Despite outhitting opponents, Team USA falls 3-2 to Venezuela at WBSC Men's World Championship

July 1, 2015

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July 1, 2015

Despite outhitting opponents, Team USA falls 3-2 to Venezuela at WBSC Men's World Championship

Box Score

 

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Canada  - In a late evening game at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men's World Championship on Tuesday evening, the USA Softball Men's National Team dropped a 3-2 decision to Venezuela the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today.  Despite outhitting Venezuela, Team USA suffered their second loss at the WBSC Men's World Championship, moving to 3-2 in pool play action.   

 

Click here for full coverage from the WBSC Men's World Championship

 

"It was a tough loss. Unfortunately we didn't get any close calls," said USA Head Coach Denny Bruckert (Gillespie, Ill.).  "I thought we played a solid ball game defensively and it very easily could have been a 2-0 ball game. All we have to do is set this aside and get a win tomorrow." 

 

It was almost an upset victory over the current No. 2 Men's Fast Pitch team in the world as Team USA dropped a close 3-2 decision to Venezuela on Tuesday evening.  Though the U.S. had a great outing by pitcher Tony Mancha (Las Cruces, N.M.), Team USA was held to just three hits throughout the seven inning contest. 

 

The U.S. got on board first in the bottom of the second inning when Frank DeGroat (Ringwood, N.J.) hit a shot to centerfield for a leadoff triple.  A walk to Nick Mullins (Toms River, N.J.) would put runners on the corner for Team USA before Chris Heinline (Columbia, Mo.) connected for a single to center field to plate DeGroat and give the U.S. an early 1-0 lead.

 

The lead would not last long, however, as Venezuela responded with two runs of their own in the top of the third inning.  A leadoff walk and a single put two runners on base before a passed ball tied up the game at one run apiece.  Mancha issued back-to-back strikeouts to try to squash a Venezuela rally, however a delayed steal by the runner at first base allowed third base runner Carlos Ojeda to cross the plate to give Venezuela a 2-1 lead.

 

Team USA tied up the game in the bottom half of the frame when Derrick Zechman (Watsontown, Pa.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.  Back-to-back walks to Matt Palazzo (Pleasant Hill, Iowa) and Josh Johnson (El Paso, Texas) loaded the bases for the U.S. when Kris Bogach (Huguenot, N.Y.) collected an RBI with a ground out to short stop. 

 

Venezuela would take the final lead of the game in the top of the fourth inning in a rare rough outing by Mancha.  A leadoff walk put Luiger Pinto on the base path for Venezuela, advancing to second base on a wild pitch from Mancha.  Pinto followed up by stealing third base before another wild pitch from Mancha would allowed him to score the eventual game-winning run.

 

It was three-up and three-down for the U.S. until the bottom of the seventh inning with the Red, White and Blue down to their final at-bat.  Needing to push at least one run across to keep the game going, Heinline would reach on a fielding error by the second baseman with one out.  The rally was unable to be completed, however, as a strikeout and a ground out to shortstop ended the game with the U.S. coming out on the wrong side of a 3-2 decision.

 

"We had our opportunities but couldn't get that big hit with two outs," said USA infielder Matt Palazzo.  "We put ourselves in a position to win the game and Tony threw a great game. We will bounce back tomorrow against a very tough Australia team."

 

Team USA now moves to 3-2 at the WBSC Men's World Championship and are slated for a 7 pm CST match with Australia this evening.  Fans at home can follow along with live stats and live streaming for the entire WBSC Men's World Championship at www.ASAUSASoftball.com. 

 

About ASA/USA Softball


Founded in 1933, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball is the National Governing Body Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, ASA/USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 74 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.5 million.  ASA/USA is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Championship titles as well as claimed eight World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about ASA/USA Softball, please visit http://www.asausasoftball.com/.

 

About the World Baseball Softball Confederation

Headquartered in the Olympic Capital city of Lausanne, Switzerland, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) was established in April 2013 and granted recognition as the sole competent authority in baseball and softball by the International Olympic Committee at the 125th IOC Session in September 2013. The WBSC represents a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes worldwide. The WBSC governs all international competitions involving any of the National Teams of its 141 National Federation members.  The WBSC oversees the Softball World Championships, The Premier 12, the World Baseball Classic, and the U12, U15, U18, U21 and Women's Baseball World Cups.  For further information, please go to www.WBSC.co or follow the WBSC on Twitter at @WBSC.

 

 

Codi Warren

 

Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications

Amateur Softball Association of America/USA Softball

Office 405.425.3431 | Cell 405. 420. 2817