SANTIAGO DE VERAGUAS, Panama - Team USA used a 13-6 win over the Dominican Republic to clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the Super Round of the COPABE U-18 Pan-American Championships on Wednesday at Estadio Omar Torrijos Herrera in Santiago de Veraguas, Panama.
Brennan Malone (Matthews, N.C.) got the start on the mound for the U.S. and opened the game with four shutout innings, striking out four while allowing just three hits.
After a scoreless start to the contest for both teams, the stars and stripes exploded for five runs in the bottom of the third to take a commanding lead. The first run of the afternoon came on an RBI-double down the left field line by Anthony Volpe (Watchung, N.J.) that scored Drew Romo (The Woodlands, Texas). Riley Greene (Oviedo, Fla.) then stepped up to the plate with two runners on base and hit a three-run home run to deep left-center field to give the U.S. squad a 4-0 advantage. On the very next at-bat, Bobby Witt Jr. (Colleyville, Texas) got in on the fun, hitting a solo homer to right field to extend the lead to 5-0.
The bats stayed hot in the fourth as Team USA added four more runs in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by an RBI-double to right field by Romo. The four runs gave the U.S. squad a 9-0 lead going into the fifth before Romo continued his strong offensive day and pushed the lead to double digits with an RBI-single to right field in the sixth.
The Dominican Republic scored its first runs of the day in the top of the sixth, cutting the lead to 10-4 before Corbin Carroll (Seattle, Wash.) scored on a balk in the bottom half to get one back for the U.S. and make the score 11-4. After both teams went scoreless in the seventh, the Dominican Republic added another run in the top of the eighth to cut the deficit to six.
In the bottom of the inning, C.J. Abrams (Alpharetta, Ga.) hit a single up the middle and sped around the bases to score on a three-base error by the Dominican Republic center fielder. Two more runs in the inning for Team USA made the score 13-5 going into the final frame. Tyler Callihan (Neptune Beach, Fla.) took the mound to close the game out in the top of the ninth and, despite the Dominican Republic pushing one across on an error, secured the 13-6 win.
Volpe and Callihan each registered three hits to lead the team on the day. Greene paced the team with three RBI in the game. Malone (1-0) earned the win on the mound for the U.S. while Max Rajcic (Fullerton, Calif.) struck out five in 2.2 innings of relief.
The United States will begin the Super Round of the COPABE U-18 Pan-American Championships against the host country, Panama, on Wednesday, November 28. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET at Rico Cedeno Stadium in Chitre, Panama.
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