one team can beat another. Yesterday it was Louisiana’s opportunity to shine. Egan Prather pitched a complete game two hitter in Louisiana’s 8-0 domination over Curacao. His teammates put the game away scoring six runs in the last two innings.

Marshall Louque was again the big bat for River Ridge. In the semi-final game he drove in his first four RBIs of the Series. Yesterday he drove in three runs with two doubles and a single. In the last two games he was 6 for 7 with four doubles, a triple and a single, driving in seven runs. Reece Roussel continued to assault pitchers with a 2 for 3 day, scoring three runs and driving in one. For the series he batted .739, scoring 10 runs and driving in 10 runs. He also hit two doubles yesterday to give him 7 for the Series.

Louque drove in the first run of the game with the first of his two doubles in the first inning. He drove in his second run with a double in the third inning. It was all Prather needed to win the game. When River Ridge exploded for four runs in the fifth the game was all but over. Russell and Louque each drove in runs in the inning.

It was the first Little League World Series win for the state of Louisiana.

The Little League World Series is down to a final four, two international teams and two teams from the United States.

Caribbean (Curacao) 5 Asia 3

Curacao scored four early runs in the first inning to knock out one Asian superpower in Korea. Next on the agenda is Japan. After Korea had scored a run in the top of the first on a Su-Ho Yang triple Curacao bit back. Three singles loaded the bases with two outs for Clay Winklaar. He came through in the clutch with a grand slam homerun to give Curacao a 4-1 lead. For Winklaar it was his first homerun of the tournament, but he now has 6 RBIs in his last two games.

When Korea came back with two in the top of the third, Curley Martha responded with a solo shot in the bottom frame. Curley was a perfect 2 for 2 with two runs scored. He is hitting .615 for the tournament. He also got the final five outs of the game, striking out all five batters he faced.

Southwest (River Ridge, Louisiana) 10 Southeast (Loudoun County, Virginia) 0

After scoring 9 runs in a loss yesterday to Hawaii, the bats of the Virginia team were silenced by Marshall Louque, who did not allow a hit in five innings of work, striking out eight. Louisiana erupted for seven in the fourth and after scoring two runs in the fifth the game was ended because of the slaughter rule. Marshall made quick work of Loudoun County in the first, making a statement by striking out the side.

Reece Roussel was the big bat for River Ridge, going 4 for 4 with three doubles and a big grand slam homerun in the seven run fourth to finish the game with five RBIs. Reece is hitting .765 for the World Series. The grand slam was his first homerun of the tournament and the three doubles were one more than he hit in his first four games.

River Ridge will now play Hawaii to represent the United States team in the championship.

Some big games yesterday. Below are the results.

Japan 7 Asia (Korea) 2

The two leadoff hitters for Japan Jo Nishizawa and Ryohei Ushikubo stirred the drink for the Japanese offense by getting on base and scoring twice. Daiki Koban, Yuto Kakeba and Taishi Kawaguchi each drove in two runs to spark the offense. Kakeba had the big hit in the bottom of the third with his two run double that broke a 2-2 tie. Yuto Misaki shut down the Korean offense for his 3.1 innings of work. Korea now goes down to the loser’s bracket to face Curacao.

West (Hawaii) 12 Southeast (Virginia) 9

It was a slugfest. Hawaii appeared to have the game in hand when they jumped out to a 8-2 lead but Virginia tied the game in the bottom of the third with a six run rally. Shiloh Gilliland broke a 8-8 tie in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single. He finished the game with a team high three RBIs. Jaren Pascual put the game away in the top of the fifth with a two run double. Colton Hicks finished the game with three RBIs for Virginia in a losing cause.

Southwest (Louisiana) 4 Mid-Atlantic (New Jersey) 1

Louisiana stayed alive with their win. They got five shutout innings from Egan Prather, who struck out 10 and allowed just one hit. All four runs scored by Louisiana were unearned allowing them to win the game despite getting just three hits. J.R. Rosado was a one man team for New Jersey, tossing all five innings and driving in the only run with a triple on a 2 for 3 day.

Today Korea plays Curacao and Virginia goes against Louisiana.

Myworld has been busy with volleyball tryouts so following the baseball season has been sparse. We have been keeping track of the Little League World Series as they wind down to the final United States team and the International team.

Caribbean (Curacao) 9 Latin America (Venezuela) 2

Both areas are hot beds for baseball. Curacao scored early with five runs in the first two innings then sealed the game with four runs in the sixth to eliminate Venezuela from the World Series. The top of the lineup Jurdrick Profar (3 runs) and Deshandro Tromp (2 runs) scored five and their middle of the lineup Nathan Castillo (3 RBIs), Shendrion Martinus (2 RBIs) and Clay Winklaar (2 RBIs) drove in seven.

Mid-Atlantic (New Jersey) 2 New England (Rhode Island) 0

A classic pitcher’s duel. The New Jersey team trotted out four different pitchers to shut down Rhode Island to just one hit. Rhode Island relied on Miles Fontaine for five shutout innings, but New Jersey was able to figure him out in the sixth. Leadoff hitter Sal Garcia led off the sixth with a double. J.R. Rosado advanced him to third with a single. Rosado took second on defensive indifference and a line out put runners on second and third with one out. A ground out second to first scored Garcia and after an errant throw by the first baseman to get Garcia at home failed Rosado also scored on the throw. Jaydin Capindica got the last out after Mason Crain hit a two out single to bring the tying run to the plate.

Northwest (Oregon) 4 Europe-Africa (Italy) 3

In a third game challenger between two teams that have already been eliminated from the tournament Oregon came away with the victory. In a three run third that proved the difference Oregon scored one run on an error and another on a passed ball. They also scored a run in the first on a wild pitch.

Today Korea and Japan will play to see who will have to go down to the loser’s bracket to play Curacao. On the United States side South Loudoun, Virginia will play Wailuku, Hawaii to determine who will drop to the loser’s bracket to battle the winner of the River Ridge, Louisiana and Elizabeth, New Jersey game.