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U-18 Men’s National Team drops 10-3 decision to Guatemala at WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup

February 24, 2020

  U-18 Men’s National Team drops 10-3 decision to Guatemala at WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup


Palmerston North, New Zealand - - U-18 Men’s National Team drops 10-3 decision to Guatemala at WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup

 

U-18 Men’s National Team drops 10-3 decision to Guatemala at WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 24, 2020
Web Release: Link

 

Palmerston North, New Zealand – The USA Softball U-18 Men’s National Team (MNT) fell behind early and couldn’t come back in a 10-3 loss to Guatemala on Monday at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup.
 
Quickly loading the bases after a pair of walks and hit-by-pitch, Guatemala drew another walk off starting pitcher Parker Hopkins (Decatur, Ill.) to plate the first run of the game. Despite Josh Eurich (Sebewaing, Mich.) entering the circle, Guatemala’s offense kept at it as they scored another three runs for a four-run first inning. Ian Winterhalder (Murray, Utah) drew a walk and William Ponce (Olathe, Kan.) reached on a hit-by-pitch to place two runners aboard for the U.S., but Thomson grounded into a fielder’s choice before a strikeout ended the inning.
 
Guatemala’s offense capitalized on two triples, a single, a walk and sac fly to post another four-run inning and make it an 8-0 ballgame, while the U.S. was left scoreless through the second.
 
Looking to bounce back, the U.S. defense quickly collected three outs and kept Guatemala from scoring additional runs. A one-out double from Eli Rivas (Whittier, Calif.) energized the U.S. dugout and after back-to-back walks to Winterhalder and Klay Kilpatrick (Sydney, Australia) loaded the bases, Chase Thomson (Herriman, Utah) drew a walk to plate Rivas. Guatemala’s Morales issued another strikeout from the circle before Matthew Armitage (Evansville, Wisc) reached on a walk, making it an 8-2 ballgame after three innings of play.
 
The score remained 8-2 through the next two innings despite singles from Will Kirby (Millington, Mich.), Braden DuCharme (Hudson, Wisc.) and Thomson. A walk to Josh Pernetti (Ceres, Calif.) resulted in a bases-loaded opportunity for the Red, White and Blue in the bottom of the fifth, but two strikeouts and a fly out kept the runners at bay.
 
Retiring Guatemala in the top of the sixth, Rivas stepped up to the plate with one out and sent a 2-1 pitch out of the park to make it 8-3. Rivas’ home run was the second of the tournament for the U.S. squad after Thomson’s in the U.S. game against New Zealand.
 
Eurich struck out the first two batters in the final inning before Guatemala battled back and scored another two runs, proving to be enough as the U.S. fell 10-3 in Game 3 of the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup.
 
Thomson and Rivas led the team with two hits apiece, while Hopkins took the loss after giving up four runs in the opening frame. Team USA returns to action to face Denmark Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 12:00 pm local time, before an additional match up against No. 1 Japan (Feb. 26 at 2:30 p.m. local time).
   
 A total of 50 games will be played across nine days as participating countries fight for the Gold. Team USA joins Denmark, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, and New Zealand in Pool B while Argentina, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Singapore, and South Africa are set to compete in Pool A.
 
The 12 participating countries will compete in a five-day Opening Round with the top three teams from each pool advancing to the Super Round, while the remaining six teams will compete in the Placement Round held Feb. 27-29. The top two teams will then advance to the World Championship game on March 1 at 4 p.m. local time while the third and fourth-place teams will battle for the Bronze Medal at 1 p.m. local time.
 
The U.S. squad looks to improve upon their fifth-place finish at the 2019 Pan American Championship and most recent WBSC World Cup where they finished in eighth place.
 
All 50 games of the tournament will be available globally and free to watch for U.S. residents through the WBSC Official OTT platform Game Time (Gametime.Sport) and the WBSC Official YouTube Channel, per the WBSC.
 
Follow along with the USA Softball National Team Programs at USASoftball.com

About USA Softball
USA Softball (USAS) is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USAS sanctions competition through a network of Local Associations, which includes all 50 states and select metro associations.  USAS is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch.  USAS annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships.  The USAS umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.

As the NGB for the sport of softball, USAS is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USAS, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.com.

 

 

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