U-18 Men’s National Team drops final pool play game at WBSC U-18 Men’s World Cup

February 26, 2020

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U-18 Men’s National Team drops final pool play game at WBSC U-18 Men’s World Cup
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 26, 2020
Web Release: Link

 

Palmerston North, New Zealand – In their fifth and final game of pool play at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup, the USA Softball U-18 Men’s National Team (MNT) fell 10-0 (four innings) to Japan at Colquhoun Park. William Ponce (Olathe, Kan.) and Eli Rivas (Whittier, Calif.) accounted for the sole two hits of the game for the U.S. squad.
 
Giving the Red, White and Blue a promising start, Rivas led off the game with a single to right field. Three consecutive outs followed his at-bat to end the half inning, while Japan’s offense quickly scored three runs on a triple, two singles and a walk.
 
A strikeout and pair of groundouts kept the U.S. offense off the bags, while the defense responded with a 1-2-3 inning themselves in the second inning.
 
Fans saw the U-18 MNT go down in order and Japan put up four runs in the third inning for a 7-0 ballgame. A leadoff walk would score after stealing second and crossing home on a U.S. error. A sac fly and inside-the-park home run soon gave Japan the seven-run advantage.
 
The U.S. squad put themselves in scoring position in the top of the fourth inning when Ian Winterhalder (Murray, Utah) led off with a walk and advanced to third after a double from Ponce. Unfortunately, back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout ended the U.S. threat. Meanwhile, Japan plated two after an RBI triple with no outs and despite Josh Eurich (Sebewaing, Mich.) entering the circle and replacing Chase Thomson (Herriman, Utah), a walk put runners on the corners before a single locked up the run-rule victory for Japan.
 
Thomson took the loss after allowing six earned runs on eight hits through three innings of work. Ponce and Rivas each went 1-for-2 in the game. The U.S. finishes pool play at the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup with a 1-4 record and will move onto the Placement Round.
 
The 12 participating countries have competed in a five-day Opening Round with the top three teams from each pool advancing to the Super Round, while the remaining six teams are set to compete in the Placement Round 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.
   
All 50 games of the tournament are 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.