myworldofbaseball

The United States has finished higher than Japan in most of the tournaments the two play in. The main reason Japan is rated higher is they have played in more tournament, two November World Cup age tournaments that the United States chose not to participate in. The voting system tends to favor quantity of tournaments played rather than quality.

Below are the top ten countries in baseball. You can see the complete list at WBSC.org.

1) Japan - 5598
2) United States - 5414
3) Korea - 4908
4) Taiwan - 3747
5) Cuba - 3637
6) Mexico - 2957
7) Australia - 2634
8) Netherlands - 2374
9) Venezuela - 2286
10) Canada - 2142

Below is the Under 18 World Cup all tournament team. Myworld will include other players who were deserving of consideration based on their statistical performance.

Catcher - Dae-Hyun Cho (Korea) - .278, 1 HR, 11 runs scored, 8 RBIs with a .935 OPS

First Base - Leonardo Seminati (Italy) - .423, 2 HR, 7 RBI with 1.185 OPS

Second Base - Cesar Prieto (Cuba) - .581 ave with a 1.251 OPS

Third Base - Noah Naylor (Canada) - .313 average with .856 OPS

Shortstop - Brice Turang (United States) - .364, 7 runs scored with a .932 OPS

Outfield - Jin-Won Ye (Korea) - .355, 1 HR, 10 runs scored, 6 RBIs with a .992 OPS
Outfield - Alek Thomas (United States) - .361, 8 RBIs and six runs scored with 5 stolen bases
Outfield - Michael Siani (United States) - .333, 12 runs scored and 6 RBIs with 7 stolen bases and a .896 OPS

Starting Pitcher - Ethan Hankins (United States) - 1-0, 0.75 ERA, 27 K’s in 12 innings

Relief Pitcher - Fuminaru Taura (Japan) - 1-1, 1.32 ERA with 29 K’s in 13.2 innings

Others to Consider

United States

Triston Casas - .250, 3 homeruns and 13 RBIs with .993 OPS. Voted MVP of the tournament
Matthew Liberatore - 2-0, 0.00 ERA in 12 innings
Ryan Weathers - 2-0, 0.00 ERA in 9.2 innings
Brandon Dieter - 1-0, 0.00 ERA in 10 innings

Korea

Jun-Hwan Jang - .381, 2 HRs, 9 RBIs with 7 runs scored and a 1.234 OPS. 8 walks
Baek-Ho Kang - .375, 1 HR, 8 RBIs, 6 runs scored, 4 2Bs with a 1.100 OPS. Also 4 K’s in 2 innings. The Shohei Otani of Korea.
In-Hyok Yi - .300, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 6 runs scored with a .967 OPS
Been Gwak - 1-1, 2.51 with 18 K’s in 14.1 innings
Min Kim - 1-0, 0.77 in 11.2 innings

Japan

Kaito Kozono - .378 average
Hisanori Yasuda - .324 average, 4 2Bs with a .918 OPS
Ginji Miura - 2-0, 0.00 ERA with 19 K’s in 12 innings
Kento Kawabata - 0-2, 2.51 ERA with 25 K’s in 14.1 innings

Canada

Jason Willow - .333, 1 HR, 10 RBIs, 7 runs scored with a .928 OPS
Archer Brookman - .219, 2HR, 11 RBIs, 9 runs scored with a .866 OPS

Australia

Jack O’Loughlin - 2-0, 0.69 ERA with 15 K’s in 13 IP

Cuba

Roidal Martinez - .429 ave with a 1.026 OPS
Victor Mesa - .320 ave.

Taiwan

Han-Yu Tseng - .393 with .964 OPS
Tien-Hsin Kuo - .364 with .860 OPS

Netherlands

Dylan Koster - .364 with .845 OPS
Donny Breek - 1-1, 1.08 ERA, 18 K’s 16.2 innings, 151 opponent average

Italy

Michele Vassalotti - 1-0, 1.64 ERA with 15 K’s in 11 innings
Chih-Jung Liu - 1-1, 1.98 with 13 K’s in 13.2 IP
Yi-Sheng Chu - 1.29 ERA with 12 K’s in 7 IP

Nicaragua

Wandley Lagos - .424 ave, 4 stlen bases with a .899 OPS
Jeyner Flores - .393 ave, 2 HRs, 7 RBIs with 1.219 OPS

Mexico

Saul Martinez - .423 with a 1.041 OPS
Jose Gaona - .400 with a 1.070 OPS
Jorge Valdez - 1-0, 1.17 ERA with 10 K’s in 7.2 innings

South Africa

None

Korea got into the finals of the 18 and under World Cup championship relegating Japan to a bronze medal match. Korea will get a rematch with the United States, who they lost to earlier 2-0 in super round play. Japan will play Canada for the bronze medal match.

United States 9 Australia 0

The loss eliminated Australia from any medal competition but making the top six was an accomplishment. The United States had already clinched a gold medal appearance and had nothing to play for. Brandon Dieter pitched eight innings of three hit shut out ball for the United States to get the win. A five run third inning put this game away early. Five players in the United States lineup contributed two hits each with Nolan Gorman leading that bunch with two RBIs. Alek Thomas also drove in two runs with his one hit.

Korea 6 Japan 4

Korea knocked Japan down to the bronze medal game with their second win over the samurai team. Korea lit up Japanese ace Fumimaru Taura for five runs in the first two innings. Errors plagued both teams with three each, the sloppy play allowing three unearned runs to score for each team. Taura made a throwing error on a bunt in the first inning that ignited a three run rally for Korea.

Japan bounces back for three in the top of the second, aided by a Korean error. Taura, who came into the game striking out 27 hitters in just 12 innings gives up a single and two walks to load the bases in the second inning. After a strikeout he walks in a run and his day is done.

The bullpens do a good job after the early explosions. Kento Kawabata limits the Korean offense to just one run in his 6.2 innings of work. After giving up three in the second Min Kim survives until the sixth, when a single, two walks and a sacrifice fly ends the day for Kim. Jun-Young Ha bails Kim out of the sixth and strikes out seven of the nine hitters he faces. Young-Lun Kim pitches the final inning to earn the save.

Jun-Hwan Jang led the offense for Korea starting the game off with a single off Taura, igniting the three run first. He finished the game with two runs scored on two walks and a single in four at bats. Baek-Ho Kang drove in two runs for Korea. Shuto Sakurai collected three of the five Japanese hits.

Canada 4 Cuba 2

Cuba did not have anything to play for in this game, finishing the super round winless. Considering previous Cuban teams this was a major disappointment. Canada rallied for three runs in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie. Victor Cerny drove in two runs with a double. Jason Willow also had an RBI double in the inning.

Michael Stovman works eight innings for Canada to get the win. Jack Decooman works the ninth to earn the save. Victor Mesa, the rising Cuban star went 4 for 4 in the first game of the tournament, but then could only string together four hits in the final seven games. He did not draw a walk in the tournament.

It was a matchup between the only two teams who had yet to take a loss in the tournament. The United States knocked Korea off of that mountain and are now king of the hill. In two upsets Australia surprised Cuba and Canada knocked off Japan to send the crowd into a tizzy over who will face the United States in the championship. Korea does battle with Japan today and a win will clinch a rematch with the United States.

United States 2 Korea 0

As it has been throughout this tournament the United States pitchers carried the team. The Korean pitcher Be-En Gwak was not too bad either. Ethan Hankins was a mystery to Korea for his six innings of work. He gave up two hits and struck out 14 of the 22 hitters he faced. All those K’s impacted his pitch count and he was relieved by Ryan Weathers for 2.2 innings. Weathers gets into a little trouble in the 9th giving up a two out single and a walk to put two runners on. John Ginn gets the last out on a strikeout to preserve the shutout and give the United States pitchers 19 whiffs on the day.

Gwak did not have the high strikeout totals of Hankins but he had the United States hitters perplexed through the first seven innings. The score was 0-0 after seven when the United States struck first. It was Gwak himself who gifted the run when he made an error to put a runner on first. Jarred Kelenic singled Michael Siani to third and Anthony McNair was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. A wild pitch scores the first run.

The United States scores an insurance run in the ninth on a double by Nolan Gorman that drives Gwak from the game. A single by Brice Turang gives the United States a 2-0 lead, enough for the vaunted pitching staff to protect.

Australia 3 Cuba 0

Both teams banged out 12 hits. Cuba failed to get the clutch hit when they needed it, stranding 13 runners. Australia stranded 11 runners but they were able to get two big hits in the three run fourth that turned the ballgame. Jack O’Loughlin went seven innings, scattering nine hits, but not allowing a runner to cross the plate.

An RBI triple by Joshua Bedggood and a two run triple by Alex Hall in the fourth inning drive in all the runs Australia needs to escape with a victory. Cuba gets four hits in five at bats from Cesar Prieto, but they are all wasted.

Canada 6 Japan 4

Perhaps Japan was looking ahead to their game against Korea. Canada put them in the present, winning the game despite making 5 errors. Japan made two errors but it cost them the game in the 7th. Canada had just committed two big errors in the sixth to allow Japan to take a 4-3 lead. A one out error allowed Canada to put a runner on second. Archer Brookman drives him in with a single to tie the game at 4-4. A strikeout should have ended the inning but the ball gets past the catcher to put runners on first and third. A wild pitch gives Canada a 5-4 lead and a single by Victor Cerny extends the lead to 6-4.

Dondrae Bremner drove in two runs for Canada but also committed two errors at short. Harley Gollert pitches the last three innings of shutout ball to close out the victory for Canada. Japan gets a solo shot from Kotaro Kiyomiya, his second of the tournament.

For Japan to get into the finals they must beat Korea and hope the winless Cuban team downs Canada. If Canada wins it will throw second place into a three way tie if Japan beats Korea. If Korea wins they will play the United States in the championship. Australia needs to beat the United States to have any hope of getting into the bronze medal game with either Japan, Korea or Canada and hope for a couple upsets, i.e Cuba beating Canada and Japan beating Korea to put second place into a four way tie. Cuba has nothing left to play for.

Korea came into the super round undefeated so it was no surprise they beat Cuba. How easily they beat them was a surprise. While Korea needed just eight innings to dispose of Cuba it took 11 innings before Japan could slay the battling Aussies. The United States walked their way past Canada.

Korea 17 Cuba 7

The Korean bats are impressive. When Cuba rallied for three in the top of the third Korea struck back with nine in the bottom frame. Cho Dae-Hyun got the nine run inning started with a two run double and it was off to the races for Korea after that. A six run rally in the eighth by Korea ends the game an inning early.

Cho finished with three RBIs, but Choi Hyun-Jun was the top run producer with four. Kang Baek-Ho and Jang Jun-Hwan also drove in three runs. Of the 15 hits the Koreans collected only two were for extra bases, both doubles. The Cuban pitchers also issued seven walks.

On the Cuban side Michel Triana drove in three runs. Both Cesar Prieto and Roidal Martinez each banged out three hits. The Cubans almost out hit the Koreans with 13 of their own, but none of the four pitchers they trotted out to the mound had an answer to the Korean bats.

Japan 4 Australia 3

It wasn’t easy for Japan. Hisanori Yasuda, who had a critical hit in a two run first and drove in a run with a double in the fourth ended the game in the bottom of the 11th with a bases loaded RBI single. Tatsuya Shimizu got them to the 11th with four innings of shutout relief. Fumimaru Taura avoided disaster after his walk loaded the bases with one out in the top of the 11th. He struck out the next two hitters to leave Australia scoreless and give Japan an opportunity to win the game.

Kyota Fujiwara, Kaito Kozono and Yasuda, the first three hitters in the Japan lineup each collected three hits to combine for nine of the 12 Japanese hits. Kyota scored twice from the lead off spot.

The bottom two hitters, Joshua Bedggood and Jordan Barnett, drove in all three runs for Australia, with Barnett driving in runs in the fourth and sixth innings.

United States 8 Canada 3

The United States pitching staff finally gave up more than one run. Canada felt like they had an opportunity to score more than three runs. Two runners were thrown out at home in the second inning and they grounded into a bases loaded double play in the seventh. The United States used three straight walks issued by Eric Cerantola to begin the first to score the first two runs of the game. Triston Casas took charge with his bat to control the rest of the game, hitting a solo shot in the third and a three run double in the eighth to finish the game with five RBIs.

Canada out hit the United States 10 to 6 but their pitchers issued 9 free passes to gift the United States with more opportunities to put men on base.

The big game will be played today when the two undefeateds, the United States and Korea do battle.

The super round participants have been identified. The United States pool was easy to determine since the won loss record identified the United States, Japan and Cuba to advance. The Korean pool had a three way tie for second at 3-2 meaning one of Canada, Taiwan and Australia had to be eliminated. Korea advanced as the first place team.

The first tie breaker was head to head and each team finished 1-1 against each other. The second tie breaker was Team Quality Balance when playing against each other. The first criteria was the top ERA, the second was the best batting average and if you got to the last it was a coin flip. Taiwan got eliminated by having the worse ERA among the three teams when playing against each other. Overall Canada had the worst ERA (4.91), Taiwan was next (4.30) and Australia was on top (3.15), but it was different when the two teams competed against each other. The problem I have with ERA is a team can be rewarded with poor fielding when many of the runs they give up are unearned. The two game comparison is also a smaller sample size, even though you are comparing the teams when competing against each other and not how they are competing against the other teams.

The wins and losses from the first round carry over against the teams that advance to the first round. So the United States win over Cuba gives the United States one win and Cuba a loss. Their win over South Africa does not carry over. The standings beginning the super round are:

United States (2-0), Korea (2-0), Japan (1-1), Canada (1-1), Australia (0-2), Cuba (0-2)

Each team will play a game against the team from the other pool. The top two teams will play for the championship, while the third and fourth place teams will play for third place. Cuba and Australia will be a long shot to get to the championship round since they will have to win all their games and hope things play out where the other teams lose enough games to have multiple teams tied at 3-2.

The United States pitches three straight shutouts. They and Korea are the only undefeated teams in their pool, though Korea has weaker teams in their pool. Japan stays in it by providing Cuba with their first loss. Below are the summaries for days 3 and 4 of the 18 under World Cup.

Day 3

Japan 7 Cuba 2

Japan bounced back from their loss to the United States to tack on a loss to Cuba. Kaito Kozono carried the big stick with three hits that drove in two runs. He also scored twice. Hikaru Yamashita had trouble finding the strike zone walking six in just 5.1 innings. He survived long enough to get the win with Fumimaru Taura pitching 2.2 innings of shutout relief and striking out five in that outing.

United States 6 Mexico 0

Back to back shutouts for the United States. The game only went six innings with Matthew Liberatore going the distance, allowing just one hit and striking out 12 of the 20 hitters he faced. The United States was only capable of stringing together two hits, but three errors, 8 walks and four hitbatsman gave them enough scoring opportunities.

Korea 11 Canada 7

Don’t know where the strike zone was but it was a mystery to the Canadian pitchers, who walked 14 Koreans. Korean pitcher Been Gwak had no trouble with the strike zone, not walking a single batter in his six innings of work. The bottom of the Korean lineup proved most powerful, bashing three homeruns. Dae-Hyun Cho, Yi Jin-Won and Jang Jun-Hwan each found the bleachers from the 7, 8, and 9 spot in the lineup. The trio combined to drive in 9 of their 11 runs. Cho crossed the plate five times on a 2 for 2 day with three walks. He has scored at least one run in each of his three games.

Canada got a couple homeruns, one from Edouard Julien that drove in three runs and a solo shot from Michael Stovman. For the host Canadians it is their second loss in two games.

Australia 11 Nicaragua 6

The Aussies scored nine runs in the first two innings then hung on for victory. Rixon Wingrove got the damage started with a three run homer in the first. He finished the day with 4 RBIs. Alex Hall drove in two and scored three times on a 3 for 4 day with one walk.

Nicaragua got a couple homeruns from Jose Hurtado and Jeyner Sanchez, both solo shots. Nicaraguan pitchers helped the Aussie cause with 13 bases on balls.

Taiwan 9 Italy 1

The first two hitters in the Taiwan lineup, Hung-Yi Wang and Han-Yu Tseng, each scored three runs to combine for six of the 9 runs scored in the game. Wang went 1 for 3 from the lead off spot with two walks and Tseng went 2 for 4 with one walk. Chih-Jung Liu went 4 for 4 for the day with two runs driven in. The shortstop is now hitting .857 for the tournament with three walks.

Riccardo Bertossi went deep for Italy to account for their only run.

Netherlands 22 South Africa 3

A 14 run first ended this game in five innings, with all 14 runs being unearned. Jeandro Tromp went deep and drove in four runs. Tijmen Takke drove in five with his two doubles. The first seven hitters in the order scored two or more runs.

Day 4

United States 5 South Africa 0

The fact South Africa had this game go 9 innings was an accomplishment. The United States used four different pitchers to combine for the shutout, their third straight for the tournament. The pitching staff has only allowed one runner to cross the plate in their four games. Today the foursome combined for 14 whiffs with Landon Marceaux whiffing five of the six hitters he faced to finish the game. Mohamed Alaoui went the full nine innings for South Africa throwing 118 pitches. He was raised in one of the poorest areas of South Africa (Alexandra Township). Jarred Kelenic hit his second homerun of the tournament, a two run shot in the first inning to give the United States an early 2-0 lead. William Banfield closed the scoring with a solo shot in the ninth.

Australia 4 Taiwan 0

Australia jumped into second place after their shutout of Taiwan. Ky Hampton went all nine innings and though he gave up 11 hits he did not walk a batter (imagine that in what appears to be a walk infested tournament). Taiwan left 10 runners on base. Jacob Amos went deep with a solo shot and Nicholas Anderson-Vine crossed the plate twice to lead the Aussie offense.

Korea 12 Nicaragua 4

Korea continues to score runs in bunches without a lot of hits. They could only accumulate six hits but five walks, three Nicaraguan errors and three hit by pitches contributed to the offense. Korea also continued to get production from the bottom of their lineup with In-Hyok Yi and Jun-Hwan Jang each going deep from the 7th and 9th spots in the order. Yi drove in four runs and Jang has hit homeruns in back to back games.

Japan 3 Netherlands 1

The offense couldn’t click when facing the more advanced Japanese pitching staff, dropping from 22 runs to 1. Fumimaru Taura went four hitless innings in relief, striking out 9 of the 13 hitters he faced. In three relief appearances Taura has only given up two hits and struck out 19 in 9 innings of work.

Donny Breek also pitched well for the Netherlands, shutting out the Japanese bats for the first five innings and not allowing them a hit in the first four. The first two runs against Breek score on a errant pick off throw and a wild pitch. Breek went seven innings, allowing just the four hits and two runs.

Cuba 5 Mexico 1

Mexican pitcher Jorge Sosa walks the first four hitters he faces and is yanked from the game. They all account for a 4-0 lead for Cuba after one inning. Cuban pitcher Yorlian Rodriguez make the runs stand up with seven innings of one run ball allowing just five hits. Rafael Sanchez retires all six hitters he faces to secure the victory. Martin Rodriguez goes seven innings in relief for Mexico, allowing just one unearned run, but all the damage was done in the first.

Italy 5 Canada 3 7th inning

Oh Canada. They are currently in the seventh inning with Italy ripe for an upset. Myworld will give more details on that game for tomorrow, but another loss could eliminate them from advancing to the super round in a tournament they are hosting.

It seemed a bit early for a big matchup between the United States and Japan. The United States quieted the Japanese bats in a 4-0 shutout. Rains prevented the Canada/Nicaragua and Mexico/South Africa games from being played.

United States 4 Japan 0

A rain delay limited starter Landon Marceaux to one inning of shutout ball where he walked a batter and gave up one hit. Ryan Weathers, an appropriate name after a rain delay, proved up to the task working seven innings of shutout ball. He also walked one and gave up one hit, whiffing 8.

The Japanese started Kento Kawabata and chose to keep him in after the rain delay. He worked 5.2 innings striking out 15. His Achilles heel were the six walks he issued. Walks were not a problem in the top of the second when Jarred Kelenic doubled and Triston Casas buried a pitch over the left field fence. The ball travelled so high it must have tore a hole in the sky because the blast was followed by rainfall and a delay in the game.

Japan could not touch the Weathers while the United States scored two more runs against Kawabata, despite all their swings and misses. They score their third run in the fifth after a whiff/wild pitch allows Michael Siani to reach first. Siani is bunted to second and after another whiff and wild pitch scores Siani from second. Siani drives in the fourth run with a single in the sixth inning.

Cuba 3 Netherlands 0

Netherlands had a couple tough openers. After being routed by the United States 11-1 Cuban pitcher Osvaldo Cardenas blanked them for 6.1 innings. Rafael Sanchez completed the shutout pitching the last 2.2 innings and striking out five of the nine hitters he faced and giving up just one hit.

Cuba had some issues hitting Dutch knuckleball pitcher Luuk Ter Beek in the first four innings. A walk to Yuri Fernandez in the fifth followed by a triple by Roidel Martinez plates the first run. Roidel finishes the game 3 for 3 and drives in the second run with an RBI single in the seventh. The final run scored in the eighth on an error.

Victor Mesa, a player the scouts will be drooling on, made his first out in the tournament. He is now 6 for 7, hitting .857, though he made an error playing defense in centerfield in the second game.

Korea 8 Taiwan 2

Korea won their second game and knocked one of their Asian rivals into the losers bracket. Yang Chang-Seop threw blanks for the first seven innings, allowing just three hits. Korea exploded for five runs in the 9th to take a 8-0 lead. Taiwan scored their two runs in the bottom of the 9th after the game was out of reach.

Choi Hyun-Jun drives in three runs for Korea, one on a sacrifice fly in the third and two by slapping a two run single in the ninth. Han Dong-Hui blasts two doubles, his second double driving in two runs in the 9th. Kang Baek-Ho contributes one hit to the game, a big solo shot in the fourth that gave Korea a 2-0 lead. Choi Jun-Woo batted last in the lineup but that didn’t sway him, as he went 3 for 3 with a double and two runs scored.

Australia 14 Italy 1

After pulling off a big upset of Nicaragua the day before Italy gets blasted by Australia. For Australia it evened their record to 1-1. The game lasted just six innings. Australia romped for 8 runs in the 5th to put the game out of reach. Jacob Green allowed a run in the first inning but recovered, coasting to a six inning complete game victory, scattering six hits.

Australia took advantage of 8 walks and 11 hits to pile on the runs. Alex Hall was a perfect 2 for 2 with two walks, two runs scored, two RBIs and a triple. Jarryd Dale was the big RBI bat with three runs driven in. Nicholas Anderson-Vine scored three times on a 1 for 1 day with two walks and two stolen bases. The Aussies stole six times in the game.

The big game to watch today is Japan versus Cuba. Japan does not want to have two losses so early in the tournament. Canada will play Korea and needs a win against the 2-0 Korea to keep from falling 0-2. Canada was upset in the opener by Taiwan, a team Korea beat on the second day.

The first day of the 18 and under World Cup did not see any real upsets, though Taiwan did beat the host Canada team. The three favorites, the United States, Japan and Cuba romped through their competition.

Taiwan 7 Canada 6

The closest game from the first day. It went 10 innings and under the international rule teams put runners on first and second. Taiwan scored twice and Canada could only tally one. Su Wei-Cheh drove in the go ahead run in the top of the tenth with an RBI single. A second run scored on a ground out by Chui Tan. Canada loaded the bases with no out, scoring a run on a RBI single by Archer Brookman, but a ground out force out at home and two called third strikes ends Canada’s hopes for a win.

Walks were the name of the game with Canada’s pitchers walking 9 and the Taiwan hurlers walking 11. Kuo Tien-Hsin collected three hits to drive in two and Tseng Han-Yu drove in two with his one hit. Canada hit two homeruns, one by Clayton Keyes to drive in two in the opening frame. Keyes was one of the hitters who was caught looking in the tenth with the bases loaded. Archer Brookman hit a solo homerun in the fifth in addition to adding two RBI singles.

Japan 10 Mexico 1

Japan put the game away with a five run seventh. Taisei Inoue had the big hit in the inning with a 3-run homer. Kyota Fujiwara also drove in three runs from the leadoff spot. Soma Tokuyama went seven innings only allowing two hits and the one run.

Italy 4 Nicaragua 2

Italy rocked Nicaragua scoring all their runs in the sixth inning after two were out to claim victory. A critical error that should have been the third out opened the flood gates for Italy. Pitcher Noel Jarquin committed the error allowing the first Italian run to score. A Leonardo Seminati single tied the score and Riccardo Bertossi plated the game winner with a two run triple. Tommaso Battioni shut down the Mexican bats for the last three innings to secure the victory.

Korea 4 Australia 1

Korea was carried by the pitching of Seo Jun-Won, who worked seven innings, allowing just two hits and one unearned run. He struck out eight. Korea scores single runs in the first two frames, the first coming on an RBI double by Kim Jeong-Woo and the second run scoring on a Bae Ji-Hwan single in the second.

United States 11 Netherlands 1

The Netherlands had a brief 1-0 lead after scoring a run in the top of the first. That did not last long when the United States countered with a run of their own in the bottom half. By the second inning the lead was gone and after a five run fifth the game turned into a rout. Jarred Kelenic was a triple short of the cycle, driving in a run with a solo shot and scoring twice. Michael Siani drove in three runs from the leadoff spot, falling a round tripper short of the cycle. The United States team hit five doubles, two triples and one homerun in a barrage of power bats. Ethan Hankins dominated with his arm, allowing just one hit and striking out 13 in his six innings of work. Before the day was out Netherland batters had struck out 15 times.

Cuba 15 South Africa 2

This game lasted just seven innings. Cuba banged out 15 hits with Victor Mesa leading the charge with a 4 for 4 day, allowing him to score three times. Loidel Chapelli was a perfect 3 for 3 with two walks, crossing the plate four times and driving in three runs. Cuba used three different pitchers to cut through the game, but middle pitcher Ubert Mejias was the most impressive striking out five of the six hitters he faced.

Rain could create scheduling problems for the games today.

Japan defeated the United States team 10-0 in a tournament played in Taiwan named the Universiade. The United States team is not affiliated with the U.S. National team, or at least the players do not appear to be the same.

Japan erupted for six runs in the second inning to take an overwhelming lead. Masato Morishita went seven innings and allowed just two hits for Japan, striking out 11.

In the game for third place Korea defeated the Czech Republic 6-2. Yun Hee yeong pitched a complete game, striking out eight. He did allow two runs on seven hits.