Team USA (1-0) trailed 3-1 after a three-run outburst by Aruba (0-1) in the top half of the fourth inning. But the Americans quickly tied the score in their half of the frame on a run-scoring single by Ragira, one of three RBIs on the day for the right fielder, and Tony Walters' sacrifice fly.
The 18U National Team then put the game away with its big fifth inning, sending 11 batters to the plate. The first eight hitters reached base and seven of them scored as the USA raced to a 10-3 advantage. Besides Ragira's bases-loaded hit, Ladson Montgomery had an RBI double and Manny Machado--who amassed three hits and scored three times--notched a tie-breaking single that gave Team USA the lead for good at 4-3.
"We were tired, and you could tell it," 18U National Team head coach Garye LaFevers said about his team's performance after it completed a 20-hour journey Thursday by starting the day in Raleigh, N.C., before arriving in Barquisimeto at midnight -- some 10 hours before today's first pitch.
"It took us awhile to get going," added LaFevers. "The bottom half of the order really came through for [Friday] with the hitting of Ragira, Machado and Montgomery, but the top half also contributed. And our pitchers battled, too, against a good Aruba ballclub. They made us compete."
AJ Vanegas went the first four innings on the mound for the USA. The right-hander was touched for three hits and three runs -- only one run was earned -- while striking out five. Connor Mason fanned four in two hitless innings of relief to get the win. Robbie Ray and Kevin Gausman each worked a scoreless inning of relief, combining to whiff four.
The Americans took a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Bryce Harper's single up the middle drove in Sean Coyle, who had two of the team's 12 hits. Nicholas Castellanos added a two-out, solo homer to center field in the seventh, and Machado's round-tripper to lead off the eighth inning ended the game due to the tournament's 10-run rule.
In other action on Day 1 of the seven-team international event, which serves as a qualifier for the 2010 IBAF AAA World Junior Championships, Colombia took on Panama and Argentina met host Venezuela.
Next action for Team USA will be a 1:30 p.m. ET matchup Saturday with Argentina.
