myworldofbaseball

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.

The Little Leaguers got to see the Cubs beat the Pirates in a Sunday night baseball game. These games were winner bracket games, with the losing team dropping down to the loser’s bracket. Prior to the Pirate/Cub game the below games were played.

Asia (Korea) 4 Caribbean (Curacao) 0

Korea used the duo of Su-Ho Yang and Jin-Won Na to each work three innings of shutout ball, holding the Curacao team to just one hit. Combined the two struck out 12 batters in six innings of work, each striking out six. Yang walked two and Na gave up the lone hit. Na also hit leadoff and scored twice with a walk, single and hit by pitch. Korea put the game away in the fifth with three runs, taking advantage of two errors, two walks and a hit by pitch scoring their three runs with the benefit of just one hit. Curacao drops to the loser bracket.

Japan 5 Mexico 0

The Japanese pitchers threw their second shutout of the World Series, dropping Mexico into the loser’s bracket. Yuto Kakeba got the start and pitched 3.1 innings, striking out six. In his first appearance he pitched one inning of relief and struck out all three hitters he faced. Kakeba also came through with the bat whacking a solo homerun to lead off the second to give Japan their first run. He was the only position player with two hits. Japan put the game away with four runs in the third, taking advantage of Mexico’s only two errors in the game.

Southeast (Loudoun County, Virginia) 11 Midwest (Coon Rapids, Minnesota) 0

Virginia only needed three innings to score their 11 runs. Justin Lee pitched four innings of shutout ball and the game ended after Minnesota could not score in the fourth. Liam Thyen drove in five runs with just one hit. He doubled, walked and hit a sacrifice fly. Colton Hicks drove in three runs and scored twice. He also doubled. Maddy Freking, the first female player to play in the Little League World Series since Mo’ne Davis in 2014 went hitless in her lone at bat. She also got to pitch one inning and gave up three runs. She normally plays second base. For the tournament she is 0 for 2 with one strikeout, two errors and one inning of pitching, giving up three runs.

Day three of the Little League World Series were all loser’s bracket games. A loss eliminated a team from the bracket, though they will still get to play one more consolation game.

Latin America (Venezuela) 2 Australia 0

It is the second game Australia has been shut out. Randy Soto pitched a complete game three hitter striking out four. Australia also had a complete game from their pitcher Max Miotto. He gave up back to back doubles to Ibrahim Ruiz and Hendrik Maestre in the second to seal his fate. Moises Concho drove in an insurance run in the fifth with a single.

Canada (British Colombia) 10 Europe (Italy) 0

Italy also failed to score for their second straight game. The game was ended after four once Canada exploded for five runs in the top of the fourth. Matt Shirley drove in three runs with two doubles.

New England (Barrington, Rhode Island) 6 Great Lakes (Bowling Green Kentucky) 1

Barrington faced some controversy from the first game for allegedly stealing signs, even though they lost the game. This time Lucas Tanous led the Rhode Island team to victory with his bat, recording three hits, two of them doubles to drive in three runs. Owen Pfeffer went the full six innings to get the win. A four run fourth, highlighted by a Tanous double put the game out of reach.

Southwest (River Ridge, Louisiana) 3 Northwest (Salem, Oregon) 2

River Ridge eliminated Salem. Both teams scored all their runs in the third inning. Reece Rousel had the big hit for River Ridge with a two run double.

There were a full slate of games yesterday because of the cancelled games on Thursday. Below is a summary of the games, with the International games first.

Asia (Korea) 10 Latin America (Venezuela) 3

Korea overcame an early 2-1 Venezuelan lead to score three runs each in the third to fifth innings to pull away. Ji-Won Na was the big bat, driving in five runs with a three run homer in the fifth and a two run triple in the fourth. He also scored the go ahead run in the top of the third on a Min-Wook Park triple. Gib-Eom Jung got the last seven outs without giving up a run to pick up the win.

Japan 20 Europe (Italy) 0

Japan exploded for 14 in the fifth to put the game away after five. Yuto Misake and Yuta Kakeba each drove in five runs for Japan. Misake hit a grand slam homerun in the 14 run fifth. Taishi Kawaguchi had a 3 for 4 day with a solo homerun. Ritsu Nishikawa allowed the only two hits in his three innings of work. The three Japanese pitchers combined for 10 whiffs, with relievers Yuto Kakeba and Yuto Misake striking out all six hitters they faced in their one inning of work.

Mexico 5 Canada 0

Four Canadian errors allowed four unearned runs to score, but all Santiago Leija needed was the one earned run to beat Canada. Santiago worked all six innings, striking out 11 and allowing just two hits. Mexico also managed just two hits in the game, but five walks and four errors helped them with the win.

Southeast Region (Loudoun County, Virginia) 3 New England Region (Barrington, Rhode Island) 0

Three different Loudoun County pitchers no hit Barrington through six innings, striking out nine. Brady Yates had a two run homer in the three run fifth to give Loudoun County all the runs they required.

Midwest (Coon Rapids, Minnesota) 2 Great Lakes (Bowling Green, Kentucky) 1

Tyler Phillips had an RBI triple in the second and scored on a wild pitch with two outs to give Coon Rapids the win. Coon Rapids won despite committing four errors. Carson Timm got out of a two out two on situation in the fifth and retired Bowling Green in order in the sixth to secure the win.

West (Wailuku, Hawaii) 5 Southwest (River Ridge, Louisiana) 2

Hawaii erupted for four runs in the first and held on to get their opening day victory. Duke Aloy had a big two run single to finish off the four run first. Jaren Pascual went all six innings to get the win. Louisiana scattered nine hits off him but stranded 10 runners on base.

Mid Atlantic (Elizabeth, New Jersey) 6 Northwest (Salem, Oregon) 2

Elizabeth rallied for five runs in the top of the fifth to overcome a 2-1 deficit and bring home a victory. Jayden Capindica got the clutch two run single with the bases loaded to give Elizabeth a 3-2 lead.

Sri Lanka nipped Pakistan 5-4 to win the West Asia Baseball Cup. Both Sri Lanka and Pakistan qualify for the Asian Baseball Championships, which in the unlikely scenario either team could win that tournament would then qualify them for the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.

The final standings: 1) Sri Lanka, 2) Pakistan, 3) India, 4) Iran, 5) Bangladesh and 6) Nepal

Sri Lanka finished undefeated in the tournament.

Japan jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against Netherlands, fueled by an RBI single in the first from top hitter Ryuma Seki and a solo shot in the fourth from Masaya Higshimoto in the fourth. Both runs were scored against Netherlands veteran ace Rob Cordemans. The Netherlands came roaring back with 2-run double from Sharlon Schoop in the fifth and an RBI single from Schoop in the seventh.

The Netherlands shut down Japan after the fourth inning. Diegomar Markwell pitched three shutout innings to get credit for the win. Juan Carlos Sulbaran, Kevin Kelly and Tom Stuifbergen each retired two hitters to finish out the game, Stuifbergen getting credit for the save.

It is the first time the Netherlands has won the port tournament since 1999.

MVP of Torunament - Dwayne Kemp (Netherlands)
Best Hitter - Ryuma Seki (Japan) .560 batting average
Top Pitcher -Vance Ross (United States) 0.00 ERA, league leading 14 K’s
Top Power Hitter - Denzel Richardson (Netherlands) 2 homeruns
Top Rookie - Delano Selassa (Netherlands)
Most RBIs - Ryuma Seki (Japan) 11
Best On Base Man - Nick Dibenedetto (United States) .609 OBA, including 5 hit by pitch
Stolen Bases - Dwayne Kemp (Netherlands), Daisuke Ezake (Japan) 4

Japan, which finished in last place in the first round has turned the corner and won their next two games to qualify for the championship. They knocked out Taiwan, who finished in first place in the first round 8-1. Japan erupted for four runs in the first inning to take a commanding lead. Daiki Sekino pitched three innings of shutout ball to start the game then turned it over to four pitchers who held Taiwan to one run, that being scored in the ninth inning.

Ryuma Seki, Koki Kajiwara and Ryoma Nagashima each contributed three hits for Japan in the victory. Jho Ohkanda and Masaya Higashimoto each drove in two runs. Seki crossed the plate three times, coming a homerun shy of the cycle.

The United States got a bit of revenge in the game for fourth place, shutting out Curacao 6-0 in a six inning game. In their previous meeting Curacao had beaten the United States team 20-2. Ross Vance pitched a compete game two hitter, striking out eight and walking two. Darryl George led the offense, a double short of the cycle in a 3 for 3 day, driving in three runs and scoring twice.

As it stands now, Japan (3-3) and Netherlands (4-2) will battle for first. Taiwan (4-3) finished in third, the United States (3-3) fourth and Curacao (2-5) fifth.

The Netherlands holds two big tournaments played every other year. During the even numbered years you have the Honkball tournament played in Haarlem, Netherlands. Myworld was actually there a couple years ago to witness one tournament. During the summer months day time lingers a bit longer in the Netherlands so when a 7 PM ends at about 10 PM you are still walking back to your car or hotel in day light. The port tournament is held in Amsterdam during the odd numbered years.

Five teams competed in the Port tournament, Curacao, Japan, Netherlands, Taiwan and Team USA. The teams from Japan and Taiwan are composed of college level players or players who participate in the industrial leagues. The United States team is composed of minor league ball players, though the names of these players would not be familiar to many.

For the first round the final standings were 1) Taiwan 3-1, 2) Netherlands 2-2, 3) Curacao 2-2, 4) United States 2-2 and 5) Japan 1-3. The United States learned that being a minor leaguer holds no stock to how competitive you would be in this tournament, losing to Curacao 20-2. They committed six errors in the game that was halted after seven innings because of the slaughter rule.

Taiwan continued their dominance in the second round by defeating Curacao 7-6. The United States was again humiliated with a 13-3 loss to Netherlands. Lars Huijer got the win for the Netherlands by pitching five innings. In the Dutch League playing for Hoofddorp Pioniers he has been unhittable with a 0.80 ERA in 12 starts limiting the opposition to a .139 average. He has also whiffed 108 hitters in just 90 innings. The United States was able to tag Lars for six hits and three runs but their pitching let them down. Josh Collmenter got the start for the United States and was battered around for nine runs in just 2.1 innings. This was another game that was ended after seven innings because of the slaughter rule. The United States played and lost the two games that were ended early because of the slaughter rule.

In the second round Curacao will play Japan in a losers bracket game. The United States appears to have been sent down to the bracket to see who finishes fourth, which knocks them out of any championship hope. They will play the loser of the Curacao/Japan game. The winner of the Curacao/Japan game will advance to play the loser of the Taiwan/Netherlands game. The winner of that game will play the winner of the Tawain/Netherlands game for the championship. The only team that appears to have been eliminated from the championship game so far has been the United States.

Unipol Bologna downed L&D Amsterdam 8-0 to win the European Champions Cup. Bologna finished second in their pool but defeated two teams from the Netherlands to win the championship. They had beaten Curacao Neptunus 10-3 Friday to advance to the championship game.

Raoul Rivero was lights out in his 7.2 innings of work, striking out 14 and giving up just four hits. Alex Bassani retired the last four hitters to complete the shutout. Six different Bologna hitters contributed two hits, with Jonatan Polonius and Francesco Fuzzi each driving in two runs.

Curacao Neptunus finished in third place.

Uganda and Kenya both defeated Tanzania and advanced to the Africa Cup to be played in South Africa May 1-5. Burkina Faso and Nigeria were the first two countries to advance. The third Zonal playoffs will be played this weekend between the favorites South Africa, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. The winner of the Africa Cup (probably South Africa) will advance to Europe to attempt to qualify for the Olympics in 2020.

Kenya downed Tanzania 14-12. Uganda beat Tanzania 23-1. Uganda walloped four homeruns in the first inning in their win. They hit eight homeruns total, one an inside the park job. Kenya and Uganda play each other tomorrow for the seeding.