Showing posts tagged “Venezuela”

USA Baseball tops Cubans, will face them again in Sunday’s finale

Mike Potter · 25 Sep 2009, 12:11 AM · Comment


usatiffeTeam USA won the warmup game, and now the Americans just have to wait until Sunday to see if they can repeat it and win the IBAF World Cup championship game again.

A two-run homer from Terry Tiffee (pictured) provided the biggest blow on Thursday in Nettuno, Italy, giving the Red, White and Blue a 5-3 victory over Cuba in pool play.

Team USA, which has won 12 straight games since dropping its tournament opener to Venezuela in an extra-inning tiebreaker, will attempt to defend its title on Sunday. The USA is 1-6 against the Cubans in World Cup finals.

Jason Castro had an RBI single for the Americans. Lucas Harrell was the winning pitcher in relief of Trevor Reckling, while Ehren Wasserman collected the save.

Team USA will take on The Netherlands while Cuba plays Canada in their final pool play games today.

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Revenge win clinches medal-round spot for USA Baseball

Mike Potter · 22 Sep 2009, 9:24 PM · Comment


usaalvare1Team USA took advantage of a balanced offense, avenging its only loss of the IBAF World Cup with a 6-3 win over Venezuela in Florence, Italy.

The result clinched for the Red, White and Blue a spot in the tournament’s medal round this weekend.

Pedro Alvarez (pictured) ripped his fourth homer of the tournament for the Americans, while Tug Hulett was 2-for-2 with a pair of runs and veteran Terry Tiffee added two RBI.

Trevor Plouffe extended his hitting streak to 10 games in the win.

Brad Lincoln (2-0) pitched 6 2/3 innings in the victory while Team USA’s fourth pitcher of the night, Geno Espinelli, picked up his first save.

Team USA is 4-0 in Round 3 because of a 3-0 record against Pool G qualifying opponents, and held a 2 1/2-game lead over Australia, Canada and Chinese Taipei following the win.

The next game is against Puerto Rico on Wednesday at 2 p.m. (EDT) in Florence.

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Plouffe walk-off gives USA Baseball No. 1 seed in group

Mike Potter · 21 Sep 2009, 8:01 PM · Comment


usaploufTrevor Plouffe’s walk-off homer made the difference as Team USA beat Australia 4-3 in the IBAF World Cup in Bologna, Italy, clinching the top seed in Group G for the Final Round.

After the Aussies took a 1-0 lead, Justin Smoak extended his team record with his ninth homer of the tournament to tie the game in the sixth. Former Durham Bull Jon Weber gave the Red, White and Blue the lead with an RBI grounder later in the inning.

Australia scored twice in the seventh, but Plouffe (pictured) tied the score again with an RBI grounder in the bottom of the frame to make it 3-3.

His two out homer to left in the ninth then ended the game.

Cory Luebke had a six-inning quality start in the no-decision. Former Durham Bull Jason Childers then added two innings of scoreless relief, striking out three, before Ehren Wasserman got the win in his first decision of the tournament.

The USA will take on Venezuela today at 2 p.m. (EDT) in Firenze, Italy. Venezuela defeated Team USA in its first game of the tournament, 13-9 in an extra-inning tiebreaker.

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Rodriguez will be skipper for USA Baseball World Cup Team

Mike Potter · 20 Aug 2009, 11:58 PM · Comment


usarodriEddie Rodriguez will have the reins for USA Baseball’s World Cup Team in September.

Rodriguez and his staff will lead a team made up of players not currently on 25-man big league rosters in the International Baseball Federation’s (IBAF) world championships. Team USA is the defending champion in the event.

The U.S. team will play its pool games in Regensburg, Germany, against Venezuela, China and the Germans, with the remainder of the tournament in The Netherlands and Italy.

Rodriguez’s staff will include pitching coach Kirk Champion, hitting coach Ernie Young, third base/bench coach Jamie Quirk and bullpen coach Rolando “Roly” de Armas.

The team, which will be named Aug. 30, will assemble in Cary and play friendlies against Canada from Sept. 3-6.

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