AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico - Team USA's Paul Dominguez (Anaheim, Calif.) and Gavin Gargiulo (Coral Springs, Fla.) combined to hold Mexico to one hit, while Dean Moss (Hillsborough, Calif.) went 3-for-3 with two home runs and six RBI, and the U.S. defeated Mexico 11-0 Friday in the Super Round at CECADI Stadium. Both teams entered the game 6-0 and USA's victory clinched a spot in Sunday's COPABE U-12 Pan American Championship gold medal game.
Dominguez, making his first start on the hill since pitching a no-hitter against Panama on August 26, went 3.2 innings and a single up the middle by Darey Flores to lead off the second inning was the only hit for Mexico. Dominguez, who struck out four batters, walked five batters, but he recovered to hold Mexico 0-for-11 with runners on base (they finished the game 0-for-12). Garguilo pitched the final 1.1 innings and retired all four batters he faced (two by strikeouts). Dominguez was credited with the win and improves to 2-0 in the tourney. The one-hit pitching performance marks the team's third one-hitter of the tournament for USA.
Kameron Davis (Albany, Ga.) opened the bottom of the first inning the same way he has the prior two games and that was with a leadoff home run. His fourth homer of the tournament jump-started a five-run inning for the U.S. The first six USA batters reached base safely and the inning's scoring was capped by a grand slam home run from Moss. The slam was USA's second of the tournament.
USA added to the 5-0 lead in the second inning. Masato Chilcutt (San Antonio, Texas) dumped a single into right field to plate Julius Pfau (Tampa, Fla.) before Kailand Halstead (Aberdeen, Wash.) blasted a three-run home run. Halstead's team-leading sixth home run of the tournament provided USA a 9-0 lead.
Halstead was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning and Moss followed with his second home run of the game to push USA's lead to 11-0. The game ended after the top of the fifth inning with USA leading by more than 10 runs after five innings.
USA finished the game with seven hits, which is their lowest mark in the tournament, but five were for extra bases (four home runs). Moss was responsible for three of the extra base hits, as two home runs and a double made up his 3-for-3 performance at the plate. His six runs-batted-in was the most by a USA member this season (he leads the team with 17 RBI in the tournament).
USA improved their all-time mark to 4-2 all-time against Mexico, with a 2-2 mark in games played in COPABE competition. It was the USA's first win over Mexico on their soil since July 14, 2014 (USA had lost the prior two).
The U.S. is now 7-0 overall in this season's tournament and their 2-0 Super Round record has them a berth into the gold medal game Sunday. Cuba and Mexico face each other Saturday and the winner will clinch the berth to play USA.
USA has one more Super Round contest before Sunday's championship. They face Nicaragua Saturday at 9 a.m. (CT) at CECADI Stadium in Aguascalientes.
Inside the Numbers
102-5 - The U.S. has outscored their opponents 102-5 and they have outhit them 96-15. USA's pitching staff has pitched two no-hitters and three one-hitters in the tournament.
33 - The U.S. has hit 33 home runs in the tournament through seven games. The single-tournament high for the U.S. is 37 from the 2016 tournament. The 37 home runs in 2016 was at a pace of 4.1 per game (averaging 4.7 per game this tournament).
24 - In 29 innings of at-bats, USA has scored at least 1 run in 24 of the innings.
12 - Twelve different USA players have hit a home run in this season's tournament. Kailand Halstead leads the team with six.
.568 - USA is batting .568 in the tournament. Christian Hamilton leads the team hitting .786 (11-for-14).
.584 - The U.S. is hitting .584 (52/89) with runners on base. They held their opponents to 0-for-22 in the same category through the first five games of the tournament (opponents now 5-for-49, .102). USA is 40-for-64, .625 with runners in scoring position.
