While the United States finished fourth at the World Baseball Classic, the other Team USA squads won their respective tournaments.
Most recently, the 14U team took home the gold against Puerto Rico in the COPABE Pan Am A Championship. The team went 6-0 in the event, outscoring its opponents 61-6 in the process. Offensively, shortstop/catcher Jesse Kuet of Huntington Beach, Calif., led the way. He went 6-for-9 with a double and two home runs and also drew five walks. The team as a whole hit .342/.465/.618, and the pitchers were a combined 6-0, 0.51 with 54 strikeouts and 14 walks over 35 innings.
"We can't be prouder of the performance our athletes had both on and off the field in representing our country," USA Baseball executive director/CEO Paul Seiler said. "And we couldn't be more indebted to the organizations-the pro organizations, the college, the amateur community-in supporting these efforts. Because without that support, these teams, one, don't even come to fruition, and two, they don't perform to the level they did this year."
The college national team knocked off Germany to win the World Baseball Challenge in July. That team was led by Rice shortstop Rick Hague, Cal State Fullerton shortstop Christian Colon, Ole Miss lefthander Drew Pomeranz, and righthanders Sonny Gray (Vanderbilt) and Gerrit Cole (UCLA).
The 18U team won a gold medal in the COPABE Pan Am AAA Championship, defeating Cuba 6-1 in Venezuela on Oct. 3. It marked the first Pan Am gold medal for Team USA's 18U squad. The team outscored its opponents 93-13 on its way to a 7-0 record in the event. Righthander Jameson Taillon from The Woodlands (Texas) High, the top high school prospect in the 2010 draft class, went 2-0, 0.00 for the team with 28 strikeouts and three walks over 14 innings. Shortstop Garin Cecchini hit well for the team, going .333/.529/.708 with six doubles and one home run over 24 at-bats.
The 18U win came after the 16U team won gold (also against Cuba) in the IBAF AA World Youth Baseball Championship in Taiwan. Outfielders JoMarcos Woods (First Academy, Orlando) and Austin Cousino (Coffman High, Dublin, Ohio) led the offense. Woods hit .606/.634/1.091 over 33 at-bats, and Cousino hit .545/.596/1.068 in 44 at-bats. fthander Cory Geisler from Klein Collins High in Spring, Texas went 2-0, 0.00 with 23 strikeouts and four walks over 18 innings of relief.
A team made up of minor league players went 14-1 and won the gold medal in the International Baseball Federation World Cup, defeating Cuba in Nettuno, Italy, 10-5, in the title game. on Sept. 27. The team lost its first game in the tournament against Venezuela, but then won every game thereafter to take home the gold.
The professional team was led by Rays outfielder Jon Weber, who hit .412/.464/.706 over 51 at-bats. Rangers first baseman Justin Smoak led the team with nine home runs and hit .291/.418/.818. On the other side of the ball, Braves righthander Todd Redmond went 3-0, 1.21 with 17 strikeouts and one walk over 22 innings.
