Three days at the 2010 Intercontinental Cup in Taiwan are done. On Monday Italy clinched its medal-round ticket with a 5-2 victory over Nicaragua. The other two European participants in the tournament, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic were off at the first day of the week. In other games action, Cuba, Japan and Taiwan celebrated shutouts.
Intercontinental Cup 2010, Day 3, Monday, October 25:
Italy – Nicaragua 5-2
NIC 000 100 010 2 8 1 ITA 011 000 003 5 10 1 Win: Maestri, A.; Loss: Perez Videa, J.
A walk-off three-run homerun by Juan Carlos Infante with two outs in the bottom of the ninth lifted Italy to a 5-2 victory over Nicaragua on Monday afternoon at the Intercontinental Stadium in Taichung City. The team of manager Marco Mazzieri had taken an early 2-0 lead after three innings thanks to RBI doubles by Alex Sambucci and Jairo Ramos Gizzi.
But Nicaragua came back. A RBI groundout by Blandon cut the deficit to a run in the top of the fourth. A RBI single by Carlos Urbin Reyas tied the game in the eighth. In the ninth Sambucci and Leonardo Zileri reached with one out. After Tony Granato grounded into a fielder’s choice to second and avoided the double play, Infante stepped to the plate and hit a 1-0 pitch over the fence in right field to seal the win for the Squadra Azzurri.
Tiago Da Silva (ITA) struck out seven batters in 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on four hits and a walk. Igna Pena Centeno (NIC) issued five hits, two runs and three bb in five innings. Alessandro Maestri (W 1-0) received the win after replacing Marco Grifantini with a runner on second in the ninth and keeping him stranded. Justo Em Perez Videa (L 0-1) took the loss.
Japan – Thailand 15-0 (5)
THA 000 00 0 0 3 JPN 105 54 15 15 0 Win: Kasahara, S.; Loss: Kamolphan, K.
Japan not only shut out Thailand 15-0 in five innings, but starting pitcher Shoki Kasahara (W 1-0) didn’t allow a hit in the complete game win. He only issued two walks, while striking out five of the 17 batters he faced. Takahiro Iwamoto went 3-for-3 with a homerun, a triple, two runs scored and two RBI to lead Team Nippon at the plate. Shota Ohmine and Tubasa Aizawa combined for six RBI. Kanjanavis Kamolphan (L 0-1) was charged with 14 hits, eleven runs and three walks in four innings.
Hong Kong – Taiwan 0-10 (7)
TPE 011 024 2 10 17 2 HON 000 000 0 0 2 3 Win: Lin, C.-H.; Loss: Leung Y. C.
Taiwan celebrated its third win in three days, shutting out Hong Kong 10-0 in seven innings. Chen-Hua Lin (W 1-0) went the distance, allowing just two hits, while striking out nine. He retired the last 16 batters he faced. At the plate Chih-Sheng Lin and Chun-Hsiu Chen combined for six hits, three triples, two doubles, four runs scored and five RBI. Yu Chung Leung (L 0-1) gave up ten runs (8 ER) on 17 hits in seven innings to take the loss.
Cuba – South Korea 3-0
KOR 000 000 000 0 4 0 CUB 110 000 10X 3 12 2 Win: Vera, N.; Loss: Jin, H. S.
After having Sunday off, Cuba returned to the field on Monday with a 3-0 victory over South Korea, handing the 2008 Olympic champion its second loss in three games. Norge Vera (W 1-0) and Yulieski Gonzalez combined to hold the Korean offense to a combined four hits and a walk through nine innings. On offense Alfredo Despaigne and Yulieski Gourriel earned hitters of the day honors by going a combined 7-for-8. Despaigne put Cuba in front in the opening period, when he drove in Hector Olivera with a single. In the second frame Gourriel added a second run with a solo homerun. The third baseman, who missed the cycle by a triple, also scored the third and final run in the bottom of the seventh, crossing the plate on a RBI single by Ariel Pestano. Hae Soo Jin (L 0-1) took the loss after facing four hitters in the first inning.
Standings:
Group A:
- Taiwan 3-0
- Cuba 2-0
- South Korea 1-2
- Czech Republic 0-2
- Hong Kong 0-2
Group B:
- Japan 2-0
- Netherlands 2-0
- Italy 2-1
- Thailand 0-2
- Nicaragua 0-3
Schedule Day 4:
Tuesday, October 26:
- 6.30am Hong Kong – Czech Republic
- 6.30am Thailand – Nicaragua
- 12.30pm Netherlands – Japan
- 12.30pm Taiwan – Cuba
(Times are in European Central Time)
Complete Schedule and Live Play by Play on IBAF.org
Photo: © Ezio Ratti/FIBS
Cuba-Taiwan live now!
http://www.justin.tv/aliao#/w/496989920
Thanks. I missed the game. How was the quality?
It was pretty good. Check this stream during gametimes:
http://www.justin.tv/aliao (It seems to be online only during the Taiwan-games, and hopefully for the final.)