Showing posts tagged “Japan”
Mike Potter ·
5 Nov 2009, 5:46 PM ·
2 Comments
The Koreans are coming to the Triangle.
USA Baseball has announced that its Collegiate National Team will square off in a five-game friendly series with the Republic of Korea from July 14-18, with the first two of five games in Cary and the final two in Durham.
Korea, currently ranked No. 3 in the world, will be the highest-ranked visiting team in the Triangle since USA Baseball’s headquarters relocated here in 2003. The USA is ranked No. 2 and Cuba No. 1.
Korea’s last visit was in 2006, when the Americans won two out of three games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Korea’s Collegiate National Team last visited North Carolina in 2006, playing the U.S. in a three-game series at the DBAP. Team USA took the series two games to one.
The Triangle games will be July 14 at 7 p.m. and July 15 at 7:30, both at Cary’s Coleman Field. Games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park - which will be part of the Bulls’ season-ticket and some mini-plan packages - are July 17 at 7:05 p.m. and July 18 at 5:05. The location for a July 16 game has not been announced.
USA Baseball has also announced some name changes for its top teams. The former National Team will now be known as the Collegiate National Team, partly to avoid confusion with various youth age-group and women’s “National Teams” sponsored by the organization.
There will also no longer be an entity called the “Professional Team;” instead the World Cup Team and World Baseball Classic Team will simply be referred to by the primary event in which they will participate.
The organization also had two personnel transactions, as Nate Logan was named Director of the 14U National team and Ashley Bratcher Director, Operations & Women’s National Team.
Baseball, Durham Bulls, USA Baseball Ashley Bratcher, Cuba, Japan, Korea, Nate Logan
Mike Potter ·
15 Sep 2009, 10:45 PM ·
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Justin Smoak (pictured) and Terry Tiffee blasted back-to-back homers in the third inning, leading defending champion Team USA to a 4-2 win over Japan at the IBAF World Cup in Macerata, Italy.
Brad Lincoln pitched 7 1/3 innings in the victory before a sellout crowd at Stadio Comunale, while Nate Field collected the save.
The USA is 3-0 in the second round, while Japan is 1-1.
Trevor Plouffe’s seventh-inning double added an insurance run for the Red, White and Blue in the seventh.
Smoak’s homer was his sixth of the competition, tying the USA Baseball record for a single World Cup. Tino Martinez hit half a dozen in 1988.
Team USA’s next game is against Chinese Taipei on Thursday at 2 p.m. (EDT) in Turin. Todd Redmond (1-0) is the scheduled starter.
Baseball, USA Baseball Brad Lincoln, Chinese Taipei, Italy, Japan, Justin Smoak, Nate Field, Terry Tiffee, Tino Martinez, Todd Redmond, Trevor Plouffe
Mike Potter ·
14 Sep 2009, 9:11 PM ·
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Justin Smoak smacked a pair of homers, and Team USA had its best game so far in the IBAF World Cup in an 11-1 rout of the Netherlands Antilles in Verona, Italy.
Lucas May homered in the third inning while former Durham Bull Jon Weber (pictured) and Smoak each homered in the fourth to give the defending champion USA a 5-0 lead.
Smoak added a three-run homer in the seventh, sparking the Red, White and Blue to the 11-1 lead.
The game was stopped at the end of the seventh inning because of the IBAF’s 10-run rule.
Starter Kasey Kiker struck out seven batters in four innings for Team USA, while Lucas Harrell came on to strike out two batters over the last three innings for the win.
Weber and May each went 3-for-4 in the win.
The USA’s next game is against Japan today at 2 p.m. (EDT) in Macerata, Italy. Brad Lincoln is the Americans’ scheduled starter.
Baseball, Durham Bulls, USA Baseball Brad Lincoln, Italy, Japan, Jon Weber, Justin Smoak, Kasey Kiker, Lucas Harrell, Lucas May, Netherlands Antilles
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 ·
15 Jul 2009, 10:23 PM ·
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It’s all coming down to one last game.
Japanese pitching combined for 14 strikeouts, leading the home team to an 8-3 win over USA Baseball’s National Team in Game 4 of their 37th annual Collegiate Friendship Series in Tsuruoka.
The result meant Thursday’s Game 5, at 5 a.m. (EDT) at Tokyo’s Jungu Stadium, will determine the winner of the series.
The Japanese took a 3-0 lead off UCLA’s Trevor Bauer (1-1). Takahiro Araki hit a two-run single in the first and Shota Ishimine added an RBI single in the second.
Tennessee’s Blake Forsythe (pictured) made it 3-1 with an RBI single in the third, but the Americans would get no closer.
Shingo Kamegai’s two-run homer in the fourth was the biggest hit for the winners.
Nao Higashihama got the victory in relief.
Baseball, USA Baseball Blake Forsythe, Japan, Jungu Stadium, Nao Higashihama, Shingo Kamegai, Shota Ishimine, Takahiro Araki, Tennessee Volunteers, Trevor Bauer, Tsuruoka, UCLA
Mike Potter ·
14 Jul 2009, 10:05 AM ·
1 Comment
A three-run homer in the fourth inning from Christian Colon (pictured) of Cal State-Fullerton provided the big blow as USA Baseball’s National Team blew past Japan 8-4, giving the Americans a 2 games to 1 lead in their 37th annual best-of-5 Collegiate Friendship Series.
Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray (2-0) pitched 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to hold down the Japanese, who scored three times in the first inning to delight the partisan crowd in Sendai. Takahiro Araki had an RBI triple and Masayoshi Kato a two-run triple in Japan’s big rally.
Team USA scored four runs in the second to take the lead for good. After Tennessee’s Blake Forsythe hit an RBI single to being in Yasmani Grandal of Miami, Florida State’s Tyler Holt, Clemson’s Brad Miller and Colon followed with RBI singles.
After Colon’s game-deciding heroics, Keiji Nakahara homered for the Japanese in the bottom of the frame.
Yusuke Nomura took the loss.
Game 4 is Wednesday at 5 a.m. (EDT) in Tsuruoka.
Baseball, USA Baseball Add new tag, Blake Forsythe, Brad Miller, Cal State-Fullerton, Christian Colon, Clemson, Florida State, Japan, Keiji Nakahara, Masayoshi Kato, Miami Hurricanes, Sendai, Sonny Gray, Takahiro Araki, Tennessee Volunteers, Tsuroka, Tyler Holt, Vanderbilt, Yasmani Grandal, Yusuke Nomura
Mike Potter ·
13 Jul 2009, 9:28 AM ·
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Six unearned runs in one inning will do it every time.
Japan rallied for a half-dozen in the third inning, and then held on for a 7-5 victory over USA Baseball’s National Team at the Tokyo Dome to tie the 37th Collegiate Friendship Series at one win apiece.
It’s an annual best-of-5 series, and Game 5 will be played even if somebody sweeps the next two.
Yuki Saito, a national hero in Japan known as “The Handkerchief Prince,” was the winning pitcher while Ole Miss’ Drew Pomeranz (2-1) took the loss.
Arizona State’s Matt Newman (pictured) - who finished 3-for-5 with four RBI - and Arkansas’ Andy Wilkins had RBI singles to give the USA a 2-0 lead in the first.
But the hosts got their six runs in the third after a Pomeranz throwing error. Takanori Sato’s two-run double was the big hit in the frame.
Japan made it 7-2 on a wild pitch from Kansas’ T.J. Walz in the sixth inning.
The Americans responded with three in the seventh on Newman’s bases-clearing double, but could get no closer.
Game 3 is Tuesday at 5 a.m. (EDT) in Sendai, Japan.
Baseball, USA Baseball, Uncategorized Andy Wilkins, Arizona State, Arkansas Razorbacks, Drew Pomeranz, Handkerchief Prince, Japan, Kansas Jayhawks, Matt Newman, Mississippi Rebels, Ole Miss, T.J. Walz, Takanori Sato, Tokyo Dome, Yuki Saito
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 ·
10 Jul 2009, 11:55 AM ·
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The 35-game winning streak for USA Baseball’s National Team is a thing of the past.
Takayuki Fujii hit a two-run triple, part of a three-run rally that got his team going as Budo University whipped the Red, White and Blue 7-1 on Friday in Chiba, Japan.
The game was the opener of a six-game tour of Japan, which includes the five games of the 37th annual Friendship Series with the Japanese National Team beginning late Saturday night (EDT).
That is the most important series of the year for Team USA, which committed three errors against Budo.
The USA, batting in the bottom of the innings, scored its run in the first. Florida State’s Tyler Holt (pictured), who finished with two hits, reached on a two-base error and scored on a grounder from Tennessee’s Blake Forsythe.
Asher Wojciechowski of The Citadel took the loss.
UCLA’s Gerrit Cole is the scheduled starter for the USA in the opener of the Friendship Series.
ACC, Baseball, USA Baseball Asher Wojciechowski, Blake Forsythe, Budo University, Florida State, Friendship Series, Gerrit Cole, Japan, Takayuki Fujii, Tennessee Volunteers, The Citadel, Tyler Holt, UCLA
Mike Potter ·
6 Jul 2009, 11:21 PM ·
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Domestic opposition may be giving USA Baseball’s National Team its first serious competition of the season, but for the second straight day the Red, White and Blue won a three-run victory.
Bryce Brentz (pictured) of Middle Tennessee led the way with a double and a single for two RBI in a 5-2 victory over the Holyoke Blue Sox of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
The crowd of 4,811 was a park record.
Jake Rosenbeck of Buffalo homered for Holyoke in the first inning off Kansas’ eventual winning pitcher T.J. Walz (2-0), just the second homer USA pitching has allowed this season.
The USA set a National Team club record with 11 stolen bases in the contest, with four steals from Cal State-Fullerton’s Christian Colon setting a new individual mark.
The Red, White and Blue’s winning streak is 35 games. Tuesday’s scheduled contest with the NECBL’s North Shore Navigators in Lynn, Mass., has been cancelled because of rain. The team now heads to Japan for six games including the annual five-game Friendship Series with its Japanese counterpart.
Baseball, USA Baseball Bryce Brentz, Buffalo Bulls, Christian Colon, Holyoke Blue Sox, Jake Rosenbeck, Japan, Kansas Jayhawks, Lynn, Middle Tennessee, NECBL, North Shore Navigators, T.J. Walz
