Premier 12: fourth round

In the fourth round of the Premier 12 tournament, there was perhaps one surprise. The game between Cuba and Taiwan had an unexpected outcome.

Group A

  Italy  0  –  4  Canada  

Unbeaten Canada took on Italy that was still without a win. Jared Mortesen (seven innings) and Jared Kyle (two innings) shut out Italy in nine innings. Mortesen gave up five hits and struck out just three, but still he kept the Italian lineup in check. Even though Italy had runners on third in the seventh and the eighth inning they could not take advantage of the situation.
Canada on their turn needed two two run innings to clinch the win. In the first inning Tyler O’Neill hit a two run homerun and in the fourth, with runners in scoring position, Canada scored on a sac fly by Sklyler Stromsmoe and a bunt towards third base by  Sean Jamieson. Third baseman Juan Carlos Infante made a throwing error that allowed Tyson Gillies to score.
Jared Mortesen earned the win. Sean Jamieson was the best Canadian hitter, going 2 for 4 with an RBI.

  Cuba  1  –  4  Chinese Taipei  

For the biggest part of the game, both teams kept each other in check rather well. Taiwan scored the opening run in the bottom of the second as Yung-Chi Chen scored from third on a single by Dai-Kang Yang. The Cubans tied the game in the top of the sixth. Yulieski Gurriel tripled and scored thanks to a fielding error by shortstop Yen-Wen Kuo as he made a miscue on Alfredo Despaigne’s “hit”.
It would take Taiwan until the eighth before a homerun of Chih-Sheng Lin drove in three runs for the win.
Wei-Lun Pan lasted only 0.1 inning in relief (in the eighth) but he was tabbed with the win. He gave up one run but managed to make the needed out to get out of the inning.
Kuo-Hui Kao went 3 for 4. Chih-Sheng Lin of course had the most impact with his game winning homerun.

Standings Group A

Group B

  Dominican Republic  6  –  8  Venezuela  

Until the sixth inning the Dominican Republic could hope for their first win of the season as they had a lead over Venezuela.
Venezuela scored the opening run in the first inning but the Dominicans bouned back in the top of the second. Teoscar Hernandez led off the second inning with a single, followed by a single hit by Miguel Olivio on which Hernandez advanced to third base. When Pedro Feliz grounded into a double play, Theoscar Hernandez scored the tying run for the Dominican Republic. Consecutive two out singles by Ronny Rodriguez, Anderson Feliz and Robinson Diaz drove in two more runs to give the Dominicans a two run lead.
Venezuela cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third but the DR scored two runs to make it 5-2. But Venezuela tied the game one innin g later and took a three run lead in the seventh. Despite loading the bases in the top of the ninth the Dominicans didn’t score any more, so Venezuela won by 8-6.
Yorman Bazardo earned the win after 3.2 innings of work. He allowed three hits and struck out four.
Luis de la Cruz lasted only 0.1 inning (the seventh) in which he gave up three runs on one hit.
Rainer Olmedo went 2 for 3 for Venezuela with an RBI and two runs scored.

  South Korea  4  –  3  Mexico 

A two run first inning and a one run second and third were enough for South Korea to clinch the win vs Mexico. With runners on first and second, Hyunsoo Kim doubled to left center field and drove in Yongkyu Lee and Keunwoo Jeong.
Mexico got back in the game as they scored two in the bottom of the third. Jose Torrez drew a walk and scored as Juan Perez tripled. A sac fly to right field hit by Kevin Medrano drove in Perez to cut Korea’s lead in half. In the bottom of the fifth Mexico came within one run as Brandon Macias scored on a wild pitch and the throwing error by catcher Euiji Yang. But that was the closest that Mexico would get.
Woochan Cha earned the win after three innings of relief. He gave up one hit, walked one and fanne eight. Jaeho Kim went 2 for 3 with a run scored.

  Japan  10  –  2  USA  

In the game between the top two teams in the world rankings, the USA scored a run in the second and one in the third to take a 2-0 lead. But from there the run production stalled and Japan ran away with the victory as they scored a run in the fourth, four in the sixth and five in the seventh.
Takahiro Norimoto pitched two innings for the win in which he gave up two hits and fanned two.
Yoshimoto Tsutsugo was the best Japanese hitter with three basehits out of four at bats. He drove in three runs and scored a run himself.

Standings Group B