THUNDER BAY, Canada - A 13-strikeout performance by Ethan Hankins (Cumming, Ga.) and a walk-off home run by Jarred Kelenic (Waukesha, Wis.) were among the highlights on Friday as the USA Baseball 18U National Team claimed an 11-1 run-rule victory (eight innings) over the Netherlands in the opening game of the 2017 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup.
The three-time defending World Cup champions, Team USA looked the part in its opening game, getting stellar efforts from three pitchers and scoring runs in six of the eight innings in which it stepped to the plate, including a five-run fifth.
After allowing the first two batters of the game to reach base, one of which came around to score, Hankins settled in and was dominant the rest of the game. The 6-6 right-hander would go on to retire 18 of the final 19 batters he faced, yielding only a fourth-inning walk.
Joseph Menefee (Richmond, Texas) and Cole Wilcox (Chickamauga, Ga.) added one scoreless frame each out of the bullpen to close out the contest.
Mike Siani (Glenside, Pa.) and Kelenick led a 13-hit offensive outburst with matching 3-for-5 efforts at the plate. In addition to his walk-off solo home run in the eighth, Kelenick also had a single and a double.
Siani, meanwhile, drove in three runs and scored another while also notching a pair of extra-base hits with a double in the first and a two-run triple in the seventh.
Also helping the cause for the red, white, and blue on Friday were Sunshine State natives Triston Casas (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Raynel Delgado (Miami Lakes, Fla.) who had a pair of RBIs each in the win.
Team USA is the three-time defending World Cup champion and is looking to become the second country to win four-straight gold medals in the tournament. The U.S. will take on Japan at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday at Port Arthur Stadium.
Continue to follow @USABaseball18U on Twitter and visit USABaseball.com for the most up-to-date news about the 18U National Team.
QUOTES
USA Baseball 18U National Team Manager Andy Stankiewicz
(On Friday's game)
"I think we had a little bit of first-game jitters. You have USA across your chest and guys are maybe trying to do a little too much. I think what we saw here today, though, is that the wind is going to be carrying in. We have to commit to our line-drive game and hard-contact on the ground. Obviously Kelenic hit that home run to end it but it was right down the line. If we stay within ourselves and play our line-drive game we should be fine."
 
(On giving up a run in the top of the first inning)
"I liked that the first inning didn't go quite to plan and we got punched a little bit. We need that. Obviously how we respond when that happens is going to be crucial the rest of this tournament."
(On Ethan Hankins performance on the mound)
"(Ethan) Hankins did a fantastic job of setting the tone for us. He didn't get rattled when things didn't go his way in the first inning, settled down, and just did what he does. He took the emotion out of it and did a job. He pounded the zone with his fastball and his breaking ball was sharp. We saw a lot of chases in the dirt with it.
(On playing Japan tomorrow)
"Japan is going to be well couched. Typically, they don't beat themselves, they make you work, and they don't give you any freebies. They are going to make you put the ball in play and play good defense. We expect a great ballgame from both teams and, hopefully, we will come out on top."
Starting pitcher Ethan Hankins
(On pitching against the Netherlands)
"We knew coming in that the Netherlands is a really good team. I didn't expect to go out there and dominate. I was just trying to put my team in a good situation and a place to win. I didn't know they would come out firing like that. It definitely made me settle in and make some adjustments."