Former Braves prospects Ceballos, Didder, star in Day One of WBSC Premier 12

Ceballos and Didder both had the deciding swings in their national team’s opening wins

Team USA opted for a lineup without the Atlanta Braves star prospect Drake Baldwin, and they could have used his offense as they fell to Puerto Rico 1-0. In fact it was former Brave Sabin Ceballos, traded to the Giants this summer, that sunk the United States, hitting a home run for Puerto Rico that was the lone run in the game. Another former Braves made an impact for the Netherlands, with Ray-Patrick Didder smacking a walk-off single for the Netherlands in the 10th inning.

Player of the Day
Sabin Ceballos, Puerto Rico
2-4, HR

Ceballos didn’t have the most impressive individual stat line, but no player was more integral to his team’s success. Puerto Rico and the Unites States faced off in a tight battle, a and Puerto Rico had their hands full with veteran big leaguer Rich Hill. In the 6th inning Ceballos had the play of the game, hitting a solo home run to the opposite field that proved the game’s lone run.

Pitcher of the Day:
Ricardo Pinto, Venezuela
5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K

Pinto may have had a trouble spot in the fourth inning, but his five scoreless innings allowed Venezuela to jump out to a 7-0 lead that they never looked back from. The sixth-ranked Venezuelan national team pulled off an upset over third-ranked Mexico, and Pinto was one of the leaders of this big early win.

SCOREBOARD

PANAMA 8 — 9 NETHERLANDS

box score | replay

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Ray-Patrick Didder, NED: 2-4, BB, 2 RBI
Ruben Tejada, PAN: 2-2. HR, 2 BB
Denzel Richardson, NED: 3-5, HR, 2 RBI

Panama and the Netherlands opened up the Premier 12 tournament with a spectacular battle, taking the game into extra innings after a furious Dutch comeback. The Netherlands sent out Shairon Martis to make the start, whose previous national team heroism included a no-hitter in the 2006 Little League World Series against none other than Panama. Panama got their revenge 18 years later, torching Martis for seven early runs. Jose Ramos opened up the scoring for the tournament in the top of the seventh inning, taking a fastball that was left over the plate and sending it into orbit for a two-run home run. The Dutch team bounced back to tie it in the bottom of the inning, but Panama was not slowing down any time soon. They put up two runs in the top of the third innings, capped by an opposite double from Carlos Xavier Quiroz, then further extended the lead the next inning. Panama loaded the bases with one out in the inning, where a walk to Ruben Tejada — one of four times he would reach base in the game — forced home a run. Panama manufactured two more runs on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch, all charged to Quiroz, and after 3 ¹⁄₂ innings held fast to a commanding 7-2 lead.

The Netherlands were not ready to give up so easily in the first game, however, and the bullpen turned in a terrific performance. Across 6 ²⁄₃ innings the relief corp for the Dutch squad allowed just one run, allowing the offense time to take an eighth inning lead. The critical turn started in the sixth inning. Jaime Barria had to that point done what was asked, limiting the Netherlands to three runs over five innings to hold on to the lead. The time bomb finally exploded in the sixth though, as Barria went just a bit too deep in the game. Scharlon Schoop led off the inning by just clearing the left field wall with a home run, his third hit in the game, and the hits did not stop coming. Eugene Elder chased Barrios with a base hit, and reliever Alberto Guerrero could not hold down the Netherlands attack. Denzel Richardson, who earlier went deep for the Netherlands, came in and immediately doubled off of Guerrero. With the tying run at the plate Dwayne Kemp kept the boot pressed to the throats of Panama, lining a base hit into right field that scored Elder and move Richardson to third. A double play ball from Ray-Patrick Didder put out the fire for the time being, but also brought home one more run to bring the game within a run.

One inning later and the other Schoop manufactured a run for the Netherlands when he led off the inning by drawing a walk from Guerrero. While the Netherlands failed to come through with another hit in the inning, two ground balls moved Schoop over to third base where a wild pitch uncorked by Abdiel Mendoza allowed him to trot home and tie it up. Once again a leadoff single in the eighth inning, this time from Elder, had the Netherlands threatening in the eighth inning. Denzel Richardson hit the next pitch right up the middle for what could have been a routine play, but Mendoza stuck his glove out and deflected the ball coming up the middle, leaving him with only one play to get the out at first. This would end up a critical play in the game. Ray-Patrick Didder got down to two strikes with two outs, but after fouling off three pitches from Mendoza he flicked a slider off of the plate into left field, driving in Elder and giving the Netherlands their first lead of the game.

Now with their backs against the wall Panama had to contend with Juancarlos Sulbaran, who came into the game to shut the door for the Netherlands. Ruben Tejada came up with one more highlight moment for the Panamanians though, getting a 1-0 pitch and crushing it to center field. The ball carried over the wall in center, tying the game at 8-8 in the ninth inning. The Dutch could not answer in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Sulbaran was clutch for them in the 10th. With the WBSC tie break rules runners are placed at first and second to start the inning, and Sulbaran immediately walked a batter to load the bases. Panama’s Rodrigo Orozco got the ball in the air, but it was shallow and the great arm of Denzel Richardson kept Luis Castillo from testing a scoring chance. Sulbaran then rung up the next batter on three pitches, and Joshwan Wright rolled one over to third base to allow Sulbaran to dance around serious trouble. Delano Selassa led off in the bottom of the tenth and chopped a high bouncer up the middle, a play impossible with Selassa’s speed, and like Panama the Netherlands had the bases loaded to start the tenth inning. Panama’s Alberto Baldonado had an answer though, with two strikeouts to bring up Didder as the last chance for the Netherlands to win the game before it went to the 11th. Didder fell behind 0-2, Baldonado now just a pitch away from striking out the side and coming through in a huge moment for Panama. Instead, Didder played the hero. Didder got a fastball on the inner half, and he slapped at the ball to stay alive, the liner drifting just in between the fielders in right center, falling to score Hendrik Clementina and give the Netherlands an exciting walk off win.

PUERTO RICO 1 — 0 UNITED STATES

box score | replay

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Sabin Ceballos, PUR: 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI
Jonathan Bermudez, PUR: 4 IP, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K
Matt Shaw, USA: 3-3

Puerto Rico and the United States flipped the energy from game one of the tournament, playing in a pitchers duel led by big leaguers Jonathan Bermudez and Rich Hill. The veteran Hill got off to a shaky start in the first inning, walking the first batter he faced, but got a double play ball for a key couple of outs in the first inning. Sabin Ceballos smoked a 2-1 fastball from Hill into the left center field gap for a double, but Puerto Rico came away empty, and neither side would threaten much over the next four and a half innings. Hill settled in, covering three scoreless innings, and reliever Darell Thompson covered the next two to send the game in the sixth scoreless.

On the other side of the game Puerto Rico starter and Miami Marlins prospect/pitcher Jonathan Bermudez was untouchable across his four innings. The US team was able to get the ball on the bat a bit in the first inning, but over the next three Bermudez was carving them up like they didn’t even have bats. Bermudez struck out the side in the second inning, all swinging, then added another strikeout in the third. Matt Shaw, whose three hits constituted most of Team USA’s life at the plate, led off in the fourth with a base hit, but two strikeouts from Bermudez quelled the tide. Raymond Burgos pitched a scoreless fifth inning in relief, as the Puerto Rican defense took over helping out the bullpen to five scoreless innings despite only one strikeout.

In the sixth inning Team USA turned to Sam Benschoter, a Cincinnati Reds prospect, and he came out hot by striking out the first two batters he faced in the game. This brought back to the plate Sabin Ceballos, who earlier was a well-timed ground ball away from potentially giving Puerto Rico the lead. This time he left the game to no one but himself. Benschoter left a cutter over the middle of the plate on the first pitch and Ceballos went with it to right center fielder, lifting a towering fly ball that Justin Crawford chased desperately. The ball steadily peeling away from Crawford he lept at the wall, but came up short as the ball cleared the wall into the bullpen to give Puerto Rico a narrow lead. Benschoter allowed another hit, but a fly ball from Shawn Ross fell dangerously shy of the right field wall, allowing him to escape with no further damage and keeping the American team in the game.

The United States had their first chance in the bottom of the sixth, as Rays speedster Chandler Simpson led off the inning by flipping a single into left field. Simpson did as he did 104 times in the regular season, stealing second and then third base, but Luke Ritter’s lined shot went straight to Yadiel Rivera at shortstop, and catcher Willie MacIver smoked one to first base where Ross made a diving stop to snare the liner that saved two runs. Jorge Benitez, who was brought in to retire MacIver, walked three batters in the seventh inning, bringing up Simpson with two outs. Simpson put it in play, but once again Rivera was right where he needed to be and got a force at second for the final out. The USA chances kept coming and they kept failing to come through, in the eighth inning in as frustrating a way as you can get. Shaw’s third hit of the game led off the eighth inning, and this time Ritter found space. He split the gap in right field with a fly ball, and while Shaw had to hold to see if it would fall, he still got around to third base to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. MacIver grounded one up the middle, but second baseman Javier Vaz was well-positioned on the infield grass to keep the running held at third and get the out. Luis Cintron had to be brought in to keep the fire tamed, and Team USA responded with pinch hitter and veteran MLB catcher Chris Okey. Okey flicked the first pitch he saw into left field, where Edgardo Villegas made a long run and a fantastic sliding catch that kept Okey from getting on and kept Shaw at third base again. Carson Williams flew one deep to left field, but just missed the barrel for a fly out to end yet another scoring chance.

Just one more time, the Americans would have a chance to draw even in the game. Crawford had a tough left-on-left matchup to start the inning, but turned on a changeup down and in and hooked it down the right field line for a leadoff double. A fly out advanced him to third base, giving the United States two final chances to bring him home. Now facing Luis Cruz, Cam Delvanney stepped up to the plate. Delvanney fell behind 1-2, but got a high fastball and put a solid swing on it. Delvanney hit a hard grounder, but perhaps to hard, and too direct at the second baseman, who made a good, quick throw home to catch Crawford trying to score the tying run. Simpson flew out, and Puerto Rico came away with a hard-fought upset win in game one.

VENEZUELA 8 — 4 MEXICO

box score | replay

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Jermaine Palacios, VEN: 2-5, 2 HR
Ricardo Pinto, VEN: 5 IP, 0 R, 6 K
Carlos Perez, VEN: 3-4, 2B, RBI

The hosting Mexican national team got the night cap of the opening day of games, but this was a less exciting, less tense outing than the first. Venezuela took an early lead and never came close to coughing it up, sinking the hosts to 0-1. Ricardo Pinto was terrific for Venezuela, going five scoreless innings for them as they opened up that huge lead. Pinto was lock down through the first inning with Mexico showing little threat to score, until with one out in the fourth inning he walked consecutive batters. Now the heat was on, but Pinto got a fly out from Phillip Evans which gave him a chance to breath. After a challenge it was determined that Alonso Gaitan beat out a slow roller over to second base which loaded the bases, but Alexis Wilson grounded out to third to end a tight inning. Pinto walked the leadoff hitter in the fifth inning, but struck out the next two and ending his stellar day with a fly out to left field.

Manny Banuelos could not match up with Pinto, and it was clear early in the game he didn’t have it. Banuelos escaped a walk and a single in the first inning, but it didn’t take long for the third inning to go awry. Banuelos threw a 2-0 fastball right down the middle to Jermaine Palacios, and he opened the scoring with a majestic opposite field shot, admiring his work at home plate as the ball he launched cleared the seating in right field. Banuelos allowed a walk, then hit a batter, and Diego Castillo waited out a seven pitch at bat then ripped a double down the left field line after a couple of narrowly foul balls, scoring two runs and putting Venezuela up 3-0.

The bullpen for Mexico prevented further damage and kept them in the game through the fourth inning, but Venezuela added runs in the middle innings that all but iced the game. A fifth inning double from Ramon Flores extended the lead to 4-0, and the sixth inning would prove back-breaking. Luis Miranda was attempting to cover three innings in relief to provide Mexico bulk, and after two he had held Venezuela to just one run and got a quick ground out in the sixth inning. The game would go disappointingly south for Miranda after this though. David Rodriguez ripped a one out fastball up the middle for a single, and a misplay from the center fielder allowed him to advance to third base. Miranda then uncorked a wild pitch that allowed him to move to third base, and after a 11 pitch battle with Francisco Arcia, Arcia chopped pitch number 12 down the first base line. Jose Rojas made a brilliant leaping snag to keep the ball from going into the outfield, but came home with the throw and left it high and behind the catcher allowing Rodriguez to score. Diego Castillo then came through with another double, putting two runners in scoring position who both would come home to score in the inning and extend the lead to 7-0. Palacios put the final stamp on the game in the seventh inning, getting a hanging breaking ball and cranking a second home run in the game.

Mexico had their chances to score late in the game, but it was too little too late to make a real comeback. Alan Trejo snuck an opposite field home run over the wall to put Mexico on the board finally in the seventh inning, but there was never that huge inning or big multi-home run inning to give them real life. Cris Carter obliterated a home run in the next inning, another solo shot, but Mexico went into the ninth inning down 8-2. The game briefly, tantalizingly, got interesting in the ninth when the first two Mexican hitters got hits. Two strikeouts later and the air was sucked from the room, but a walk and a two run single from Jose Rojas brought the dangerous Carter up to the plate in what was suddenly a save situation. Taking no chances Venezuelan manager Omar Lopez turned to Anthony Vizcaya to try to get the final out. Vizcaya fell behind 1-0, then gave Carter a pitch to hit at the top of the zone. Carter put a charge into one to left center field, but it fell just short of the wall, ending the game with a glimmer of hope smashed for the hometown fans.

Schedule for November 10th

Venezuela (1-0) vs Panama (0-1) — 1:00 PM Local/1:00 PM EST

Venue: Estadio Panamericano – Guadalajara, Mexico

Streaming: DAZN

Netherlands (1-0) vs United States (0-1) — 4:00 PM Local/5:00 PM EST

Venue: Estadio Santa Teresita – Tepic, Mexico

Streaming: DAZN

Mexico (0-1) vs Puerto Rico (1-0) — 8:00 PM Local/8:00 PM EST

Venue: Estadio Panamericano, Guadalajara, Mexico

Streaming: DAZN