Mister Baseball

The Netherlands crushed Russia 14-2 in their opener on Saturday to account for the only European win at the World Junior AAA Baseball Championship in Edmonton, Canada. Norbert Jongervis and Bjorn Hato combined for eight hits and six RBI in the victory. Robin van Eis pitched 5 2/3 innings for the win. Alexander Khudyakov took the loss after six innings pitched.

The Czech Republic and Italy lost their Saturday games through shutouts against Cuba and Puerto Rico. Jan Oralek had the lone Czech hit, as they had no chance against the powerhouse in international baseball. Cuba scored five runs in the first en route to an 11-0 victory. Jonas Jurdzin took the loss, giving up five earned runs in one inning of work. Italy managed three hits against Puerto Rico, losing 0-8. Simone Valerio took the loss, after allowing three runs in 3 2/3 innings.

On Sunday all four of the European underdogs lost their matches. Russia lost 0-12 in seven innings against Mexico. Evgeny Vorotyntsev took the loss, going 3 2/3 innings. The Czech Republic fought in their game with Puerto Rico, but was defeated 2-6 anyway.  Mates Slicha and Michal Vesely drove in the two runs. David Diblik took the loss. Simone Valerio had the only hit for Italy in a 0-6 shutout versus Taiwan. Che-Ming Su, Chun-Yi Wu and Tsung-Hao Wang combined in the one-hitter. Elia Pasquali allowed two earned runs in three-plus innings to take the loss. In the night session team USA scored 15 runs in the third and fourth period to crush the Dutch squad 20-5. Swen Huyer allowed five earned runs in two-plus innings for the loss. Erik van Dorp and Mitchel Koot drove in two each.

Results:
Saturday July 26th:
Russia – Netherlands 2-14 Box score
Mexico – Korea 4-11 Box score
Cuba – Czech Republic 11-0 Box score
Italy – Puerto Rico 0-8 Box score
USA – Australia 5-1 Box score
Canada – Taiwan 7-6 Box score

Sunday July 27th:
Russia – Mexico 0-12 Box score
Czech Republic – Puerto Rico 2-6 Box score
Taiwan – Italy 6-0 Box score
Australia – Korea 1-6 Box score
Canada – Cuba 3-4 Box score
Netherlands – USA 5-20 Box score

Standings:
Pool A

1. Korea 2-0
2. USA 2-0
3. Netherlands 1-1
4. Australia 1-2
5. Mexico 1-2
6. Russia 0-2

Pool B

1. Puerto Rico 3-0
2. Canada 2-1
3. Cuba 2-1
4. Taiwan 1-1
5. Czech Republic 0-2
6. Italy 0-3

Complete Coverage on IBAF.org