TAINAN, Taiwan – Team USA hit four home runs to power past Venezuela, 12-7, and secure a sweep of the VI World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup Super Round on Saturday afternoon in Tainan, Taiwan.
It was the first of two games that the nations will play in as many days, with the VI WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup gold medal game set for Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. local/6:00 a.m. ET.
Three of the team’s four homers came in the first inning of the contest as the U.S. jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Leadoff hitter Jonah Saken got the scoring started with a line drive blast to left, immediately followed by Anthony Frausto’s sky-scraping homer over the left field wall to give Team USA a quick two-run lead. Dylan Mercado hit the final dinger of the inning, a two-run shot off the light pole beyond the left field wall that handed the United States a 4-0 lead after its first turn at bat.
After Venezuela put together a two-out rally to tie the game in the third inning, Team USA got RBI hits from Jimmy Stout III, Trent O’Malley, and Anthony Ramon to retake the lead at 9-5. Jordan Leon then helped the offense pull away even further with the fourth and final home run of the day for the stars and stripes, a three-run roundtripper to make it a seven-run lead for the U.S in the fifth.
Hibiki Suzuki started on the mound for Team USA, surrendering five runs on as many hits but giving the U.S. three innings of work. Major Ciers entered and turned in two shutout innings to earn the win, giving him his second victory of the tournament. Eli Martinez got the final three outs on the mound for the red, white, and blue.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The U.S. offense got to work quickly in the bottom of the first, hammering back-to-back homers to open the frame. Jonah Saken hit the first blast of the inning, a line drive shot to left, followed by Anthony Frausto’s dinger over the left field wall to give Team USA a 2-0 lead.
- With a runner on first and two outs, Dylan Mercado smoked a two-run blast off the light pole in left center field as Team USA’s lead became four in the first.
- Venezuela put up a four-spot in a busy third inning to tie the game, scoring all of the runs with two outs. The first run came on an RBI single by Jose Calderon and Ayverson Rodriguez followed with a three-run home run to make it a 4-4 game.
- Anthony Ramon doubled in between a pair of hit-by-pitches to load the bases for Jimmy Stout III, who singled to right center to drive in two runs and give the United States a 6-4 edge in the bottom of the third.
- Daniel Perez homered to right field in the top of the fourth as Venezuela got within a run at 6-5.
- The U.S. grabbed a pair of insurance runs to pad its lead in the bottom of the fourth when Trent O’Malley hit an RBI double and Anthony Ramon drove in a run with a single to give Team USA an 8-5 advantage.
- Anthony Frausto picked up his second RBI of the day and extended the U.S. lead to 9-5 with a single through the left side in the bottom of the fifth.
- With two on and two outs in Team USA’s half of the fifth, Jordan Leon deposited a three-run homer over the left field fence to put the game out of reach at 12-5.
- Venezuela scored two runs in the top of the sixth on Daniel Perez’s second homer of the day, but Eli Martinez got a game-ending fielder’s choice to give the United States the 12-7 victory.
OF NOTE
- The U.S. will enter Sunday’s VI WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup gold medal game with an unbeaten record for the first time in team history.
- The United States’ all-time record against Venezuela improves to 2-2 at the U-12 level.
- Team USA’s offense continued to flex its muscles in the first inning, scoring four runs to increase its first-inning run total to 29 over seven games.
- The 12U National Team has now won five consecutive WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup Super Round games, with its last loss coming in the 2017 Super Round opener against Chinese Taipei.
- Saturday’s win featured contributions from all over the lineup as seven different players drove in at least one run.
- Major Ciers earned the win to improve his tournament win-loss record to 2-0. Ciers and Levi Kerr (3) have combined for five of Team USA’s seven wins on the mound.
- After picking up two more hits on Saturday, Anthony Frausto now leads the VI WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup in hits with 13.
- A trio of U.S. players sit atop the VI WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup leaderboard in home runs and RBIs: Colin Anderson (5, 18), Anthony Frausto (4, 13), and Jordan Leon (3, 11).
ON DECK
The two teams will meet again in Sunday’s VI WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup gold medal game. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. local/6:00 a.m. ET from Asia-Pacific Main Stadium in Tainan, Taiwan.
SOCIAL
Stay tuned to @USABaseball12U on Twitter for the most up-to-date news about the 2022 12U National Team.
