Yoshinobu Suzuki, Vice President of Baseball Federation of Japan, elected into Executive Board of Japanese Olympic Committee

Tsunenori Takeda (63) was reelected as President of Japanese Olympic Committee for the 7th term. The new mandate will be a 2-year extension to his current mandate. The process took place at the Executive Board meeting in Tokyo, Japan June 29, 2011. Noriyuki Ichihara (69), Executive Director, newly joined two other Vice Presidents, Tomiaki Fukuda (69) and Masato Mizuno (68) were also re-elected. After more than a decade of absence at the executive level, the newly elected Executive Board has seen a representative of baseball, Yoshinobu Suzuki, elected. Currently he is also the Vice President of Baseball Federation of Japan.

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by Reuters, www.english.aljazeera.net

Success of ‘Million Dollar Arm’ duo at Pittsburgh Pirates minor league team has other hopefuls winding up for fame.

The arrival of Indian Premier League cricket has allowed Twenty20 cricket specialists to make fortunes on the field, but the chance of more glamour on the other side of the world is proving almost as tempting.

Young men all over India are flexing their muscles in the hope that a strong arm will carry them into a money-spinning career in baseball in the United States.

Despite the lack of a baseball tradition in cricket-crazy India, the dream is not an impossible one, as Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel proved in a tale that is being immortalised in a Walt Disney film.

Singh beat 35,000 rivals three years ago in a talent-hunt in India dubbed “The Million-Dollar Arm” (TMDA) and is tipped to break into Major League Baseball (MLB) after a spell with the minor-league Pittsburg Pirates.

Patel, second in the throwing contest, also earned a contract with the Pirates and, after a lucrative stint in the US which included a meeting with President Barack Obama, is back home looking for a coaching job.

Now, India is looking for someone to follow in their footsteps, with the second TMDA contest beginning in Bangalore last week and due to trawl 60 cities, towns and villages in search of potential baseball talent.

Rural potential

“India’s rural belt has unbelievable potential,” said Vivek Daglur, vice president of Turn On, TMDA’s official partner in India.

“So many are pursuing sports just to get a job in the army or the railways. Their dedication is unbelievable. Some I met could afford only one meal a day but still ran 20km just to be a marathon runner.

“TMDA is the perfect platform for anyone with that simple thing. You just need to have a strong arm, nothing else. There are tremendous possibilities that we would take you and sculpt a champion out of you.”

The last contest changed the lives of Singh, son of a truck driver, and Patel, whose father was unemployed.

Both were javelin throwers nursing Olympic dreams before they won the chance to leave their homes near the north Indian holy city of Varanasi and go to the States.

“I don’t know how to put it in words; I’m still living the dream,” the soft-spoken Patel told the Reuters news agency by telephone.

“I had not even seen a baseball before turning up for that talent show. Suddenly I found myself training in Los Angeles,” the 23-year-old added, briefly hesitating before abandoning broken English for fluent Hindi.

“One day, we went to Washington to meet President Barack Obama. You don’t get such opportunities. I did not say much, just met him, shook his hand and told him we are baseball players from India.

“He said something in English…we gave him a jersey with his name on the back.”

Patel said he was proud to have been a pioneer.

Read the complete story at www.english.aljazeera.net

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THE NETHERLANDS –  Cuba got some payback against Curacao with a 1-0 win on Wednesday avenging their loss from last Friday. In game 2 of the day, The Netherlands handed Taiwan its first loss of the tournament.

Cuba 1, Curacao 0

Dalier Honajosa allowed only a single hit in 7.1 innings while walking 1 to pick up the win. Cuba got its only run on a Yordanis Samon sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 7th. That’s all Cuba needed behind Honajosa’s pitching. Raydel Isabella pitched great as well but took the loss giving up 1 run on 8 hits in 8 innings of work.

Netherlands 4, Taiwan 2

Taiwan was dealt its first loss as they dropped Wednesday nights contest to the Dutch. The Netherlands jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 3rd with a run, then forged ahead by a score of 4-0 with 3 runs in the 4th inning. Michael Duursma and Shaldimar Daantji had RBI singles in the 4th to help the Dutch take down the surprising Taiwanese team. Diegomar Markwell went 6 innings allowing a run on 6 hits and 2 walks to pick up the victory. Wei Chung Wang was touched up for 4 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks in 3.1 innings taking the loss.

SCHEDULE/RESULTS:

Thursday, June 30:
14:00 Curacao – Germany
19:00 Taiwan – Cuba

World Port Tournament

Live Play by Play

Full schedule and more information available at www.worldporttournament.nl

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THE NETHERLANS – Taiwan’s bats went off on Tuesday bashing out 19 runs to whip Curacao and continue their unbeaten streak. Germany dropped another game in a rain shortened match with the host Dutch team and continue in search of its first win.

Taiwan 19, Curacao 1 (7)

The second match up for these two countries was even more lopsided than the first. Taiwan jumped out with 7 runs in the 1st inning and didn’t look back from there scoring 5 in the 2nd and 6 in the 3rd. Han Lin and Wei Thing Lin both hit home runs while Yu Kin Huang and Chih Pei Huang both drove in 4 runs apiece. Quincy Martina kept Curacao from being shutout with a solo home run in the 7th inning.

Germany 1, The Netherlands 6 (6)

The game was interrupted in the first inning for 2 hours because of rain. Then rain caused the game to be called midway through the 6th inning. Leon Boyd picked up the win going 5 innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits and a walk. Dwayne Kemp drove in a couple runs for the Dutch. Bjoern Schonlau drove in the lone run for the German squad with a RBI single in the 5th inning.

World Port Tournament

Live Play by Play

Full schedule and more information available at www.worldporttournament.nl

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By Bruce Baskin

Sandy Madera might be forgiven if he’s developing a complex. Since becoming one of the more dependable batters south of the border after debuting with Los Mochis of the Mexican Pacific League in 2009, the sweet-swinging Dominican has played baseball year-round in Mexico since then. However, for the second summer in a row, the ex-Red Sox farmhand has changed Mexican League teams in midseason. Last year, Madera was swapped from Saltillo to Yucatan for outfielder Willie Romero. This season, he was released outright by the Leones on June 10 despite hitting .320 with nine homers in Merida.

Now the 30-year-old Madera finds himself with the Monterrey Sultanes, who snapped him up as a free agent June 13 after losing sluggers Luis Alfonso Garcia and Karim Garcia to Asian teams within days of each other earlier in the month. While Madera won’t supply the home run threat either of the Garcias represented, he is expected to give Sultanes manager Che Reyes a higher batting average with gap power. So far, so good: In his first 11 games for Monterrey, Madera went 18-for-49 for a .367 average with two homers. The Sultanes will need that kind of production as they battle for a playoff slot.

Still, Madera must wonder if he needs to change his deodorant after being jettisoned by his summer team two straight years. On top of that, after leading the Mex Pac with a .413 average for Mochis in 2009-10 and still losing out in the MVP vote to Hermosillo’s Luis Alfonso Garcia, last winter Madera’s .362 average for the Caneros should have given him a second batting title, but the LMP gave it to Guasave’s Eduardo Arredondo (.401) although Arredondo lacked enough plate appearances to qualify after missing 25 of the Algodoneros’ 68 games. Maybe Sandy should ask which roll-on Eduardo uses.

Bruce Baskin is the Editor/Producer at the BASEBALL MEXICO website.

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GERMANY – The Dohren Wild Farmers plated seven late runs to dispose of the Berlin Sluggers 12-2 Saturday in a German League matchup between a pair of cellar-dwelling North Division squads.

Dohren (6-16), which trails the first-place Paderborn Untouchables by 14 games, was led by right-hander Jannis Wedemeyer (1-1) who picked up his first win of the year.

The Wild Farmers finished off the doubleheader sweep of Berlin (3-19) with a 7-1 victory as American hurler Garrett Rogers (5-5) turned in another solid outing.

GERMAN NORTH DIVISION

Marvin Moore is a freelance international baseball writer who coached in Europe for six years. He currently teaches baseball to Filipino Kids at the Future Stars Baseball School.

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BELGIUM – Five teams remain in the playoff hunt in the Belgium League with four games left on the slate in the regular season. The top four squads will advance to the postseason.

The Royal Greys (17-7) occupy the top spot and edged the Mortsel Stars 10-9 Saturday in the series opener of a two-game set. However, the Stars (9-17) salvaged a split with a 6-5 win the following day.

The second-place Borgerhout Squirrels (18-8) also settled for a split against the Hoboken Pioneers (15-11) this past weekend. The Squirrels took the first game on Saturday in convincing fashion, 11-4, before the reigning league champion evened the series with a 12-1 rout a day later.

The Namur Angels (16-10) tightened its grip on the third spot with a pair of wins, 11-1 and 16-3, against the Merchtem Cats.

The fifth-place Deurne Spartans (14-12), riding a four-game winning streak, picked up two one-run decisions over the Brasschaat Braves, 4-3 and 9-8, to keep their playoff hopes alive.

BELGIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE

Marvin Moore is a freelance international baseball writer who coached in Europe for six years. He currently teaches baseball to Filipino Kids at the Future Stars Baseball School.

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With summer baseball in full swing now, our Site of the Week comes to us from the home of the Midnight Sun Game, Alaska.

Covering the Alaska Baseball League, one of the premier summer collegiate leagues, is Jesse. A native Alaskan, Jesse has all you need and want to know about the ABL. There is an alumni database where you can see that Brooks Conrad played for the Panners in 1999 and 2000. He does scouting reports on players, watch lists, draft prospect lists, pro prospect lists, interviews, rankings, and so much more.

It’s a great site for getting to know about the ABL and you might learn a little bit about Alaska or baseball along the way.

So head on over to 49th State Hardball and check out what Jesse has been working on lately. You won’t be disappointed.

You can also follow 49th State Hardball on Twitter and Facebook. And don’t forget to add the site to your RSS reader.

Got a baseball blog you like to read? Send us an e-mail us or leave a comment below and we’ll check it out.

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Seven Team USA pitchers scattered just four hits in the loss

BOSTON – Seven pitchers limited the NECBL All-Stars to three runs and four hits, but the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team managed three hits of its own in a 3-2 loss Monday afternoon at Fenway Park.

Team USA scored a run in the seventh off three NECBL errors, but stranded a runner at third to end the inning. It was the club’s last true rally, and allowed the NECBL All-Stars to pull out the one-run victory.

Kevin Gausman (LSU) made his first start for Team USA and worked three innings, allowing two hits and a run with two strikeouts. He did not figure in the decision.

Gausman’s lone blemish on the day was a solo home run to Tom Murphy in the second inning, a towering shot over the Green Monster in left field.

Murphy’s home run gave the NECBL All-Stars a 1-0 lead, but Team USA matched that via a single off the bat of Dominic Ficociello (Arkansas) in the bottom half of the inning. It drove in Josh Elander (Texas Christian) who had doubled two batters earlier.

The NECBL All-Stars, however, took a 3-1 lead in the sixth when Joe Hudson and Brandon Miller posted consecutive run-scoring singles off Team USA (3-1) reliever Tom Windle (Minnesota).

Windle took the loss after allowing two hits and two runs.

Team USA had each of its relievers throw one inning apiece. Hoby Milner (Texas), Andrew Mitchell (Texas Christian), Corey Knebel (Texas), Mark Appel (Stanford) and Marcus Stroman (Duke) all threw scoreless innings. Milner and Knebel both made their Team USA debuts after arriving in New England on Saturday,

Ryan Harvey picked up the win after a scoreless inning of relief for the NECBL All-Stars.

Team USA continues its trek through New England Tuesday when the club visits the Newport Gulls at Cardines Field. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. Make sure and check usabaseball.com for a live stats link pre-game and a full box score and recap at the contest’s conclusion.

USA Notes: The game marked the first for Team USA at Fenway Park since 1995 when the 18U National Team participated in the IBAF World AAA/18U Junior Championships … Team USA defeated Australia, 5-4, and Chinese Taipei, 10-0, in those games … The Collegiate National Team served as the home club in Monday’s game against the NECBL All-Stars.

About USA Baseball
USA Baseball is the National Governing Body of amateur baseball in the United States and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).  The organization selects and trains the World Baseball Classic Team and World Cup Team (and all other USA Baseball Professional Teams); the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team; the USA Baseball 18U, 16U and 14U National Teams; and the USA Baseball Women’s National Team, all of which participate in various international competitions each year.  USA Baseball also presents the Golden Spikes Award annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country.  For more information, please visit www.USABaseball.com and www.GoldenSpikesAward.com.

Press Release USA Baseball

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THE NETHERLANDS – Day 5 of the 2011 World Port Tournament saw two teams play double headers due to rain canceling a game on Saturday. Taiwan continued to run through the competition with a pair of wins, while Cuba came back in the late innings to force extra innings against Germany.

Cuba 1, Taiwan 3

Taiwan remained unbeaten with the early morning win over Cuba. This was a makeup game from Saturday that got rained out. The 4-time defending champion, and 8-time winner, is not having a great tournament as this is already its 2nd loss. Cuba got on the board early in the top of the 1st with a run. The game stayed 1-0 until the top of the 5th when Taiwan would tie it. They would eventually go ahead to stay in the top of the 7th with a single run, and they added an insurance run in the top of the 9th. Han Lin led the Taiwan offense going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Kuan Ju Chen picked up the win going the distance allowing only 1 run on 2 hits and 1 walk.

Cuba 4, Germany 3 (10)

It was looking like Cuba would suffer a 2nd defeat on the day. After 6 innings, Germany led 2-0, but they couldn’t hold the lead. Cuba would fight back late in the game with a single run in the 7th, 8th, and 9th to tie it and send it to extra frames. Germany led 3-2 going into the bottom of the 9th and was 1 out away from its first victory of the tournament when Yoilan Cerce singled in the tying run. Cuba would get a single run in the 10th on an error by German shortstop Nils Hartkopf to earn the walk-off win and deny Germany of its first win. Yasel Puig led the way offensively for Cuba homering and driving in 2 runs.

Both starters pitched well but did not factor into the decision. Eugen Heilmann went 7+ innings allowing 2 runs on 8 hits and a walk for Germany. Misael Siverio pitched 5.2 innings for Cuba allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. Duniel Ibarra picked up the win in relief.

Curacao 1, Taiwan 7

Taiwan stayed undefeated with a 7-1 victory over Curacao. The game was scoreless until the 5th inning when Curacao would get on the board on an RBI double by Andley Simmons. They would hold the lead until the 7th inning when Taiwan would get 1 run to tie it up. Taiwan would put it away in the 8th and 9th with 3 runs in each inning. Chih Pei Huang and Han Lin both went 3-for-5 with an RBI to lead Taiwan offensively.

Both starters pitched well as Chun Lin Kuo went 6 innings allowing 1 run on 8 hits and a walk for Taiwan. Jonathan Balentina went 6.2 innings allowing only 1 run on 9 hits while striking out 7. Neither factored into the decision.

SCHEDULE/RESULTS:

Tuesday, June 28:
14:00 Taiwan – Curacao
19:00 Germany – Netherlands

World Port Tournament

Live Play by Play

Full schedule and more information available at www.worldporttournament.nl

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By Bruce Baskin

Not that the Mexico City Diablos Rojos are in a do-or-die situation, but the Northern Zone-leading Red Devils have headed into the final month of the Mexican League regular season by bringing in shortstop Luis Alfonso Cruz and pitcher Nerio Rodriguez to bulk up for the August playoffs.

Cruz, the former Brewers infielder who raised a few eyebrows last winter by calling former Milwaukee skipper Ken Macha “a bit of a racist,” was optioned from the Rangers’ AAA farm team in Round Rock (where he was hitting .279) to replace Jose Luis Sandoval at short. Sandoval played in five straight All-Star Games between 2006 and 2010, but turns 42 in August and is only hitting .230 this year. Cruz immediately paid dividends by homering twice in his first game June 25 against Puebla.

The Diablos have been shuffling the deck with their pitching staff as well. First, they brought back closer Francisco Butto as a free agent after the 2009 Caribbean Series MVP had been shipped in the offseason from Mexico City to Oaxaca, where he struggled (4-6/4.47/13 saves) before being let go by the Guerreros. Butto pitched three times for the Diablos, but was released to make room for veteran pitcher Nerio Rodriguez, who was cut by Monclova after going 3-5 with a 9.50 ERA for the Acereros this season. Mexico City is gambling that they can revive the fortunes of Rodriguez, a former MLBer who was the Liga’s Pitcher of the Year in both 2007 and 2008 and a four-time All-Star for Monclova.

Bruce Baskin is the Editor/Producer at the BASEBALL MEXICO website.

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THE NETHERLANDS – Cuba rebounded from a surprising defeat to Curacao to down the host Dutch team 4-1 in the first game of the day on Sunday. In game 2, Curacao continued its winning ways by sending Germany to its 3rd straight loss.

The Netherlands 1, Cuba 4

Cuba jumped out early scoring a run in the 1st and 2nd innings and never looked back. Yadier Pedroso shut down the Dutch bats going the distance allowing only 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 10. Leading 2-0 heading into the top of the 9th, Cuba extended its lead with RBI singles by Rusney Castillo and Yoilan Cerce. The Dutch team finally got to Pedroso in the 9th inning on an RBI single from Michael Duursma but that is all they would manage. Kevin Heijstek pitched well for The Netherlands going 6 innings allowing only 2 runs on 8 hits but took the loss.

Germany 1, Curacao 5

Germany continued its disappointing showing with a 5-1 loss to Curacao in game 2 on Sunday. Germany jumped out to the lead once again in the 3rd inning on a RBI single by Simon Guehring. That’s all the German squad could muster against Curacao pitching. Starter Duko Jansen went 7 innings allowing 1 run on 6 hits and 1 walk to earn the victory. Curacao came back in the 4th to tie the game at 1 and then took the lead in the 5th with 2 more runs. Jair Josepha drove in the run in the 4th with an RBI double.  Johannes Gregorius and Randolph Kirindongo had back to back run scoring singles in the 5th that put Curacao in the lead for good. Curacao would get 2 more runs in the 7th to put the game away.

SCHEDULE/RESULTS:

Monday, June 27:
10:00 Cuba – Taiwan
14:00 Cuba – Germany
19:00 Curacao – Taiwan

World Port Tournament

Live Play by Play

Full schedule and more information available at www.worldporttournament.nl

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The 119 national members federations, the global baseball community will need to play a strong role in baseball’s reinstatement ambitions

Lausanne, June 22, 2011

On the eve of Olympic Day, the President of the International Baseball Federation, Riccardo Fraccari, issued the following statement to baseball’s national federations:

“The International Baseball Federation is leading the campaign for the return of our sport onto the program of the 2020 Olympic Games.  The success of this campaign will need the support of the entire baseball community, especially the strong collaboration of the National Federations.  All of our efforts must be well-coordinated to maximize and amplify our message that our sport encourages Olympism and that our values are in line with the Olympic movement.

“It will be on On July 4th of this year that the IOC Executive Board will officially select a small number of sports to begin thoroughly evaluating for possible inclusion onto the 2020 Olympic Programme, and our institution remains optimistic about the initial hurdle. Further ahead at IOC Session in 2013 in Buenos Aires, the Programme will be finalized.  During this important period under evaluation, we must clearly demonstrate that the development of baseball would be greatly enhanced and impacted, if it were resubmitted onto the Programme.  Additionally, we need to refer to the benefits and growth of our sport due to the fact that it was an Olympic medal sport from 1992-2008.  At the same time, we must prove that baseball will add value to the Olympic Games—and not simply commercial value, but with ideals like inclusiveness, tradition, sportsmanship and excellence, to name a few.

“I can confirm that this is not just a campaign of the IBAF; this is a campaign that invites the entire baseball family to participate and become active by engaging the international sports community. But before we act on behalf of Baseball’s Olympic Reinstatement Campaign, I strongly suggest that all of our communications in its name share a common theme, which will help to give an image that our movement is serious, well-directed and well-coordinated. At this moment, ALL OF US can immediately implement the use of the official reinstatement logo on all official communications (newsletters, outgoing e-mails, letterheads, etc.), which will allow us to gain exposure quickly and with no impact on budget figures.

“In the future, we will be organizing press conferences and activities at strategic locations/events to further promote and strengthen the reinstatement campaign.  We will need to keep the entire community aware of these events to help publicize and become involved in them.  We started out with a successful campaign launch in Taipei that was well covered by the press.  We need to continue on this momentum together in order to accelerate this process and gain as much exposure as possible.

“With regard to digital media, the IOC closely watches the activity and checks the number of ‘followers’ of respective International Federations on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  Therefore, we also need to refer as many people to IBAF through these channels.  The IBAF office is preparing instructions for everybody in this regard, as well.

“Also for your awareness, a page dedicated to the reinstatement campaign is currently being constructed at ibaf.org.  This will be a point of reference for our movement and we will be able to link to this site. Upon completion, the IBAF office will forward everybody the exact address of the webpage.”

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THE NETHERLANDS – Only one game was played on Saturday due to the early match between Cuba and Taiwan getting rained out. They will make up the game early Monday morning. The game that did get played later in the day was a good one between the Dutch and Germany.

Netherlands 2, Germany 1

Germany jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning on a double by Florian Goetze. Unfortunately, that is all the Germans could muster against Dutch starter David Bergman. Bergman went 8 strong innings allowing the one run on six hits while striking out eight to earn the victory. Tim Henkenjohann pitched well for the German squad but took the loss going 6.2 innings allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on seven hits and six walks while striking out 9 along the way. Vince Rooi drove in a run for the Dutch team in the 7th inning to put them up for good. Arshwin Asjes came in and pitched a scoreless 9th to pick up the save.

The win runs the host teams record to 2-1 while Germany falls to 0-2.

SCHEDULE/RESULTS:

Sunday, June 26:
14:00 Netherlands – Cuba
19:00 Germany – Curacao

World Port Tournament

Live Play by Play

Full schedule and more information available at www.worldporttournament.nl

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Press Release Major League Baseball

Rosters for the 13th annual XM All-Star Futures Game were announced today by Major League Baseball. The XM All-Star Futures Game features many of the top Minor League prospects in baseball. The game will begin at 6:00 p.m. (ET)/3:00 p.m. (local) and can be viewed live on ESPN2, ESPN2 HD and MLB.TV. XM will provide satellite radio play-by-play coverage of the XM All-Star Futures Game on MLB Network Radio XM 89 in addition to its other comprehensive live coverage from Arizona. Taco Bell All-Star Sunday is the first of three days of All-Star events at Chase Field, culminating with the 82nd All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 12th.

Major League Baseball, in conjunction with the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau, MLB.com, Baseball America and the 30 Major League Clubs, selected the 25-man rosters for each club, the U.S. Team and the World Team. Each Major League organization is represented and the World Team features players from 12 different countries and territories outside the 50 United States. Players from all full-season Minor Leagues were eligible to participate.

The XM All-Star Futures Game will last nine innings, and in the event of a tie, a 10th inning will be played. The game will not go longer than 10 innings, regardless of the score. Players and coaches will be outfitted in special XM All-Star Futures Game jerseys and will wear caps of their Major League organization with an XM All-Star Futures Game logo embroidered on the side.

The Minor League Baseball Umpires who will work the XM All-Star Futures Game are Ben May (home plate) of the Eastern League, Will Little (first base) of the Southern League, Jimmy Volpi (second base) of the Texas League and Scott Mahoney (third base) of the Eastern League.

Seventy-nine players have competed in both the XM All-Star Futures Game and the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. In 2010, a record 38 Major League All-Stars were alumni of the XM All-Star Futures Game, surpassing the previous mark of 28 set in 2009. Seven players – Adam Dunn, Neftali Feliz, Jason Heyward, Francisco Liriano, Evan Longoria, Ben Sheets and Geovany Soto – appeared in the XM All-Star Futures Game and were named to the All-Star Game in the following season.

Tickets are still available for purchase for the XM All-Star Futures Game and Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game by visiting www.allstargame.com, calling            1-888-326-3378       or visiting the Diamondbacks box office at Chase Field.

The 82nd Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and Sportsnet HD and Le Reseau des Sports, and around the world by Major League Baseball International, with pregame ceremonies beginning at 8:00 p.m. (ET)/5:00 p.m. (local). ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the 2011 Midsummer Classic, while MLB Network, MLB.com and Sirius XM will provide additional All-Star Game coverage. Sirius XM will provide satellite radio play-by-play coverage of the XM All-Star Futures Game, ESPN Radio’s coverage of the State Farm Home Run Derby and the 82nd All-Star Game, plus live pregame and postgame talk programs from all three events.

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THE NETHERLANDS – The 2011 World Port Tournament continued on Friday with a pair of good games. The first game of the day saw a surprising upset as Curacao defeated 4-time defending champion Cuba. In game 2 of the day, Taiwan continued its winning ways with a win over host The Netherlands.

Curacao 6, Cuba 4

Curacao used a 2-run 7th inning to break a 4-4 tie and upset eight-time champion Cuba. Yasel Puig had just tied the game at 4 in the top half of the inning on an RBI single for Cuba. It was a back and forth affair as Curacao went up 2-0 in the early going. Cuba bounced back with 3 runs in the 5th to take a 3-2 lead only to see Curacao score twice more in the bottom of the 5th to take a 4-3 lead. Johnny Gregorius scored 3 runs for Curacao. Ruderly Manuel gave up 4 runs (1 earned) on 10 hits and  a walk in 6.2 innings for Curacao. Gregory Gustina picked up the win for Curacao in relief.

Dalier Hinojosa started for Cuba going 4.1 innings allowing 4 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks. Ismel Jimenez took the loss for Cuba. Alexander Guerrero led the way offensively driving in 2 runs for Cuba.

Taiwan 8, Netherlands 4

Taiwan continued its winning ways sending the host team The Netherlands off with a 8-4 loss. Taiwan got a run in the bottom of the 1st, but saw it quickly evaporate as the Dutch scored 4 in the top of the 2nd. Taiwan got a run in the 3rd and 4th innings to cut the lead to 4-3. They took the lead in the 6th with 2 more runs and put the game away in the 8th with 3 more. Yu Kin Huang had 3 RBI, while Kuan Wei Yang scored 3 runs for Taiwan. Dwayne Kemp drove in 2 runs for the Dutch with a double in the 2nd.

SCHEDULE/RESULTS:

Saturday, June 25:
14:00 Cuba – Taiwan
19:00 Netherlands – Germany
Sunday, June 26:
14:00 Netherlands – Cuba
19:00 Germany – Curacao

World Port Tournament

Live Play by Play

Full schedule and more information available at www.worldporttournament.nl

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By Bruce Baskin

Veteran designated hitter Carlos Sievers clobbered two homers and drove in five runs to pace the Quintana Roo Tigres to an 8-4 win over the Minatitlan Petroleros Thursday night in Mexican League action at Cancun’s Estadio Beto Avila.

Tigres second baseman Carlos Gastelum went 3-for-5 and scored twice while catcher Iker Franco whacked a solo homer to augment Sievers’ fireworks as Quintana Roo copped their fifth win in a row to lift their Liga-best record to 49-30, pushing the Tigres to a 5.5-game lead over second-place Veracruz in the Southern Zone standings despite having the lowest team batting average in the Liga at .277. QR’s team ERA of 4.30 is the LMB’s best, proving that pitching really does matter (especially when nobody else seems to have it).

Jose Ramirez (6-4) went seven innings and let in four runs for the win while the Petros’ Rafael Cruz (5-5) was rocked for five runs in the first (including homers by Sievers and Franco) before being mercifully yanked by interim manager Shamar Almeida with only one out on the board.

Almeida is the third manager in Minatitlan this season, replacing Francisco “Paquin” Estrada on May 21, a little over a month after Estrada took the reins from Victor Meza on April 19. Minatitlan dropped further into last place in the LMB South by falling to 33-47, including a 12-15 mark under Almeida (a native of Los Mochis).

Bruce Baskin is the Editor/Producer at the BASEBALL MEXICO website.

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OMAHA – The finals were set on Friday and it will be an all SEC final. In the first game on Friday, #2 Florida defeated #6 Vanderbilt for the 2nd time sending the Commodores home. Vandy led early and made a late charge but it wasn’t enough. Florida’s opponent in the championship round will be defending champion #4 South Carolina. The Gamecocks defeated #1 Virginia in an extra innings thriller.

#6 Vanderbilt 4, #2 Florida 6

The Florida Gators pounded out 13 hits and held off a late innings comeback to defeat Vanderbilt and earn a trip to the championship round. This is the Gator’s second trip to the finals after losing to Texas in the 2005 finals.

Vanderbilt jumped on top of Florida in the top of the first on an Aaron Westlake (2-for-5)  home run, his 18th of the season. Sonny Gray kept the Gators off the board until the 3rd when they would tie the game at 1. The All-American Gray would go 7 innings allowing 6 runs on 12 hits and 5 walks to take the loss.

Florida tied it up in the 3rd after Cody Dent (2-for-2, 2 runs) led off the inning with a triple. He would score on a ground out by Preston Tucker (1-for-5, 2 RBI). Florida would take the lead one inning later. With 1 out, Adams and Thompson both singled. After Dent walked to load the bases, Nolan Fontana (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) singled up the middle with 2 outs to bring in both Adams and Thompson

Florida would add one more run in the 6th to take a 4-1 lead, but Vady came storming back late in the game. In the 7th inning, Vandy made it 4-3 when with 2 outs Conner Harrell (1-for-3) singled to left field driving in a pair of runners. An inning later, Vandy would tie the game at 4 when Conrad Gregor (1-for-3) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The tie was short lived however. In the bottom of the 8th, Florida would take the lead for good. The Gators loaded the bases and once again Preston Tucker delivered with a single to left.  One batter later Dent would score on a wild pitch to make it 6-4.

Austin Maddox pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win for Florida. Starter Alex Panteliodis pitched well going 6 innings giving up 1 run on 3 hits but did not factor into the desicion.

#1 Virginia 2, #4 South Carolina 3

It took South Carolina 13 innings to fend off the Cavaliers and advance to its 5th championship (SC is 1-3 in title matches).

The game was close the entire way. Virginia jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd as Kenny Swab (2-for-3) grounded into a double play allowing Steven Proscia (0-for-4) to score from third. South Carolina was stifled for 3 innings by All-American Danny Hultzen, but he was pulled after the 3rd because he was sick having only given up 1 hit while striking out 8.

In the 4th, Carolina would jump on reliever Kyle Crocket. The Gamecocks loaded the bases on a double by Christian Walker (1-for-5), a single by Jackie Bradley Jr. (1-for-5), and a hit by pitch by Adrian Morales (0-for-5). Brady Thomas (2-for6, 2 RBI) then followed with a double to left center putting South Carolina on top 2-1.

The score stayed 2-1 until the top of the 8th when Virginia would tie it up with a John Hicks (1-for-5) reached on an error allowing Chris Taylor (0-for-7) to score an unearned run.

Both teams would threaten in extra frames, but each time the pitching came up big and hold the opposing team scoreless. That is until the bottom of the 13th. Brady Thomas led off with a single and was quickly pinch run for by Adam Matthews. After a throwing error by the pitcher on a sacrifice bunt attempt, Matthews advanced to 2nd. The next batter again tried to sacrifice Matthews to third but again Virginia reliever Cody Winiarski threw the ball away. This time he was trying to get Matthews out at 3rd and wound up throwing the ball down the left field line allowing Matthews to trot home with the game winning run.

The Gamecocks will defend their title against Florida starting Monday night in the best-of-3 Championship Series.

South Carolina won the season series with Florida in Gainsville 2-games-to-1.

2011 CWS Schedule

(All Times Central)

Saturday, June 18

Game 1:  No. 6 Vanderbilt 7,  No. 3 North Carolina 3

Game 2: No. 7 Texas 4 vs. No. 2 Florida 8

Sunday, June 19

Game 3: California vs. No. 1 Virginia – 1 p.m. ESPN

Game 4: Texas A&M vs. No. 4 South Carolina – 6 p.m. ESPN2

Monday, June 20

Game 5 – No. 3 North Carolina 3, No. 7 Texas 0

Game 6 – No. 2 Florida 3, No. 6 Vanderbilt 1

Tuesday, June 21

Game 7 – California 7, Texas A&M 3

Game 8 – No. 4 South Carolina 7, No. 1 Virginia 1

Wednesday, June 22

Game 9 – No. 3 North Carolina 1, No. 6 Vanderbilt 5

Thursday, June 23

Game 10 – California 1, No. 1 Virginia 8

Friday, June 24

Game 11 – No. 6 Vanderbilt 6,  No. 2 Florida 4

Game 12 – No. 1 Virginia 2,  No. 4 South Carolina 3

Sunday, June 26

No games scheduled

MEN’S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES FINALS

Monday, June 27

Game 1 – No. 2 Florida vs. No. 4 South Carolina – 7 p.m. (ESPN HD)

Tuesday, June 28

Game 2 – No. 2 Florida vs. No. 4 South Carolina – 7 p.m. (ESPN HD)

Wednesday, June 29

Game 3 – No. 2 Florida vs. No. 4 South Carolina – 7 p.m. (ESPN HD)

(if necessary)

For the NCAA’s interactive bracket click here

For more information on Omaha click here

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THE NETHERLANDS – The 2011 World Port Tournament got off to a great start on Thursday with a pair of games. In Game 1, Germany squared off with Taiwan and The Netherlands took on Curacao in Game 2.

Germany 3, Taiwan 5

After a 30 minute rain delay, Germany started off strong leading the game 3-1 after 2 innings, but Taiwan came back with 4 runs in the top of the 3rd inning. Germany would never recover. Taiwan reliever Chun Lin Kuo came in to shut down the German offense going 7 scoreless innings in relief striking out 10 and giving up only 3 hits picking up the win. Kuan Wei Yang led the offensive attack going 4-for-5 with 2 RBI. German starter Philipp Hoffschild took the loss tossing 5.2 innings giving up 5 runs on 9 hits.

Germany will next take on The Netherlands on Saturday while Taiwan will next face The Netherlands.

The Netherlands 6, Curacao 0

The Netherlands shut out Curacao in Game 2 of the 2011 World Port Tournament. Dutch starter Rob Cordemans pitched 7 shutout innings allowing only 3 hits and striking out 7 along the way to pick up the victory.

The Dutch got on the board in the 4th when Vince Rooi tripled in the first run of the game. They added one more in the 4th and then exploded for 4 runs in the 6th inning to put the game away. Shaldimar Daantji had the big hit in the 6th inning with a 2-run single. Jonathan Balentina picked up the loss giving up 2 runs in 3.1 innings on 4 hits and 4 walks.

The Netherlands will now take on Taiwan on Friday while Curacao will face Cuba.

SCHEDULE/RESULTS:

Friday, June 24th
Curacao vs. Cuba
Taiwan vs. The Netherlands

World Port Tournament

Live Play by Play

Full schedule and more information available at www.worldporttournament.nl

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OMAHA – With two SEC teams sitting pretty in the winner’s bracket of the College World Series, other teams are fighting to stay alive. In Wednesday’s action, #6 Vanderbilt rebounded from a their first CWS loss to knock #3 North Carolina out of the tournament. Thursday saw another team packing their bags as #1 Virginia sent California home. Virginia will now take on defending champion South Carolina again on Friday needing to win twice to advance to the finals.

#3 North Carolina 1, #6 Vanderbilt 5

Vanderbilt continued writing the story of its first ever trip to the CWS with another win against #3 North Carolina. With the win, Vanderbilt made sure there will be at least 1 SEC team in the championship. They will now face Florida again needing to win twice to advance to the championship round.

Vandy got a great start from Taylor Hill who went 7 innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 4. Corey Williams closed the door with 2 scoreless innings. North Carolina starter Greg Holt didn’t fare as well lasting only 2.2 innings giving up 5 runs on 4 hits.

Conner Harrell (2-for-3) had the big hit for Vandy with a 3-run blast in the bottom of the 2nd inning. That home run put Vandy up 4-0. They would add another run in the 3rd to go up 5-0. The pitching staff did the rest from there. Curt Casali (1-for-4)added his 7th home run of the year as well. DH Conrad Gregor pitched in with 2 hits as well scoring a run.

North Carolina only managed 4 hits against Vandy pitching. Jacob Stallings had two of them going 2-for-4 with 2 doubles. Ben Bunting drove in the only run for the Tar Heels with a bases loaded ground out in the 5th inning.

California 1, #1 Virginia 8

Top seeded Virginia pounded out 11 hits and 8 runs to send California back home empty handed. Virginia will now face South Carolina needing to win twice to advance to the championship round.

Virginia got a solid start out of Tyler Wilson who went 7.2 innings giving up only 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 5. Cal starter Dixon Anderson didn’t fare as well going only 3 innings giving up 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits to take the loss. Cal reliever Kevin Miller had an even worse outing going 2.2 innings but giving up 4 runs on 5 hits.

Every starter for Virginia had at least 1 hit in the game. Keith Werman led the way going 2-for-2 with 2 runs scored and a RBI. Kenny Swab was the only other Cavalier hitter with more than 1 hit going 2-for-5.

The Cavs face an uphill battle now needing to beat defending champion South Carolina twice to advance. They are the lone non-SEC team left in the tournament.

2011 CWS Schedule

(All Times Central)

Saturday, June 18

Game 1:  No. 6 Vanderbilt 7,  No. 3 North Carolina 3

Game 2: No. 7 Texas 4 vs. No. 2 Florida 8

Sunday, June 19

Game 3: California vs. No. 1 Virginia – 1 p.m. ESPN

Game 4: Texas A&M vs. No. 4 South Carolina – 6 p.m. ESPN2

Monday, June 20

Game 5 – No. 3 North Carolina 3, No. 7 Texas 0

Game 6 – No. 2 Florida 3, No. 6 Vanderbilt 1

Tuesday, June 21

Game 7 – California 7, Texas A&M 3

Game 8 – No. 4 South Carolina 7, No. 1 Virginia 1

Wednesday, June 22

Game 9 – No. 3 North Carolina 1, No. 6 Vanderbilt 5

Thursday, June 23

Game 10 – California 1, No. 1 Virginia 8

Friday, June 24

Game 11 – No. 6 Vanderbilt vs. No. 2 Florida – 1 p.m. (ESPN HD)

Game 12 – No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 4 South Carolina – 6 p.m. (ESPN HD)

Saturday, June 25

Game 13 – 1 p.m. (ESPN HD) or 6 p.m. (ESPN2 HD)  Game 13 will be necessary if the winner of Game 9 also wins Game 11.  If it is the only game scheduled for that day, the game will start at 6 p.m.

Game 14 – 6 p.m. (ESPN2 HD)                                   Game 14 will be necessary if the winner of Game 10 also wins Game 12.  If it is the only game scheduled for that day, the game will start at 6 p.m.

Sunday, June 26

No games scheduled

MEN’S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES FINALS

Monday, June 27

Game 1 – 7 p.m. (ESPN HD)                           Bracket One Winner vs. Bracket Two Winner

Tuesday, June 28

Game 2 – 7 p.m. (ESPN HD)                           Bracket One Winner vs. Bracket Two Winner

Wednesday, June 29

Game 3 – 7 p.m. (ESPN HD)                           Bracket One Winner vs. Bracket Two Winner

(if necessary)

For the NCAA’s interactive bracket click here

For more information on Omaha click here

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OMAHA – The two teams from Texas were the first to be sent packing. On Monday, North Carolina sent the Texas Longhorns home. Texas’ offense never really showed up, and its ace pitcher had a bad outing in their first game. Game two of the day saw the winner’s facing off with Florida taking down their SEC foe in Vanderbilt.

#7 Texas 0, #2 North Carolina 3

North Carolina didn’t need much offense as their starter Kent Emanuel completely shut down the Longhorn bats. Emanuel pitched a complete game shutout allowing only 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5.  Cole Green didn’t fare as well for the Longhorns. He lasted only 2 innings giving up 5 hits and 2 runs to take the loss.

While Texas didn’t pitch bad, they never hit. Johnathan Walsh was the only hitter with more than one hit going 2-for-3.

On the other side, Ben Bunting alone had as many hits as the entire Longhorns team going 4-for-5 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. Jacob Stallings chipped in with 1 hit and 2 RBIs.

#2 Florida 3, #6 Vanderbilt 1

In the winner’s bracket game, two SEC foes squared off with Florida coming out on top of the rain delayed game. Preston Tucker had the big hit for the Gators in the 4th inning with a 3-run home run. Tucker would add a double to his dinger to go 2-for-4 in the game. Tucker was the only Gator with more than 1 hit as they only totaled 5 for the game.

Anthony Gomez was the only hitter for Vandy with more than 1 hit going 2-for-4 with the lone Commodore RBI. Vandy starter Grayson Garvin pitched well but took the loss. He went 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 9.

Florida is now in the driver’s seat in Bracket 1. They are 1 win away from a trip to the finals.

Day 4

California 7, Texas A&M 3

Texas A&M continued the poor run for teams from Texas getting bounced from the tournament.  A&M jumped out on top in the bottom of the 4th inning when Adam Smith (1-for-4) hit his 7th home run of the season.

It didn’t take California long to respond. They came right back with 3 runs in the 5th inning. Derek Campbell (2-for-4) singled to center with runners at the corners to drive in 2 runs. Two batters later Tony Renda (2-for-3) would drive in Campbell with a sacrifice fly as the Bears got 3 unearned runs in the inning. Cal would come back with 3 runs again in the 6th inning to go up 6-1. A&M would mount a comeback and pull to within 6-3, but that is all the damage they could do.

Texas A&M starter Michael Wacha lasted 6.2 innings giving up 7 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits and 2 walks. Kyle Porter went 6 innings for Cal giving up 3 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk to pick up the win. Matt Flemer picked up the save pitching 3 scoreless innings.

Texas A&M is eliminated.

#4 South Carolina 7, #1 Virginia 1

South Carolina continues to play well in their defense of their title taking down #1 seed Virgina 7-1. South Carolina jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first and never looked back. After the first two batters recorded outs, Walker reached on an error. Immediately he was drove home by Jackie Bradley Jr. (2-for-5) who doubled. Adrian Morales (3-for-5, 2 runs) followed up with an RBI single advancing to 2nd on an error. The Gamecocks weren’t finished. The next batter Brady Thomas (3-for-4) doubled driving in Morales and giving the Gamecocks a 3-0 lead.

South Carolina would extend its lead to 6-0 with a run in the 3rd and 2 more in the 4th. Virginia finally got on the board in the bottom of the 4th with a run on John Hicks (1-for-4) 9th home run of the season. Chris Taylor (2-for-4) was the only Virginia batter with more than 1 hit.

Virginia will now take on California again with the loser heading home.

2011 CWS Schedule

(All Times Central)

Saturday, June 18

Game 1:  No. 6 Vanderbilt 7,  No. 3 North Carolina 3

Game 2: No. 7 Texas 4 vs. No. 2 Florida 8

Sunday, June 19

Game 3: California vs. No. 1 Virginia – 1 p.m. ESPN

Game 4: Texas A&M vs. No. 4 South Carolina – 6 p.m. ESPN2

Monday, June 20

Game 5 – No. 3 North Carolina 3, No. 7 Texas 0

Game 6 – No. 2 Florida 3, No. 6 Vanderbilt 1

Tuesday, June 21

Game 7 – California 7, Texas A&M 3

Game 8 – No. 4 South Carolina 7, No. 1 Virginia 1

Wednesday, June 22

Game 9 – No. 3 North Carolina vs. No. 6 Vanderbilt – 6 p.m. (ESPN2 HD)

Thursday, June 23

Game 10 – California vs. No. 1 Virginia – 6 p.m. (ESPN2 HD)

Friday, June 24

Game 11 – 1 p.m. (ESPN HD)                         Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 6

Game 12 – 6 p.m. (ESPN HD)                         Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 8

Saturday, June 25

Game 13 – 1 p.m. (ESPN HD) or 6 p.m. (ESPN2 HD)  Game 13 will be necessary if the winner of Game 9 also wins Game 11.  If it is the only game scheduled for that day, the game will start at 6 p.m.

Game 14 – 6 p.m. (ESPN2 HD)                                   Game 14 will be necessary if the winner of Game 10 also wins Game 12.  If it is the only game scheduled for that day, the game will start at 6 p.m.

Sunday, June 26

No games scheduled

MEN’S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES FINALS

Monday, June 27

Game 1 – 7 p.m. (ESPN HD)                           Bracket One Winner vs. Bracket Two Winner

Tuesday, June 28

Game 2 – 7 p.m. (ESPN HD)                           Bracket One Winner vs. Bracket Two Winner

Wednesday, June 29

Game 3 – 7 p.m. (ESPN HD)                           Bracket One Winner vs. Bracket Two Winner

(if necessary)

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ITALY – Both Italian Baseball League frontrunners tallied three-game sweeps last weekend, while reigning IBL champion Cariparma Parma (16-11) took the rubber match against Telemarket Rimini (15-12) to move into sole possession of third place.

Unipol Bologna (21-6) extended its winning streak to four games with a three-game sweep over Novara United (2-25), while T&A San Marino (21-6) cooled off Montepaschi Grosseto (13-14) with a trio of losses.

Danesi Nettuno (15-12) also has won four games in a row after sweeping the North East Knights (5-22).

ITALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE

Marvin Moore is a freelance writer at i-baseballcontent.com

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SPAIN – FC Barcelona continued its march towards the Spanish baseball crown with a pair of tension-filled road wins over second-place Sant Boi last weekend in the Spanish League.

Barca (26-2) survived a furious six-run rally by Sant Boi (20-8) in the ninth on Saturday to escape with a 11-10 victory, and completed the two-game sweep over the reigning league champion the following day with a 9-5 win.

The frontrunner, which has won 17 straight games and learned recently that the soccer giant was eliminating baseball from the club budget, leads the Tenerife Marlins by five games with eight games left in one of the few circuits in Europe without a playoff format.

The Marlins (21-7) won a pair of tough battles, 4-0 and 3-2, against the Valencia Astros to move into second-place. Tenerife will meet Barcelona this weekend in a pair of must-win contests.

Baseball Navarra (10-18) knocked off a much-improved Viladecans squad 6-5 after dropping the first game, 11-9. Viladecans (16-12) has made great strides this season and is in prime position to challenge for a title next year with an added bat and a couple of arms.

San Inazio Bilbao (13-15) extended the Sevilla Red Sox (1-27) losing streak to 14 games with a pair of lopsided wins, 20-0 and 18-0.

SPANISH BASEBALL LEAGUE

Marvin Moore is a freelance writer at i-baseballcontent.com

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GERMANY – The Buchbinder Legionaere travelled to Mainz last weekend and escaped with a pair of tough South Division road victories against the Athletics in the German Baseball League. With the wins, the reigning league champion improved its record to 15-3.

Skipper Martin Helmig’s squad opened the two-game set with an 8-6 win Friday under the lights. The following day, the Regensburg club earned a 5-3 decision over the A’s (10-8).

In other South Division action, both the Heidenheim Heidekoepfe and the Haar Disciples recorded twinbill sweeps. Heidenheim (9-5) picked up two not-so-easy victories (5-2 and 12-11) over the Gauting Indians (2-12), while Haar (9-7) rolled to impressive 9-4 and 13-8 wins over the Mannheim Tornados (8-8).

GERMAN SOUTH DIVISION

NORTH DIVISION:

The Paderborn Untouchables (19-1), winners of five straight games, continue to pace the North Division with two wins over the Berlin Sluggers (3-17) last Saturday, 18-1 and 11-0.

The Solingen Alligators (13-5) pulled out a pair of wins, 4-3 and 8-3, against the upset-minded Dohren Wild Farmers (4-16), while the Bonn Capitals (13-5) kept pace with 3-0 and 13-5 wins over the HSV Stealers (9-9).

The last matchup on the slate had the Dortmund Wanderers (8-10) earning 19-1 and 11-5 blowout victories against the Pulheim Gophers (7-13).

GERMAN NORTH DIVISION

Marvin Moore is a freelance writer at i-baseballcontent.com

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