Showing posts tagged “Chad Bettis”
Mike Potter ·
16 Jul 2009, 5:22 PM ·
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It all ended in an extra-inning heartbreaker.
USA Baseball’s National Team came within a whisker of knocking off homestanding Japan in their 37th annual Collegiate Friendship Series, but a pair of errors in the 11th inning spelled doom in an 8-7 loss at Jingu Stadium in the deciding Game 5.
Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray made an errant pickoff attempt to move Shota Kioke to third base with two outs. And then the team’s only returning player from last season, Cal State-Fullerton’s Christian Colon, kicked a ground ball at short to give the Japanese the victory.
The Americans seemed to have the game in hand through 8 ½ innings after scoring three times in the top of the ninth for a 7-4 lead. After Tomoyuki Sugano misplayed a sacrifice bunt to score Hawaii’s Kolten Wong (pictured), Clemson’s Brad Miller added insurance with a single to right and Florida State’s Tyler Holt followed with a sacrifice fly.
But Japan answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame off Texas Tech’s Chad Bettis. Masayoshi Kato hit a two-run triple to chase Bettis before Keiji Nakahara greeted Gray (2-1) with a single to right center.
Yusuke Nomura (1-0) got the win for Japan.
Rice’s Rick Hague led the USA with a homer and a single.
Team USA will travel to Prince George, British Columbia, for the Enbridge Northern Gateway World Baseball Challenge beginning Sunday at 10 p.m. (EDT) against Canada.
ACC, Baseball, USA Baseball Brad Miller, Cal State-Fullerton, Canada, Chad Bettis, Christian Colon, Clemson, Florida State, Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, Japan, Jingu Stadium, Keiji Nakahara, Kolten Wong, Masayoshi Kato, Rice Owls, Rick Hague, Shota Kioke, Sonny Gray, Texas Tech, Tomoyuki Sugano, Tyler Holt, Vanderbilt, Yusuke Nomura
Mike Potter ·
12 Jul 2009, 9:34 AM ·
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Score one for the Red, White and Blue.
USA Baseball’s National Team got the kind of pitching performance it was looking for, as UCLA’s Gerrit Cole (pictured) struck out nine in seven innings in a 3-0 victory over Japan in the opener of the college squads’ 37th annual Friendship Series in Matsuyama, Japan.
It was the opener of their best-of-5 series, in which all five games are set to be played even if someone clinches early.
Cole allowed just two hits and one walk in his stint before Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray and Chad Bettis of Texas Tech each fired one inning of relief. Karuhito Futagami took the loss for the Japanese, who had only one runner reach third base.
The USA scored twice in the fourth inning. Florida State’s Tyler Holt singled, and then Christian Colon of Cal State-Fullerton tripled before Arizona State’s Matt Newman followed with a single.
Keiji Nakahara had a seventh-inning triple for the Japanese.
Andy Wilkins of Arkansas hit an RBI single in the ninth to add an insurance run.
Game 2 is Monday at 5 a.m. (EDT) at the Tokyo Dome, with Ole Miss’ Drew Pomeranz on the hill for the USA.
ACC, Baseball, USA Baseball Arizona State, Arkansas Razorbacks, Cal State-Fullerton, Chad Bettis, Christian Colon, Drew Pomeranz, Florida State, Gerrit Cole, Japan, Karuhito Futagami, Keiji Nakahare, Matsuyama, Matt Newman, Mississippi Rebels, Ole Miss, Sonny Gray, Texas Tech, Tokyo Dome, Tyler Holt, UCLA, Vanderbilt
Mike Potter ·
5 Jul 2009, 7:10 PM ·
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Finally, a competitive game.
USA Baseball’s National Team took on an outside domestic opponent for the first time this season, beating the All-Stars of the New England Collegiate Baseball League 4-1 on Sunday in Manchester, N.H.
t was the first time Team USA, which opened with a five-game series against Canada’s 18U team followed by a four-game set against a weak Guatemala club, had beaten an opponent by fewer than six runs this season.
The contest was part of a doubleheader, the second half being an Eastern League squabble between the host New Hampshire Fisher Cats and the Portland Sea Dogs.
Team USA, which has won 34 straight games going back to last season, led 3-0 before the NECBL picked up its only run in the fifth.
Coastal Carolina’s Cody Wheeler (pictured), who gave up the NECBL’s only two hits, improved to 2-0 with seven strikeouts in five innings while Texas Tech’s Chad Bettis cashed in on his team’s first save opportunity of the season.
Michael Choice of Texas-Arlington led the USA’s 13-hit attack with three hits including a double that was the game’s only extra-base hit, while Middle Tennessee’s Bryce Brentz added three singles.
Team USA will visit the Holyoke (Mass.) Blue Sox of the NECBL tonight.
Baseball, USA Baseball Bryce Brentz, Canada, Chad Bettis, Coastal Carolina, Cody Wheeler, Eastern League, Guatemala, Holyoke Blue Sox, Manchester, Michael Choice, Middle Tennessee, NECBL, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Portland Sea Dogs, Texas Tech, Texas-Arlington
Mike Potter ·
2 Jul 2009, 11:14 PM ·
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COLEMAN FIELD/CARY It’s Game 2 of the USA National Team series against Guatemala, and the main suspense is to see whether or not the visitors can get closer than Wednesday night’s 15-1 loss in Kannapolis.
It’s partly cloudy and warm - temperatures in the high ’80s - and the crowd for this one is pretty sparse.
There are no food freebies for the media tonight. Bummer. At least I’ve called ahead to find out and had a good meal at home with the family.
Already today I’ve been at Durham Bulls Athletic Park to do an interview with a player for a “Top 50 prospects” project for a baseball website.
The Bulls weren’t home on Wednesday either and neither were the Carolina Mudcats, making it one of those rare days since March on which there wasn’t at least one high quality baseball game in the Triangle.
That off-day gave me some time for some serious exploration of Facebook, which I had never bothered to join until last weekend. I’m going to start posting my Indy posts to my page every day, as well as putting them all on Twitter, where I am “mikepotterrdu.”
Guatemala has about the widest age range I have ever seen on a baseball team that plays together regularly. Infilelder Jorge Gutierrez, who got the only two hits on Wednesday, is 42, while center fielder Manuel Hernandez is 16.
And apparently on what turns out to be an historic night, I am the only journalist covering the game for local media (Baseball America is also in the house) as the USA wins 10-0 on the first regular-season no-hitter in team history. UCLA’s Gerrit Cole (pictured), The Citadel’s Asher Wojciechowski, Tulane’s Nick Pepitone and Texas Tech’s Chad Bettis team up for the feat. (The 9-0 win against Canada in 2004 at DBAP was during the team’s “trials” phase.) Continue reading »
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats, Durham Bulls, USA Baseball Andy Wilkins, Arkansas Razorbacks, Asher Wojciechowski, Baseball America, Blake Forsythe, Bryce Brentz, Cal State-Fullerton, Canada, Casey McGrew, Chad Bettis, Christian Colon, Facebook, Follow us on Twitter!, Gerrit Cole, Guatemala, Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, Jorge Gutierrez, Manuel Hernandez, Middle Tennessee, Nick Pepitone, Rick Jones, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas Tech, The Citadel, Trevor Bauer, Tulane, UCLA, Wright State
