PANAMA – The USA continued its winning ways with a 7-3 victory over Japan on Wednesday night in front of a crowd of 2,500.

U.S.A…………… 020 021 110 – 7 14 0

JAPAN…………… 000 210 000 – 3 7 0

The USA jumped out on top 2-0 after 2 innings and stayed in control of the game the rest of the way. James Gosewisch (2-for-4) got the Americans on the board in the 2nd with a 2-out 2-run double.

Japan came back to tie the game in the 4th on a sacrifice fly by Toshiyuki Hayashi (1-for-3) and a Yuichi Tabata (0-for-4) ground out, but it didn’t take long for the US to regain the lead.

In the 5th, the USA went up by 2 again. Jordy Mercer began the rally with a 1-out walk. Jackson followed him with a single through the right side to put runners on the corners. After Andrew Garcia (1-for-4) walked to load the bases, Joe Thurston (1-for-4) came up big with a 2-run single through the right side to put the USA up 4-2. They would leave the bases loaded but would never relinquish the lead again.

Jeffrey Marquez pitched 6 good innings allowing 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 2 to pick up the win. The USA bullpen shut down the Japanese bats the rest of the way. Justin Cassell, Peter Andrelczyk, and Scott Patterson all came into pitch a scoreless inning to push the American record to 2-1 for the World Cup.

On the other side of the ball, Jackson went 2-for-4 from the lead off spot for the Americans scoring a run. Jordan Danks and Jordy Mercer both went 2-for-4 scoring a pair of runs and driving in 1.

The USA will turn around and play Greece at 2pm on Thursday afternoon.

Japan will play Panama at 7:30 on Thursday to try and figure out a way to get their first victory of the World Cup.

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PANAMA – Canada continued to roll with a 12-2 route of Greece. The Dominican Republic rolled as well with a 13-2 victory over Germany on Day 4 of the 2011 Baseball World Cup. Four teams remain undefeated with Canada, The Netherlands, Panama, and Cuba all improving to 3-0.

Greece 2, Canada 12
Germany 2, Dominican Republic 13
Japan 2, Netherlands 5
Italy 6, Nicaragua 3
Panama 4, Puerto Rico 2
Chinese Taipei 1, USA 15
South Korea 8, Australia 0
Cuba 14, Venezuela 2

Only 1 games is slated for Wednesday as the USA and Japan will play a make up game after their match was rained out on Sunday.

Everyone is back in the swing of things on Thursday with a few good games including Venezuela taking on the Dominican Republic and Germany/Italy squaring off. South Korea will also try to hand Cuba its first loss of the tournament.

2011 Baseball World Cup Schedule:

Wednesday 5pm Japan vs USA

Thursday 2pm Netherlands vs Puerto Rico
Thursday 2pm USA vs Greece
Thursday 2pm Nicaragua vs Australia
Thursday 2pm Venezuela vs Dominican Republic
Thursday 7:30pm Japan vs Panama
Thursday 7:30pm Canada vs Chinese Taipei
Thursday 7:30pm Italy vs Germany
Thursday 7:30pm Cuba vs South Korea

2011 Baseball World Cup Standings:
Group 1:
1. Canada 3-0
2. Netherlands 3-0
3. Panama 3-0
4. Puerto Rico 1-2
5. USA 1-1
6. Chinese Taipei 0-3
7. Greece 0-3
8. Japan 0-2

Group 2:
1. Cuba 3-0
2. Venezuela 2-1
3. South Korea 2-1
4. Italy 2-1
5. Dominican Republic 2-1
6. Nicaragua 1-2
7. Australia 0-3
8. Germany 0-3

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PANAMA – The USA bounced back after a disappointed 10 inning defeat to Puerto Rico to down Chinese Taipei 15-1 in a 7 inning match on Tuesday in front of  a crowd of 1700.

U.S.A………………… 001 724 1 – 15 12 0 (1-1)
CHINESE TAIPEI…… 001 000 0 – 1 6 3 (0-3)

The game was close for 3 innings with the score tied at 1, then the USA blew the game open with a 7 run 4th inning. Tacking on 6 more runs over the 5th and 6th really put the game out of reach. The USA used the long ball hitting 4 in the game off of Chinese Taipei pitching.

Matt Clark and Jordy Mercer were both 3-for-3 with 3 RBI, 3 runs scored, and a home run. Thomas Mendonca chipped in 2 RBI and a round tripper, while Allen Pollack drove in 3 as well with a home run.

Andy Van Hekken went 6 innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits to pick up the win. Kuan Ju Chen didn’t fair as well going only 3.2 innings giving up 5 runs to take the loss.

The win pushes the US record to 1-1 while dropping the Chinese Taipei to 0-3.

Next up for the USA is Japan on Wednesday to make up for the rained out game on Sunday.

Chinese Taipei will look for their first win against Canada on Thursday.

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PANAMA – Italy improved to 2-1 with a 6-3 victory over Nicaragua in front of 250 fans on Tuesday to improve 2-1.

NICARAGUA……….. 000 300 000 – 3 9 0 (1-2)
ITALY……………….. 212 001 00X – 6 11 1 (2-1)

Italy jumped out to a 5-0 lead after 3 innings and never looked back. Italian starter Cody Cillo lasted only 3.2 innings giving up 3 runs, 0 earned, giving up 4 hits, 3 walks, and striking out 3. Cillo threw 80 pitches in the 3+ innings. Alessandro Maestri provided 3.1 innings of solid relief to earn the win for Italy giving up only 3 hits along the way. Yovani D’Amico picked up the save.

Juan Carlos Infante set the table for Italy going 2-for-5 and scoring a run from the lead off spot. Shortstop Anthony Granato chipped in with a 3-for-5 day including the days only home run driving in 2 runs and scoring 2. First baseman Giuseppe Mazzanti was a homer shy of the cycle going 3-for-4 with 3 RBI.

Elvin Antonio Orozco lasted only 1.2 innings in the start for Nicaragua giving up 3 runs on 4 hits to take the loss. Nicaragua went through 5 relievers. Jose Guido went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI in the loss as Nicaragua dropped to 1-2.

Nicaragua will take on Australia on Thursday.

Italy will take on Germany on Thursday night in the battle of Europe.

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PANAMA – The Netherlands improved to 3-0 with a 5-2 victory over Japan in the 2011 Baseball World Cup in front of 1200 spectators Tuesday afternoon.

NETHERLANDS……… 000 400 001 – 5 6 0
JAPAN…………………. 001 000 100 – 2 8 3

Japan jumped out to an early lead in the 3rd inning on a Yuichi Tabata (1-for-4) double scoring Yoshinobu Kotegawa (2-for-3) who had doubled the at bat before.

But the lead didn’t last long as The Netherlands stormed back with 4 runs of their own in the top of the 4th inning. It all started with a Sharlon Schoop (1-for-5) double to right. Bryan Engelhardt (2-for-5) then singled and both runners advanced on a throwing error by the pitcher who was trying to pick off Engelhardt at first base. After a walk and a fielder’s choice the bases were loaded for Shaldimar Daantji (1-for-2) who cleared them with a ringing double to left.

In the end that is all The Netherlands would need as they cruised to a 5-2 victory. Robbie Cordemans pitched 6 strong innings allowing only 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 2 to pick up the win. Engelhardt was the only Dutch hitter with more than 1 hit.

Masamitsu Hamano lasted only 3.1 innings for Japan giving up 3 runs, 1 earned, on 3 hits and 3 walks. The Japanese threw Johnnie Allstaff going with 6 pitchers out of the bullpen. Kotegawa was the only Japanese hitter with more than 1 hit.

The Netherlands improve to 3-0 while Japan drops to 0-2 for the tournament.

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PANAMA – The 2011 Baseball World Cup is underway in Panama and already there have been some exciting games and upsets.

Panama 8, Greece 3

Panama opened the tournament off with a win against Greece on Saturday October 1.  Greece started off with a bang scoring 3 runs in the 2nd inning, but Panama came right back in the bottom half of the inning scoring 3 runs to tie the game. Panama put the game away in the 6th with 4 runs.

The first full day of action consisted of 7 games, although one was rained out.

Puerto Rico 1, Canada 9
Netherlands 2, Chinese Taipei 1
Australia 0, Cuba 14
Germany 4, Nicaragua 5
Japan v USA (Rained Out)
Venezuela 5, South Korea 4
Dominican Republic 7, Italy 0

Day 2 saw some more interesting action with Canada defeating Japan and South Korea downed Germany in extra innings.

Canada 3, Japan 1
Netherlands 10, Greece 0
Cuba 3, Dominican Republic 0
Italy 7, Australia 0
USA 4, Puerto Rico 8
Chinese Taipei 8, Panama 14
South Korea 6, Germany 5
Nicaragua 2, Venezuela 5

Cuba leads Group 2 with a 3-0 record followed by Venezuela, South Korea, Italy, Dominican Republic all with 2-1 records.

Canada, Netherlands, and Panama all lead Group 1 with a 3-0 record.

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