Team USA 18U baseball wins World Cup gold

Brady Aiken was at his best when Team USA needed him most as he went seven innings and struck out 10 batters to lead USA to a 3-2 victory over Japan in the IBAF World Cup Gold Medal Game in Taiwan on Sunday.

The Cathedral Catholic rising senior allowed just one earned run on five hits before departing after the seventh. He finished the World Cup tournament with a 2-0 record, a 1.42 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 12.2 innings pitched.

"To have the coaches and my teammates have the faith in me to go out and start this game means everything," Aiken said, according to the Team USA website. "It was such an honor. Winning this championship means everything."

While Japan took a brief lead with a run in the top of the fifth, USA countered with single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to give Aiken all the runs he needed to get the win.

The gold medal is the second in a row for Team USA, which also won the World Cup last year. Team USA went 8-1 in the tournament, going 4-1 in pool play, 3-0 in crossover play and then the gold medal game.

In crossover play, Team USA defeated Venezuela 15-5 on Thursday, Chinese Taipei 7-5 on Friday and Japan 10-4 on Saturday before playing Japan again on Sunday.

In the gold medal game Team USA overcame a 1-0 deficit in the fifth when Adam Haseley drove in Cole Tucker with a fielder's choice. In the sixth, Jakson Reetz doubled and Bryson Brigman singled to bring home another run. In the seventh, Trace Loehr singled and eventually scored on a Keaton McKinney base hit.

In the win over Venezuela, Scott Hurst was 4-for-5 with an RBI, two runs scored. J.J. Schwarz, Michael Rivera and McKinney each had three hits with Schwarz driving in four runs and Rivera plating two. Reetz also had a pair of RBIs in the rout. Rivera, McKinney and Schwarz each had doubles for Team USA's best hits.

Team USA continued to get good offensive production against Chinese Taipei with Tucker knocking in three runs, Rivera blasting a home run and driving home two and Reetz going 3-for-3. Hurst also had his second big game in a row with a 2-for-4 effort that included a triple while Brigman also had a triple. Despite the offensive fireworks, Team USA had to rally from a 5-2 deficit with two runs in the seventh inning and three more in the eighth.

Already assured of a spot in the gold medal game after the win over Chinese Taipei, Team USA continued to pound the ball on offense with 10 runs on 15 hits in a win over Japan. Schwarz went 5-for-5 with a double and Reetz and Haseley each hit home runs in the win. Alex Destino went six innings and struck out four for the win. He also went 2-for-4 at the plate.