Showing posts tagged “British Columbia”
Mike Potter ·
26 Jul 2009, 10:47 PM ·
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Start up that classic ’70s song from “Queen.”
USA Baseball’s National Team has won the World Baseball Challenge.
Drew Pomeranz (pictured) of Ole Miss took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, helping his team avenge an earlier defeat in an 8-1 pounding of Germany in the championship game in Prince George, B.C.
After the Germans scratched out a run in the first, the USA dominated the rest of the way.
Blake Forsythe of Tennessee tied the game in the bottom of the second with an RBI single. Then in the third, Rice’s Rick Hague added an RBI single and Texas-Arlington’s Michael Choice a solo homer over the left field fence.
The lead went to 6-1 in the fourth on a two-run double from Florida State’s Tyler Holt. Then in the eighth, Miami’s Yasmani Grandal and Middle Tennessee’s Bryce Brentz added solo homers.
Choice, Grandal, Pomeranz and UCLA’s Gerrit Cole were named to the all-tournament team. Choice earned the home-run hitting award with three while Hague took the best hitter award with a .474 average.
Team USA finished its season with a 19-5 record, with all five losses to teams from Eurasia.
The next over-18 USA team to play before the public will be the professional World Cup team, which will take on Canada for a three-game series in Cary beginning Sept. 3.
ACC, Baseball, USA Baseball Blake Forsythe, British Columbia, Bryce Brentz, Canada, Drew Pomeranz, Florida State, Germany, Gerrit Cole, Miami Hurricanes, Michael Choice, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi Rebels, Ole Miss, Prince George, Queen, Rice Owls, Rick Hague, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas-Arlington, Tyler Holt, UCLA, World Baseball Challenge, World Cup, Yasmani Grandal
Mike Potter ·
25 Jul 2009, 5:06 PM ·
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USA Baseball’s National Team captain Christian Colon (pictured) will be unavailable for Sunday’s championship game of the World Baseball Challenge in Prince George, B.C., after suffering a broken tibia and fibula Friday night.
Colon, the shortstop out of Cal State-Fullerton, was carried off the field in the top of the eighth after Canada’s Nic Lendvoy came in with a hard slide during a 5-6-3 double play. After the collision both benches cleared, but no further violence ensued.
The USA won the pitchers’ duel 1-0, after which the Americans declined to participate in a post-game handshake.
Colon is scheduled to receive additional medical treatment upon his return to Southern California on Sunday.
Team USA will face Germany, which gave the Americans their only loss in round-robin play, on Sunday at 7 p.m. (EDT) for the championship. The game will be streamed live online www.worldbaseball.ca.
Baseball, USA Baseball British Columbia, Cal State-Fullerton, Canada, Christian Colon, Germany, Nic Lendvoy, Prince George, World Baseball Challenge
Mike Potter ·
25 Jul 2009, 1:16 AM ·
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Gerrit Cole (pictured) delivered the goods just when USA Baseball’s National Team needed it.
The big right-hander out of UCLA fired a two-hitter late Friday night, leading his team to a 1-0 victory over Canada and a berth in Sunday’s championship game of the World Baseball Challenge in Prince George, B.C.
The USA, which finished with only three hits of its own, got its run in the bottom of the second. Miami’s Yasmani Grandal hit a two-out single, and then scored on a triple from Arkansas’ Andy Wilkins.
Cole struck out seven, walking one batter and hitting two and never allowing a runner to reach third. He struck out the side in the ninth inning.
Jordan Rawlyk pitched four innings for Canada while Eric Brown fired the last four.
The game was marred by an incident in the eighth inning, when the Canucks’ Nic Lendvoy slid hard into Cal State-Fullerton’s Christian Colon during the shortstop’s successful turn of a 5-6-3 double play. The benches cleared, albeit with no punches thrown, and Team USA declined to participate in a post-game handshake line with Colon still on a stretcher and undergoing treatment.
The title game is Sunday at 7 p.m. (EDT) with Ole Miss’ Drew Pomeranz expected to pitch for the USA in the team’s final game of the season. The other team in the final will be determined Saturday, when Germany and British Columbia square off for the right to play Canada for the title-game berth.
ACC, Baseball, USA Baseball Andy Wilkins, Arkansas Razorbacks, British Columbia, Cal State-Fullerton, Canada, Christian Colon, Drew Pomeranz, Eric Brown, Germany, Gerrit Cole, Jordan Rawlyk, Miami Hurricanes, Mississippi Rebels, Nic Lendvoy, Ole Miss, Prince George, UCLA, World Baseball Challenge, Yasmani Grandal
Mike Potter ·
23 Jul 2009, 10:41 PM ·
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Now they’re on a roll again.
USA Baseball’s National Team won its third straight game, walloping British Columbia 12-2 in a contest stopped by the mercy rule after eight innings, to earn the top seed for the medal round of the World Baseball Challenge in Prince George, B.C.
Rice’s Rick Hague, Middle Tennessee’s Bryce Brentz (pictured) and Texas-Arlington’s Michael Choice each homered during the big fifth-inning rally for the Red, White and Blue.
B.C. took a 2-0 lead off Cody Wheeler of Coastal Carolina as Devon Franklin hit a solo shot in the first and Mike Collins added another in the fourth.
The USA, batting in the bottom of each frame, evened the score in the fourth on an RBI double from Arkansas’ Andy Wilkins and a wild pitch by Corey Parsons.
The winners then exploded in the fifth as Hague blasted a solo shot, Brentz a two-run tater and Choice another solo clout for a 6-2 lead.
Wheeler (3-0) pitched seven full innings, striking out 10.
The USA will play its first medal-round game Friday night at 10 (EDT) against the No. 2 seed, Canada’s National Team, with UCLA’s Gerrit Cole on the hill. The winner will get an automatic spot in Sunday’s title game.
Baseball, USA Baseball Andy Wilkins, Arkansas Razorbacks, British Columbia, Bryce Brentz, Canada, Coastal Carolina, Cody Wheeler, Corey Parsons, Devon Franklin, Gerrit Cole, Michael Choice, Middle Tennessee, Mike Collins, Prince George Axemen, Rice Owls, Rick Hague, Texas-Arlington, UCLA, World Baseball Challenge
Mike Potter ·
23 Jul 2009, 1:49 AM ·
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Rice’s Rick Hague (pictured) went 3-for-4 with a homer Wednesday night, leading USA Baseball’s National Team to a 10-2 romp over the host Prince George Axemen at the World Baseball Challenge in British Columbia.
Team USA improved to 3-1 in round-robin play and into a three-way tie for first place, while the Axemen fell to 2-2.
The Axemen took the lead in the first inning on Darrin Doucette’s double, but the Americans responded with four runs in the fourth. The big blows in that inning were a solo homer from Texas-Arlington’s Michael Choice and a two-run shot from veteran Christian Colon of Cal State-Fullerton.
Hague homered to lead off the fifth, and the Americans added another run in the fifth and two in the sixth to put the game away.
Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray struck out five and allowed the one run in seven innings on the hill. Tom Nielsen went five innings in the loss.
The USA plays its final round-robin game today at 6 p.m. (EDT) against Team BC, which is also tied for first. Coastal Carolina’s Cody Wheeler is the scheduled starter for the USA.
The elimination round begins Saturday with the title game on Sunday at 7 p.m. (EDT).
Baseball, USA Baseball British Columbia, Cal State-Fullerton, Canada, Christian Colon, Coastal Carolina, Cody Wheeler, Darrin Doucette, Michael Choice, Prince George Axemen, Rice Owls, Rick Hague, Sonny Gray, Texas-Arlington, Tom Nielsen, Vanderbilt, World Baseball Challenge
Mike Potter ·
21 Jul 2009, 9:34 AM ·
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The Germans are apparently a lot better at baseball than most Americans might think.
Former Minnesota Twins farmhand Tim Henkenjohann (pictured) fired a solid 8 2/3 innings while teammates blasted three home runs, leading Germany to a 6-3 win over USA Baseball’s National Team in the World Baseball Challenge late Monday night in Prince George, British Columbia.
The USA is 1-1 so far in the six-team event, which includes three Canadian squads, while the Germans are 2-1. The tournament consists of a round-robin, moving on to the elimination round on Friday with the title game on Sunday at 7 (EDT).
Jendrick Speer had a solo homer and Simon Guerhing a two-run shot off Kansas’ T.J. Walz in the fourth inning to give the Germans the lead for good.
The Americans scored on an error in the fifth, but could get no closer.
Germany’s Michael Franke added a two-run homer in the sixth off Louisville’s Tony Zych, then made it 6-1 in the eighth on a balk from UCLA’s Trevor Bauer.
Miami’s Yasmani Grandal and Arizona State’s Matt Newman hit solo homers in the ninth to chase Henkenjohann before Martin Almstetter got the save.
Tonight at 10 (EDT) the USA will take on The Bahamas (0-3), with the Citadel’s Asher Wojciechowski on the hill.
ACC, Baseball, USA Baseball Arizona State, Bahamas, British Columbia, Canada, Jendrick Speer, Kansas Jayhawks, Louisville Cardinals, Matt Newman, Miami Hurricanes, Michael Franke, Minnesota Twins, Prince George, Simon Guerhing, T.J. Walz, The Citadel, Tim Henkenjohann, Tony Zych, Trevor Bauer, UCLA, World Baseball Challenge, Yasmani Grandal
Mike Potter ·
29 Jun 2009, 10:55 PM ·
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COLEMAN FIELD/CARY It’s the finale of the big five-game series between the USA National (Collegiate) Team and the high school boys from Canada.
Before the game there’s a huge networking event among a couple of dozen Chamber of Commerce organizations, etc. The Carolina Hurricanes and the Durham Bulls and the Carolina Railhawks all have booths, as do numerous well-known local restaurants. At least what serves as the press meal is healthy tonight - until they bring in the leftover chocolate chip cookies and cinnamon bagels.
Bill Coleman, long-time former Cary town manager, throws the ceremonial pitch on a night the stadium is dedicated in his name. It’s a lot friendlier moniker than the “National Training Complex,” huh?
Early in the game Cary Mayor Pro-Tem Julie Aberg Robison comes into the press box and sits for a bit. I can’t resist picking her brain for a little politics. One thing she points out is the need to raise awareness of what a classy complex the town has put together, and she’s absolutely right.
And since apparently I’m the only local keyboard media type covering this game - which the USA wins 9-3 - the problem is pretty apparent.
Anyway, the game gets going in front of a very polite crowd that seems as if it got lost going to a tennis or golf event. Not like DBAP or even Five County. Those wanting beer had to get it at the networking event.
So it gets going and nobody scores in the first. In the second, the USA run machine fires up. The hosts score two in the second on a hit and an error, then two more in the third with the first RBI hit by Michael Choice (pictured) of Texas-Arlington. Continue reading »
Baseball, Carolina Hurricanes, Carolina RailHawks, Durham Bulls, USA Baseball Asher Wojciechowski, Bill Coleman, British Columbia, Darren Kolk, Drew Pomeranz, Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Five County Stadium, Guatemala, Julie Aberg Robison, Kannapolis, Kellin Deglan, Langley, Michael Choice, Rick Jones, Texas-Arlington, The Citadel, Tulane, World Baseball Classic
