Baseball World Cup End of Round One Notes

Written by: Jerry Milani on 13th September 2009

Baseball World Cup End of Round One Notes | read this item

SECOND ROUND BEGINS SUNDAY: The second round of the Baseball World Cup, which will be held at sites in the Netherlands and Italy, begins on Sunday, Sept. 13, with eight games, including Netherlands-Korea and Puerto Rico-Spain (Amsterdam), Australia-Netherlands Antilles (Piacenza), Cuba-Great Britain (Haarlem), Venezuela-Nicaragua (Rotterdam), Italy-Chinese Taipei (Firenze), and USA-Canada (Reggio Emilia).

The complete second round matchups for the week can be seen here.

SATURDAY RESULTS

CUBA 5 SPAIN 4: Yosvany Peraza hit a pinch hit three-run homer that become a two-run in the bottom of the eighth, but those two runs proved to be the deciding margin in the game of the tournament in Spain as the first round of baseball´s World Cup, Group B was contested in Barcelona. Peraza, who was the last man cut from the team Cuba sent to Beijing for the Olympic Games, had hit a big home run in the World Baseball Classic against Australia. Peraza passed runner Ariel Borrero between first and second as he watched the flight of the ball. The umpired declared Borrero out, but Peraza scored the winning run in a game filled with tension, great play, spectacular pitching and passionate fan support. Peraza´s home run was the final thrill is a see-saw game that saw Spain take the lead after a five-inning scoreless pitching dual between Spain´s starer Ivan Granados and Cuba´s starter Maikel Folch. Spain could only manage two back-to-back bunt singles in the third off of Folch until the sixth. Cuba didn´t do much better against Granados, who scattered three hits over the first five but kept the powerful Cuban team off the scoreboard with an assortment of breaking balls. He kept his fastball out of the strike zone but walked only two. Spain broke through in the sixth on a Dewis Navarro walk and singles by Richard Montiel, Emmanuel Febles and Daniel Figueroa, the last two producing a run each. Cuba answered with three in the bottom half of the sixth on singles by Michel Enriquez and Frederich Cepeda, a run-scoring double by Yoennis Cespedes and a two-run single by Ariel Borrero, who replaced Jose Abreu at firstbase. Paco Figueroa, Daniel´s twin brother, both of whom play AA in the Orioles organization at Bowie, made it clear that Spain was not giving into the No. 1 ranked team in the world. He led off the seventh with a triple and scored on a Navarro single. Spain scored again that inning when Daniel Sanchez was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Cuba failed to answer in the bottom of the seventh and Spain went quietly in the top of the eight. The stage was set with the score 4-3 in Spain´s favor when Peraza came up with one out and two on in the eight.

MEXICO 10 AUSTRALIA 9: Mexico completed a 3-0 first round but had to rally after building a big lead to defeat the hard-hitting Aussies. Second inning two run home runs by Cristian Presichi and Carlos Valencia keyed an 8-2 Mexican lead going into the bottom of the sixth, when Australia rallied. Australia sent 10 men to the plate in the inning scoring five times, including a lead off home run by Christopher Snelling and four separate RBI singles by to cut the lead to 8-7. Mexico extended the lead to 9-7 in the top of the eighth, but the Aussies tied the game at nine when Joel Naughton hit a two run homer off reliever Alan Guerrero in the bottom of the frame. In the ninth, Edgar Quintero had a one out double off pitcher Joshua Hill and came around to score on Presichi’s single to make it 10-9. Australia had a chance to tie with two out in the bottom of the ninth, when Stefan Welsh reached on an error, but Matthew Kennelly grounded out against reliever Hector Navarro to end the game.

Trevor Reckling

USA 8 CHINA 0: Team USA advanced to the second round, shutting out winless China on Saturday afternoon in front of 5,900 at the Armin Wolf Arena in Regensburg by a score of 8-0. Terry Tiffee’s two run first inning home run was the only scoring until the U.S. broke the game open with a sixth run eighth inning, highlighted by a Josh Kroeger homer. Trevor Reckling went seven scoreless innings for the win, allowing three hits and three walks. His eleven strikeouts tied a single-game record for Team USA in a World Cup (Burt Hooten, 1970). China starter Shuai Li, who only lasted two-plus innings in the opener against Germany, had a solid pitching effort for China, retiring 20 of 21 batters after the first inning homer and keeping China in the game.

NICARAGUA 8 JAPAN 4: With the win, Nicaragua secured first place in Pool D in Zagreb. The Latin American qualifier jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first behind third baseman Jimmy Morales Gonzales’ fifth home run of the first round. Espinoza Lopez made it 4-0 with another homer in the third and Nicaragua broke it open in the fourth with two more homers by Esteban Garcia (solo) and Espinoza Lopez (3-run). Starter Esteban Perez went six innings and had a lot of success mixing changeups with sliders and working with a lot of movement low in the zone. He left with an 8-1 lead (one earned run on three hits). Japan got within 8-4 in the seventh behind a three-run home run by Tsutomu Sasaki, but it didn’t score again. It was Team Nicaragua ’s first win over Japan since 1990.

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES 9 KOREA 5: Ardley Jansen erased an early deficit with a towering three-run home run in the fifth inning and added an RBI-single in the seventh as Netherlands Antilles came from behind to upset Korea, 9-5, securing a second-place finish in Group C. Korea had a one-run lead going into the fifth inning when Antilles put together a two out rally as shortstop Raywendley van Gurp and first baseman Andley Simmons hit back-to-back base hits setting up Jansen’s big fly to left center, his second home run of the tournament. Antilles extended its lead in the seventh as pinch hitter Quincy Martina doubled and scored on a throwing error and Jansen drove in his fourth run of the day. Starting pitcher Johannes Gregorius, Jr. surrendered a run in each of the first two innings but settled down and hurled four straight scoreless frames before tiring in the seventh. It is the first time in its history the small Caribbean nation will advance in the World Cup.

GREAT BRITAIN 4 CROATIA 1: Starter Brian Essery and reliever Thomas Boleska limited Croatia to five hits and struck out 10 to help Great Britain claim their first victory in the 2009 IBAF World Cup. Great Britain got to starter James Summers in the fifth, getting on the scoreboard on an RBI double by left fielder Matthew Mc Graw. Catcher Christopher Berset’s two run homer made it 3-0 in the sixth, and Croatia could get no closer. They scored their only run an RBI double by right fielder Branko Nenadic in the eighth.

PUERTO RICO 12 SOUTH AFRICA 0: Carlos Rivera hit a two run first inning home run, and Puerto Rico went on to rout South Africa 12-0 in a game ended after seven innings in the final game in Barcelona.

VENEZUELA 12 GERMANY 1: Orlando Perdomo scattered six hits and allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings as Venezuela jumped out to a 6-0 lead and routed homestanding Germany 12-1 in the final game of round one. Venezuela scored four runs in the second, two coming on a Chavez double, and got a solo home run from Landaeta in the third to break the game open.

CHINESE TAIPEI 10 CZECH REPUBLIC 1: Chinese Taipei scored four runs in the first and six in the second and then were held scoreless the rest of the way, but still defeated Czech Republic in Prague. Chyinese Taipei strung together five singles and plated four runners in the first off starter Peter Minarik. Hung-Yu Lin drove in four runs in the first two innings with a pair of singles to lead a balanced attack. Chu-Chien Hsu and Yu-Ching Lin combined on a four hitter for Chinese Taipei, with the Czech republic’s only run coming on a seventh inning home run from Pavel Budesky. Following the 10 run explosion over the first two innings, three Czech Republic pitchers combined to shut out Chinese Taipei over the final seven innings.

CANADA 19 SWEDEN 1: For the second day in a row, Sweden set their baseball attendance record, but 2,100 fans went home early as a veteran Canada team pounded out 19 runs on 18 hits in just five innings. The Swedes actually led 1-0 after one, when Pilegard homered off pitcher Brooks McNiven, but Canada answered back by sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs on seven hits in the second. Four straight inning opening singles started the rally, and Rene Tosoni’s bases loaded triple two batters later broke the game open. Brett Lawrie’s two RBI double in the fourth was key in another three run rally, and then the Canadians exploded again for eight runs on six hits in the fourth, including a two run homer by Jimmy Van Ostrand and a Grand Slam by Tim Smith. McNiven got the win for Canada, who went 3-0 in Sundbyberg.

NOTES

ATTENDANCE MARKS FOR ROUND ONE: Further evidence of baseball’s growth in Europe was seen throughout the first round attendance numbers at local sites. Leading the way was Regensburg, Germany, which saw crowds in excess of 5,000 for almost all of the three days of competition, highlighted by a Friday night crowd of almost 10,000 fans for USA-Germany…Friday night’s Jahn Regensburg soccer match drew approximately 5,000 at the same time, which is a solid sign of interest in baseball in Germany…at other sites, Sweden had a capacity crowd of over 2,100 for Saturday’s final day and strong crowds approaching 1,500 on the others…Spain had overflow crowds on both Friday and Saturday in excess of the 1,500 seating capacity for their games with Puerto Rico and Cuba…and Prague had an overflow of 2,500 for Saturday and crowds in excess of 1,500 for Friday, all positive signs of growth…large crowds are expected in both the Netherlands and Italy for round two.

Rene Tosoni

FUTURES STARS LEAD CANADIAN DOMINANCE IN ROUND ONE: Canada outscored their opponents 43-2 in their three games in Sweden, and were led by Texas Rangers prospect Tim Smith (7-10, 2 HR 8 RBI), Future’s Game MVP, Eastern League All-Star and Minnesota Twins prospect Rene Tosoni 6-13 1 HR 7 RBI) and Houston Astros prospect Brett Lawrie (5-15 1 HR, 5 RBI). Their pitching staff allowed only nine hits in the three games as well.

WHO IS NICARAGUA’S FIVE HOMER GUY? Nicaragua’s 3-0 first round start has been led by solid pitching and the long ball of third baseman Jimmy Morales Gonzalez, who has hit five home runs in their first three games. The 31 year old Gonzalez played in the Pioneer and California Leagues from ’98-2000 in the Dodgers organization, for Great Falls and San Bernadino, and has played for Granada in the Nicaraguan Professional League since then. He had 20 HR and 180 RBI with a .295 average in his three seasons in the minors.

USA’S RECKLING TIES STRIKEOUT MARK, TEAM SETS ONE: USA starting pitcher, Texas League All-Star and Los Angeles Angels prospect Trevor Reckling became just the fourth USA pitcher to reach double digits in strikeouts in a World Cup game, as he fanned 11 Chinese over seven innings on Saturday. His 11 strikouts tied the mark of former Dodger and Cubs pitcher Burt Hooten, who fanned 11 consecutive batters in 1970. Reckling also joined Ben McDonald (1988) and Hank Woodman (2003) as the only USA pitchers to reach double digits in a game. Overall Team USA set their own World Cup record with 16 strikeouts vs. China, breaking the mark of 14 set against Brazil in 2003.

DÉJÀ VU FOR CUBA’S PERAZA: Yosvany Peraza is making a habit out of impressive pinch hit homers. His first-ever at-bat in the World Baseball Classic in March, he pinch hit a game-winning 7th inning HR versus Australia and matched that Saturday, with a pinch hit 8th inning HR @ Spain.

SPANISH TWINS/ORIOLES PROSPECTS LEAD SPAIN TO ROUND TWO: They went only 1-2 in round one, but with narrow losses to world baseball powers Cuba (5-4) and Puerto Rico (5-3) Spain will move on to the second round. The twin brothers, Paco (5-11) and Daniel (5-12, 4 RBI) Figueroa (both in the Baltimore Orioles organization) led Spain, who also got five shutout innings from San Diego Padres prospect Eric Gonzalez, the winner in Spain’s 15-0 whitewash of South Africa.

3-0 FOR MEXICO: Mexico’s dramatic 10-9 win over Australia gave them the top seed in Pool A, and marked the only runs the Mexican staff gave up in round one, after posting back to back shutouts to start off. Mexican League veteran Jesus Cota, who hit .331 with Saltillo this past summer, is leading the way at the plate (6-12, 4 HR 6 RBI) along with fellow Mexican League veteran Edgar Quintero (7-14 2 HR, 5 RBI).

PROSPECTS SMOAK, DAVIS, COATES POWER USA BATS: Texas Rangers prospect Justin Smoak (5-9 3 HR 7 RBI), first baseman and New York Mets prospect Ike Davis (4-9, 1 HR, 1 3B) and Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Buck Coates (5-12 1 HR 2 RBI) have helped pace Team USA at the plate in round one.

AUSSIES HIT THEIR WAY TO ROUND TWO: Australia smacked 10 home runs and scored 31 runs in their first round matchups, going 2-1 with a close loss to Mexico Saturday. Philadelphia Phillies prospect Tim Kennelly’s three homers and 8 RBI while Minnesota Twins prospect James Beresford led the team in hits with seven in the three games. Six Twins prospects are on the Australia roster.

CUBA’S GONZALEZ JUST MISSES STRIKEOUT MARK: Cuban pitcher Miguel Gonzalez struck out ten consective batters against Puerto Rico, one short of the World Cup mark of 11 set by former Major Leaguer Burt Hooton (Dodgers and Cubs) of the USA in 1971. Gonzalez struck out 13 with one walk in 6 1/3 innings in earning the win for Cuba.

…WHILE DESPAIGNE LEADS AT THE PLATE: Cuban veteran Alfredo Despaigne led the torrid Cuban hitting attack at the plate in round one, leading all hitters with seven hits (in 12 at bats) to go with 2 HR and 6 RBI.

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