Cathedral Catholic's Brady Aiken pitched a strong game to power Team USA over Korea, 2-1.
File photo by Alyson Boyer Rode
Team USA 18U went 4-1 in pool play this week to capture the No. 1 seed from Pool B and advance to Round 2 of the IBAF 18U World Cup in Taichung, Taiwan.
USA defeated Italy 8-0 on Sunday, Korea 2-1 on Monday, Cuba 6-5 on Tuesday and Colombia 12-6 on Wednesday. The only loss in pool play came on Monday with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Australia.
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Jack Flaherty had a strong outing in the opening win over Italy as he went six innings and gave up no runs on two hits with nine strikeouts.
Meanwhile
Alex Destino led the offense with a 2-for-4 effort that included two RBIs.
Cole Tucker, meanwhile, went 2-for-3 with an RBI, two runs scored and a triple.
Scott Hurst also added a pair of RBIs and went 1-for-3.
In the loss to Australia, the United States managed just five hits and struck out 13 times in suffering the shutout.
Adam Haseley led the team with a 2-for-3 effort.
Keaton McKinney took the loss despite giving up only one run on five hits over four and two-thirds innings.
Team USA bounced back to defeat Korea on
Brady Aiken's strong mound effort. He gave up one run on five hits with seven strikeouts in gaining the win.
Trace Loehr led the offense with a 2-for-2 performance that included two runs. Haseley also had two hits with a triple and an RBI.
Team USA rallied to defeat Cuba in the bottom of the ninth.
Bryson Brigman got the rally started with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice.
Michael Rivera then came through with the game-winning RBI with a single to right field.
Rivera finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs while Haseley was 2-for-4 with an RBI and
J.J. Schwarz was 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Brigman also came up big with a 3-for-4 effort. Luis Ortiz got the win in relief.
McKinney led Team USA to its best offensive showing of the tournament in the win over Colombia. He was 2-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Haseley continued his hot batting with a 3-for-5 outing with three runs scored and an RBI. Rivera also went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs scored.
Mac Marshall got the win, giving up three hits and striking out five batters.
United States will face Venezuela on Thursday, Chinese Taipei on Friday and Japan on Saturday in Round 2. The two teams with the best records will play in the medal game on Sunday.
