SEOUL, South Korea – After the second typhoon rolled through South Korea in about a week raining out the official Day 1 of the 18U Baseball World Championships, the tournament got underway with a full slate of games on Friday.
In Pool A, Australia, USA, and host South Korea all kicked off the tournament with a victory. The victors in Pool B were Canada, Panama, and Chinese Taipei.
Austarlia 7, Colombia 4
Australia held off a 9th inning comeback from Colombia to get ahead in the win column. Leading 7-1 in the 9th, Australian reliever Jarrod Zahradnik had trouble finding the strike zone. In one inning of work he allowed 2 hits and 3 walks surrendering 3 runs and let Colombia bring the tying run to the plate. However with the help of his defense and a double play, he was able to get out of the inning to preserve the win.
Daniel McGrath picked up the win pitching 5.1 innings allowing just 1 run on 2 hits. Lead off hitter Elliott Hargreaves paced Australia offensively going 2-for-4 with a double, 2 RBI, and a run scored.
Venezuela 1, South Korea 2
The Venezuela 18U team is trying to carry on the winning tradition as the 15U team just won the World Championships in Mexico. However, they ran into a steamroller in the South Korean pitching staff as they held Venezuela to a single run en route to victory.
The combination of Jae Min Shim, Ju Yeong Song, Su Min Lee, and Hyoung Bae Yoon combined to limit Venezuela to just 1 run on 4 hits.
South Korea got 2 runs in the 3rd inning and held on for the win in the their opener. The Korean offense pounded out 12 hits led by In Tae Kim who went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
USA 17, Netherlands 0 (7)
The USA pounded out 16 hits en route to a 17-0 blow out of the Dutch 18U National Team.
Christian Arroyo tallied 3 hits on the day driving in 3 runs with a pair of doubles. Jeremy Martinez helped the American offense going 2-for-4 with a double, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. All 11 American batters that came to the plate got at least 1 hit in the game.
Garrett Williams pitched 5 solid innings allowing 5 hits while striking out 9 to pick up the win for the USA.
Next up for the USA is a highly anticipated game with South Korea.
Italy 0, Panama 2
Panama kicked off the tournament with a shutout of Italy in their opening match. Panama got a great pitching performance from Rigoberto Santamaria who went 7 strong innings allowing only 1 hit while striking out 7. Omar Guzman pitched the final 2 innings picking up the save.
Rodrigo Orozco (2-for-3) and Mario Sanjur (2-for-4) each drove in a run to push Panama past Italy.
Japan 5, Canada 6 (10)
Canada needed 9th inning comeback and an extra frame to take down Japan in both teams opening game. It was a see-saw battle that saw Japan take an early 2 run lead only to have Canada score 3 unanswered. Then it was Japan’s turn as they got 3 in the 7th to take a 6-4 lead that they held into the bottom of the 9th, but they couldn’t shut the door.
Canada got a 2-run game tying home run from Jesse Hodges (2-for-3/3 RBI) in the bottom of the 9th that sent the game into extra innings. With runners placed on first and second base due to the international tie breaking rules, Canada immediately sacrificed the runners to 2nd and 3rd. After a strike out, Hodges scored on a wild pitch to win the game.
Canada only managed 6 hits in the game with Hodges the only hitter with more than 1. Tatsuhiro Tamura led the Japanese offense going 3-for-6, driving in a run, and scoring another. Japan managed only 7 hits, all singles.
Logan Seifrit picked up the win with an inning of relief. Canada starter Ryan Kellogg pitched well going 6.2 innings allowing 5 runs but only 2 earned on 6 hits.
Chinese Taipei 6, Czech Republic 0
Chinese Taipei dispatched the Czech Republic in both teams first match. Jung Hung Sen pitched well going 6 scoreless innings allowing 7 hits and striking out 5 to pick up the win. Chih Chieh Su led the offense for Chinese Taipei going 2-for-4 with 3 runs scored. Chia Kai Liu drove in a pair of runs going 2-for-3.
Ivan Aubrecht and Michal Vykoukal both went 2-for-4 for the Czech Republic.
Schedule for Saturday September 1:
Pool A
Venezuela vs Australia
Netherlands vs Colombia
USA vs South Korea
Pool B
Italy vs Canada
Japan vs Chinese Taipei
Panama vs Czech Republic
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This post was written by
Eric Bynum is Managing Editor here at Baseball de World and an ESL teacher in South Korea. He has played and/or written about baseball for the past 30 years and is an avid Atlanta Braves fan. Eric also writes for Braves Baseball World and for Call to the Pen.
