Bryce Harper added three RBIs of his own on three hits while Jake Rodriguez, Christian Lopes and Will Allen each had two hits in the 15-run-rule shortened game. All nine Team USA starters tallied at least one hit and one run scored in the victory over Puerto Rico at Estadio Beto Avila in Veracruz, Mexico. Team USA takes the field next at Estadio Colon in Xalapa, Mexico against Guatemala on Tuesday at 2:00PM CST.
Tago (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) made his statement early, striking out the final two batters of the top of the first inning after issuing a leadoff walk to Omar Cotto and retiring Roberto Pena on a line out to Marcus Littlewood (St. George, Utah) at shortstop.
It was more of the same off the mound for Tago in the second inning. After Kenny Diaz popped out to Nicky Delmonico (Knoxville, Tenn.) at first base to begin the inning, Emanuel Zapata reached on a throwing error by Littlewood. After walking Micael Cintron, Tago settled down, striking out Addiel Rios and forcing Henry Ramos to ground out to end the top half of the second.
It was Tago's turn to display some offense to go with his pitching in the bottom of the second inning. After a Lopes (Canyon Country, Calif.) leadoff double to right field and a pair of walks to Delmonico and Matt Lipka (Frisco, Texas), Tago cleared the bases with a double to deep center and then scored on a throwing error by Puerto Rico second baseman Gabriel Rivera, staking Team USA to an early, 4-0 lead.
It would be 5-0 by the end of the second inning after Tony Wolters (Vista, Calif.) reached on an error and stole second base. Two batters later, Harper drove a double down the right-field line, scoring Wolters and collecting his first RBI of the afternoon. That would be enough to force Puerto Rican starting pitcher Rios from the game after only 1 1/3 innings of work and a 5-0 deficit.
"After playing a tough, emotional game late into last night against Cuba, our entire team did a great job of supporting each other and staying focused," said Head Coach Garye LaFevers. "We were eventually able to break the game wide open."
Puerto Rico scored a run in the top half of the third inning when Cotto walked to begin the inning and stole second base. After an Angel Gomez single to left, Cotto scored on an error by Lopes for Puerto Rico's lone run of the game.
Team USA added another run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Harper and Rodriguez (Elk Grove, Calif.) hit back-to-back, one-out singles before Lopes lined a single to left field, scoring Harper to increase the lead to six runs. Team USA tacked on another run in the fifth when Tago scored on a Wolters single after reaching on a walk and advancing to second on a wild pitch by Puerto Rico reliever Ray Cintron.
After issuing a leadoff walk to Zapata to begin the sixth inning, Tago struck out the next three Puerto Rico batters, bringing his total to nine strikeouts on the day while allowing just two hits.
Six innings would be enough for the Team USA offense to close out another victory in Veracruz. Allen (Gainesville, Fla.) started things off with a one-out double down the left-field line. Delmonico then reached on an error at second base, with Allen scoring on the play. After a Lipka single and a passed ball by Puerto Rican reserve catcher Pedro Gomez, Tago doubled, scoring Delmonico. After a Wolters walk, Littlewood then doubled to center field off of new Puerto Rican pitcher Henry Ramos, scoring Lipka and Tago.
Harper added two more RBI on a single to center that scored Littlewood and Wolters. After a Lopes walk and a Rodriguez single, Allen collected his second hit of the inning when he singled to left field, scoring Harper. An error at second base on a Delmonico grounder scored Rodriguez, with Lopes following close behind to score on the error, ending the game in the sixth due to the 15-run rule.
"Today, we continued to take advantage of our opponent's mistakes," said LeFevers, "and at the same time we continued to minimize our own."
The 16-1 victory over Puerto Rico moved Team USA to 3-0 here in Veracruz with five games remaining on the schedule. Team USA takes the field next at Estadio Colon in Xalapa, Mexico, against Guatemala on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. EDT.
Log on to 16u.mlblogs.com to follow the 16U National Team from the Trials in Miami to the COPABE "AA" Pan American Championships in Veracruz (Sept. 12-22). Log on to the official COPABE "AA" Youth Pan American Championships site at premundialveracruz2008.com for daily schedules, results and updated standings.
