Netherlands and Russia lose again at World Juniors
On Wednesday rain hindered play at the World Junior AAA Championship in Edmonton, Canada. Three games had to be postponed till today, including the matches of Italy and the Czech Republic against Cuba and Canada. The other two European teams lost their games.
Russia was shut out by Australia 8-0. Adam O’Neill pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and striking out eight. Alexander Khudyakov was charged with three hits, two runs and two walks to take the loss. Alexey Kozin, Evgeny Podyapolskiy and Nikita Kotlyar had the hits for Russia.
Around the same time, Robin Van Eis was hit hard by the Mexicans, giving up seven runs on ten hits in four-plus innings, in a 3-8 loss by the Dutch team. However they even had a 3-2 lead midway through the third, though it was short-lived. Roland Henrique had two RBI. Tjerle Hoservorst went three-for-four with a run and a RBI. J.C. Villanueva and Luis Diaz Juarez each scored three times for Mexico. Reliever C.A. Ibarra Castillo struck out six in six one-hit innings to pick up the win.
In the duel between two undefeated teams, team USA defeated Korea 4-3 to finish in first place of pool A with a 5-0 record. Nolan Fontana drove in two runs. Nick Franklin had two hits, a run and a RBI. Colton Cain pitched six solid innings in the win. Young Suk Jang took the loss.
Besides the rainout on Wednesday the Cuban team also had some other issues to deal with, as two key players are believed to have used the tournament to defect from the Caribbean Island. Several news outlets report that pitcher Noel Arguelles and infielder Jose Iglesias were last seen on Sunday night at the team meal at the University of Alberta and left afterwards. It would not be the first time. For example, Yuniesky Betancourt of the Seattle Mariners used a tournament in Canada to defect from Cuba.
Results July 30:
Korea – USA 3-4
USA 100 001 200 4 8 2 KOR 100 011 000 3 6 1
Russia –Australia 0-8
AUS 011 001 032 8 4 0 RUS 000 000 000 0 3 4
Mexico – Netherlands 3-8
NED 021 000 000 3 6 3 MEX 202 031 00X 8 14 0
