With Italy and the Netherlands winning in the European consolation round, the quarter-finals went like expected, besides the Australian upset of host Canada.
Quarterfinals
Korea, winner of the World Junior AAA Championship the last time, overcame a 2-4 deficit against Taiwan to advance into the semis with a 5-4 win. Chihong An and Young Suk Jang each drove in two. Young Hoon Sung struck out ten in a complete game victory. Min-Hao Tsai had three RBI for Chinese Taipei.
Team USA also received a dominant performance on the mound in their quarterfinal against Puerto Rico. Ryan Weber punched out nine in a five-hit shutout to lead the Americans to a 7-0 win. Jeff Malm and Austin Maddox combined for four RBI. Rayan Gonzalez was charged with five hits, six runs and five walks in 4 1/3 innings for the loss.
Cuba needed a run in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Mexico 8-7 in their first playoff round matchup. The Mexicans had tied the game in the top of the frame through two runs. J. Camero (CUB) went three-for-five with a homerun and three RBI. E. Aldazaba (MEX) had two hits, including a homerun and drove in four.
In the evening game, Australia eliminated host Canada with a 2-1 win. The Aussies took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on two singles and a sac fly. The maple leafs cut the deficit to a run with a sac fly in the sixth. They had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, when they loaded the bases with two outs. Luke Willson was apparently hit by a 1-2 pitch, but the home plate umpire disagreed and Willson struck out swinging moments later to end the threat.
Consolation Round
In the consolation round with four European teams, Italy and the Netherlands won their duels with Russia and the Czech Republic easily and are going to face each other on Saturday in a game for ninth place at the tournament.
Tommaso Cherubini allowed just four hits and a walk in seven innings to lead Italy to a 13-0 win against Russia. Federico Castagnini went four-for five with three runs scored. Stefano Giannetti drove in three. Yury Bakalet had two hits for the Russians. Evgeny Vorotyntsev allowed 13 runs (10 ER) on 15 hits to take the loss.
Mitchel Koot drove in three runs in the 8-2 Dutch victory against the Czech team. Erik Van Dorp scored three times. Michal Czyz drove in two for the Czech Republic. Jim Ploegs picked up the win after five no-hit, no-walk innings of relief, striking out twelve. Maren Cervenka gave up five runs on five hits in four innings to take the loss.
Results Friday August 1:
Quarterfinals:
Korea – Taiwan 5-4 Box score
USA – Puerto Rico 7-0 Box score Recap
Cuba – Mexico 8-7 Box score
Canada – Australia 1-2 Recap
Consolation Round:
Netherlands – Czech Republic 8-2 Box score
Italy – Russia 13-0 Box score
Schedule Saturday August 2:
Semi-Finals:
Australia – USA
Cuba – Korea
For Fifth to Eighth Place:
Canada – Taiwan
Mexico – Puerto Rico
For Ninth Place:
Netherlands – Italy
For Eleventh Place:
Russia – Czech Republic