Marcus Littlewood, Bryce Harper and Jake Rodriguez each had five RBIs on the afternoon. Harper went 4-for-4 on the day while scoring four runs. Harper (Las Vegas, Nev.), Rodriguez (Elk Grove, Calif.), Will Allen (Gainesville, Fla.) and Michael Lorenzen (Anaheim, Calif.) each hit a home run in the 15-run-rule-shortened game at Estadio Colon in Xalapa, Mexico.
In the second inning, Team USA starting pitcher Michael Kelly (Boynton Beach, Fla.) forced Guatemala catcher Diego Figueroa to ground into the 6-4-3 double-play before getting Adolfo Montes to ground out to Rodriguez at third to end the top half. Team USA continued to apply the offensive pressure in the home half of the second inning. After a ground out by Nicky Delmonico (Knoxville, Tenn.) to first base and a Lorenzen ground out to third base gave Guatemala two quick outs, the Team USA offense went to work.
Kelly singled to left and Wolters was hit by a pitch before Littlewood tripled to right center field, scoring Kelly and Wolters. Harper singled to left, scoring Littlewood and giving Harper his third RBI of the game. Rodriguez then doubled to left-center to score Harper and give Team USA a 6-0 lead. Team USA would tack on three more in the inning when Christian Lopes (Canyon Country, Calif.) doubled to score Rodriguez, and Allen launched a home run over the center-field wall, scoring Lopes and giving Team USA nine runs through two innings.
Guatemala put some runs of its own on the board in the top of the third when Pedro Flores singled to left, advancing Guatemala starting pitcher Mateo Donis to second after he had been walked by Kelly to begin the inning. A passed ball moved the runners over for Paolo Pezzarossi, who singled to score Donis from third. Guatemala added one more run in the inning when D'Angelo Caal hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Flores from third.
Team USA matched their second-inning output in the third inning, when Kelly laced a leadoff double to right to start things off. Two batters later, Littlewood doubled down the left-field line, scoring Kelly with Littlewood's third RBI of the afternoon.
After a Harper single, Guatemala switched to reliever Manuel Hernandez. Team USA's Rodriguez greeted him with a single to center, scoring Littlewood and Harper and making it 11-2 in favor of Team USA. Lopes was then hit by a pitch, and a wild pitch advanced Rodriguez to third before Allen grounded out, scoring Rodriguez. After Matt Lipka (Frisco, Texas) walked, Lorenzen crushed a Donis offering over the left-field wall, bringing the score to 16-2. After a single by pinch-hitter Connor Mason (Suwanee, Ga.) and a double by Wolters, Hernandez was relieved by Viktor Osorio, who forced Littlewood to ground out to the first baseman to end the inning.
Reliever Kyle Van Alstine (Merritt Island, Fla.) came on in the fourth inning for Team USA and hit a batter and allowed a single to Montes before retiring the next three Guatemala batters in a row, ending the top half of the fourth without allowing a run. Team USA made it three seven0run innings in a row in the bottom of the fourth. Harper led off with a walk and stole second before Jake Rodriguez hit the fourth Team USA home run of the afternoon, bringing the score to 18-2. The home run tied the 16U National Team record for home runs in a game, set by Rodriguez and Harper on Friday against Panama.
The offense continued to click on all cylinders as Hernandez loaded the bases when Lorenzen reached on an error by the shortstop Flores. After a Van Alstine strike out, Wolters walked, scoring Allen from third. Littlewood then hit a two-RBI single to center followed by a Harper two-RBI double to left-center, bringing the score to 23-2 at the end of the fourth.
Guatemala added one more run in the top half of the fifth when Van Alstine issued one-out walks to Caal and Ceseres before Figueroa doubled to right field, scoring Call and bringing the final score to 23-3.
Team USA moves to 4-0 with the 15-run-rule victory over Guatemala. It is the third 15-run-rule win of the tournament for Team USA, with the Sunday night's extra-inning showdown with Cuba being the lone exception. After a scheduled off day on Wednesday, Team USA takes the field once again on Thursday afternoon versus Venezuela at 3:00 p.m. EDT in Xalapa at Estadio Colon.
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.
