HOUSTON, Texas - A two-run home run off the bat of Kai Caranto (Santa Clarita, Calif.) aided the USA Baseball 15U National Team in its 7-3 victory over Spartans PGA on Monday night at John Ray Harrison Field in Houston, Texas.
Caranto led the Team USA offense on the day, hitting the only home run of national team training in the sixth inning. Termarr Johnson (Atlanta, Ga,), Aidan Miller (Trinity, Fla.), Joe Brown (Petaluma, Calif.), Karson Bowen (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) and Steven Milam (Las Cruces, N.M.) also collected hits in the contest.
Matthew Matthjis (Greenville, N.C.) started on the bump for the red, white and blue, tossing two innings of scoreless baseball before giving up two runs in the third. He struck out three batters in his winning performance. Matthjis was followed out of the bullpen by Duke Ekstrom (San Diego, Calif.), Louis Rodriguez (Long Beach, Calif.) and Logan Saloman (Chandler, Ariz.), who combined to pitch five innings while allowing one run (none earned) and four hits. Jake Sullivan took the loss for Spartans PGA.
Key Moments
• Johnson led off the first inning with a triple to left field and was sent home on a groundout by Mikey Romero (Menifee, Calif.) to give Team USA a 1-0 lead.
• Spartans PGA took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning with a pair of RBI-singles.
• Drew Burress (Perry, Ga.) sent Brown home on a sacrifice-fly to center in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game at 2-2.
• Team USA regained the lead, 3-2, in the top of the fifth inning when Milam crossed the plate on a Spartans PGA error.
• Caranto extended the U.S. lead to 5-2 in the top of the sixth inning when he sent a two-run home run over the left field wall, scoring Brown in the process.
• A bases-loaded walk allowed Ben Reiland (Irvine, Calif.) to score in the sixth inning, giving the red, white and blue a 6-2 advantage.
• Spartans PGA capitalized on a Team USA error to cut the deficit in half, 6-3, in the bottom of the sixth inning.
• Milam scored on a groundout by Johnson in the top of the eighth inning, giving Team USA a 7-3 victory.
Notable Information
• Kai Caranto hit Team USA's first home run of national team training in his only at-bat of the game.
• Six members of Team USA collected hits in the game: Termarr Johnson (1-for-3, RBI), Aidan Miller (1-for-2), Joe Brown (1-for-3), Karson Bowen (1-for-2), Kai Caranto (1-for-1, 2 RBIs) and Steven Milam (1-for-3).
• Matthew Matthjis (1-0) started on the bump for the U.S., striking out four batters to get the win.
Up Next
• The USA Baseball 15U National Team will begin action at the COPABE U-15 Pan-American Championships on Friday, September 13 in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. The tournament schedule will be announced later this week.
Social
• Stay tuned to @USABaseball15U on Twitter, @usabaseball on Instagram and visit USABaseball.com for the most up-to-date news about the 15U National Team.