WBSC Premier12 Results: Former Braves prospect Ray-Patrick Didder hits clutch home run

The United States had the day off, but Didder keyed an exciting Netherlands-Mexico matchup

The United States were off on Wednesday, meaning we weren’t treated to the play of Drake Baldwin. USA Baseball and the rest of Group A have an important set matchups on Thursday to determine the two teams that will advance from Group A, with the United States just needing to win to get to the next round. In the games that were played former Braves prospect Ray-Patrick Didder had a fantastic game in a nail-biter against Mexico, while Group B play continued with two more games.

GROUP A

Player of the Day
Ray-Patrick Didder, Netherlands
4-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI

The Netherlands faced off in one of the most exciting games of the tournament so far, and for the second time this tournament Ray-Patrick Didder played a key role in a close game. Didder consistently found himself in the thick of things for the Netherlands, getting four hits in the game and ending up a triple short of the cycle. Didder had the biggest hit of the game for the Dutch squad — a sixth inning, go-ahead two-run home run. Didder had been sensational for the Netherlands this tournament, providing the walk-off hit in their day one win.

Pitcher of the Day:
Oddanier Mosqueda, Venezuela
2 ²⁄₃ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K

Mosqueda had a major undertaking for Venezuela, coming in during the seventh inning to try to hold on to a two-run lead against Puerto Rico in a pivotal matchup for Venezuela. A win would put Venezuela on top of the group, and Mosqueda was sensational. Mosqueda faced eight hitters and retired them all, striking out six batters along the way to get Venezuela within an out of the win.

GROUP B

Player of the Day
Doyeong Kim, Korea
3-4, Grand Slam, HR, 2B, 5 RBI

South Korea got in the win column thanks to a six-run second inning, and their superstar third baseman Doyeong Kim was the man who delivered the biggest hit. Doyeong Kim’s grand slam capped off the inning and made the difference in an 8-4 win, and he also contributed three total hits and later gave Korea insurance with his second home run of the game. Kim is off to an electric start in the Premier12 tournament with four extra base hits in seven at bats.

Pitcher of the Day:
Tzu-Peng Huang, Chinese Taipei
6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K

You can’t do much better than six near perfect innings, as Tzu-Peng Huang and the Taiwan pitching staff are off to a tremendous start in their first two games. Huang issued a first inning walk, then forced a double play to erase the runner and retired the final 16 batters he faced. Huang never pitched with more than a one run lead, consistently making key pitches in pressure situations to lead Taiwan to a 2-0 start in the tournament.

SCOREBOARD

Group A tie-breaker scenarios

Group A is locked in a close battle going into the final day, with five of the six teams still alive to take one of the group’s two spots. Below are the tie-breaking scenarios

In the event of a Venezuela win over the Netherlands

• Venezuela advances, Netherlands eliminated. Venezuela is the #1 seed.
• If the United States beats Mexico, the United States advances
• If Mexico beats the United States and Panama beats Puerto Rico, Panama Advances
• If Mexico beat the United states and Puerto Rico beats Panama, Mexico advances

In the event of a Netherlands win over Venezuela

• If the United States wins and Panama wins, the Netherlands and United States advance – United States as the 1 seed, Netherlands as the 2.
• If Mexico wins and Panama wins, the Netherlands and Panama advance – Netherlands as the 1 seed, Venezuela as the 2.
• If Mexico wins and Puerto Rico wins, the Netherlands and Venezuela advance – Netherlands as the 1 seed and Venezuela as the 2
• If the United States wins and Puerto Rico wins, it will come down to “Team’s Quality Balance”, which is a fancier form of run differential that accounts for number of innings played as a result of run-rule games being shorter, or home teams not batting in the ninth. In this case it will come down to TQB between Venezuela, the Netherlands, and the United States. The United States will advance given their currently massive TQB lead. If the Netherlands wins by three or more runs they advance, if by two or less Venezuela advances. Seeding will depend on TQB following the final games.

Further breakdown:

• Venezuela advances in 4/4 winning scenarios, 1.5/4 losing scenarios. They are the only team that can lose and still advances
• Netherlands advances in 3.5/4 winning scenarios
• United States advances in 4/4 winning scenarios
• Mexico advances in 1/4 winning scenarios. Need Venezuela win.
• Panama advances in 1/4 winning scenarios. Need Venezuela win.

PUERTO RICO 2 — 5 VENEZUELA

box score | replay

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Hernan Perez, VEN: 2-3, HR, 2 RBI
Carlos Perez, VEN: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI
Oddanier Mosqueda, VEN: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 6 K

Puerto Rico and Venezuela came into this game facing opposite challenges. Venezuela, with a win, could take control of Group A and leave themselves in a position to control their own destiny on the final day of group play. Puerto Rico, staring down the barrel of elimination, needed to win to stay alive, and they came out on a mission. Venezuela starter Max Castillo certainly did them a favor, walking the first two batters then hitting a third to load the bases in the top of the first inning with no one out. Puerto Rico could take full control right at the start with the middle of the lineup up. Carlos Cortes jumped on the first pitch and bounced it over the pitcher’s head, but shortstop Diego Castillo was shifted perfectly to snag it, getting a force out at second base. A run did score, but that was all Puerto Rico would make of a golden opportunity. John Montes struck out, and Puerto Rico’s effort to steal a run by intentionally getting into a rundown on a stolen base attempt failed as Javier Vaz was easily cut down at home.

Puerto Rico had another chance in the second inning when they once again loaded the bases, this time with two outs, and the top of the lineup up to bat. Javier Vaz hit one sharply, but right at Castillo, however Castillo couldn’t handle the hop and Ezequiel Pagan sprinted to second and barely beat a lunging Castillo to reach safely and allow a run in from third. Up 2-0 now Puerto Rico had one of their hottest hitters, Sabin Ceballos, in a position to repeat his game one heroics, but Ceballos struck out to end yet another major threat with only one run on the board. Despite scoring two runs Puerto Rico had recorded just one hit, failing on multiple occasions to come through in clutch situations.

The missed chances came back to haunt Puerto Rico, as Venezuela did not miss their major scoring chance in the bottom of the second inning. Like Max Castillo in the first, Puerto Rico starter Luis Cruz walked the first two batters in the second inning, setting off a Venezuelan rally that Puerto Rico would never come back from. Carlos Perez broke the seal for Venezuela with an RBI single, and after getting two outs Cruz wasn’t able to limit damage. Hernan Perez rolled one into no-man’s land down the third base line, a perfect swinging bunt that scored the second run of the inning to tie the game. Cruz then bounced two pitches in the next at bat, the second of which skittered past Juan Centeno and all the way to the back stop to score Carlos Perez for the go-ahead run.

The Perez duo would later help Venezuela extend their lead to put away the struggling Puerto Rico offense. Carlos Perez got his in the fourth inning, turned on a slider that was left up and keeping it fair down the left field line for a solo home run. Hernan Perez got his in the seventh inning, demolishing a no-doubt home run to left field to make it 5-2. Venezuela’s relievers were phenomenal in the game, covering 7 ²⁄₃ innings of scoreless ball with 11 strikeouts. Puerto Rico would get their chances but they were much more limited than their first two innings. Ezequiel Pagan tripled with two outs in the fourth inning, but yet again when Ceballos had an opportunity he struck out to strand two runners on base. Oddanier Mosqueda came in to start the seventh inning and all but crushed the hopes of Puerto Rico’s offense. Mosqueda retired eight straight hitters and struck out six of them, finally relinquishing control with two outs in the ninth inning when Venezuela decided to go with a right-on-right matchup with Enderson Franco against Ceballos. Ceballos drew a walk, giving the Puerto Rican team a glimmer of hope, but Carlos Cortes’s sharp grounder went straight to Diego Castillo, who stepped on second base to end the hopes for Puerto Rico in the tournament.

MEXICO 8 — 6 NETHERLANDS

box score | replay

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Ray-Patrick Didder, NED: 4-4, HR, 2 RBI
Juan Perez, MEX: 1-3, HR, 4 RBI
Didi Gregorius, NED: 4-5, 2B

Mexico and the Netherlands played in perhaps the game of the tournament so far, with the host Mexico needing a win to stay alive in the tournament. Like Puerto Rico, they came out firing with their backs against the wall, but they came through when they had their opportunities. A leadoff walk to the scorching hot Alonso Gaitan and a single by Andres Alvarez put Mexico in position to make their mark early. Jose Rojas gave a changeup a ride to center field, sending Netherlands center fielder Ray-Patrick Didder in a dead sprint over his shoulder. Didder made a leaping, over-the-shoulder catch near the warning track for the out, but as his momentum carried him towards the wall Gaitan was looking to make spectacular happen. Gaitan tagged to third and never slowed down, sprinting around and narrowly beating a wide relay throw to the plate to give Mexico a lead. Mexico drew two more walks to sit with the bases loaded and two out, and Alan Trejo delivered magic. Trejo got a 1-1 fastball to his liking, blistering a line drive to the right side and splitting the gap. All three runners trotted home with ease, and Mexico suddenly had a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

Mexico’s offense would struggle to find consistency once Dutch starter Lar Huijer was removed after an inning, and Kevin Kelly did an outstanding job in relief to keep the Netherlands in the game long enough for their offense to make a comeback. Kelly pitched six consecutive scoreless innings between the second and seventh innings, allowing only two hits in that time. The Netherlands kept coming at Mexico starter Jorge Perez, who cleaned up four scoreless innings, but they got runners on base every inning and finally broke through in the middle of the game. A single from Didder, who had four hits in the game and will feature prominently later, started off a major rally in the fifth inning. Dwayne Kemp took a 2-1 advantage in the count over Reyes, and finally the Netherlands got their big hit. Kemp got a slider over the plate and did not miss, lofting a two-run home run to left field that immediately cut the Mexican lead in half. Reyes got his first out of the inning, but flipped over the lineup to see Didi Gregorious a third time, and the Dutch kept the hits coming. Gregorius flicked a changeup into center field, and the diving effort of Juan Perez came up short, with Gregorius taking the opportunity to hustle into second base. Jonathan Schoop hit a laser on the first pitch he saw, and once again Perez would take flight. However, Perez’s outstretched glove couldn’t come up with the line drive, and it rolled past him to the wall for an RBI triple. Perez’s day was over, Mexico still in danger, but Gerardo Reyes came in and finally shut down the rally to preserve the lead.

Every player in the Netherlands offense, save for one, has an OPS over 1.000 this tournament. That is a challenge for any pitching staff. Shutting them down over nine innings just isn’t going to happen, and Mexico needed Herculean effort from their bullpen and a bit more insurance to feel safe in this game. That didn’t come here. New pitcher Cesar Gomez came in and immediately gave up a base it to Juremi Profar to lead off the sixth inning, and Denzel Richardson burned one to the wall in right field for a double that sent Profar sprinting for home. With Profar attempting to tie the game, Alonso Gaitan got the ball in quickly from right field, and the relay from Andres Alvarez was on point to cut down the runner at home. It saved a run, but not the game. Ray-Patrick Didder had his moment. A 98 mph fastball on the inner third usually ties up hitters, but Didder got his bat head down, and hooked a hot shot down the line. The ball curled inside the left field foul pole, a two-run home run that gave the Netherlands a lead and the advantage in the entire Group A field. Richardson would extend that lead in the next inning with a solo home run, and Mexico’s Premier12 hopes were hanging in the balance.

Kelly had been terrific all game for the Dutch, but after issuing a walk and a single in the seventh inning, the Netherlands made a quick hook to bring in Eric Mendez and try to stall any Mexican rally. Mendez immediately struck out Trejo swinging for the second out, though he walked Tres Barrera bringing up nine hitter Juan Perez with the bases loaded and two outs. Mendez, looking to tie Perez up inside, missed with a first-pitch cutter. Mendez chose to go outside with his next pitch, but pulled it right back over the inner half. Perez sat on it, turned on it, and in Mexico’s biggest play this tournament he crushed it — sending one over the left field wall for a go-ahead grand slam. Life, now injected into the Mexican side, carried over into the field. Jesus Cruz sat down the Netherlands in the eighth, getting the dangerous Jonathan Schoop to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. R.J. Alaniz wasted no time with baserunners in the ninth inning. He set the Dutch side down in order, a Profar pop out keeping Mexico alive to play another day.

CUBA 4 — 8 KOREA

box score | replay

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Doyeong Kim, KOR: 3-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI
Yoelkis Guibert, CUB: 2-3, HR, 2 RBI
Wonjun Choi, KOR: 2-4, 2 RBI

In their first game of the tournament the Korean side was crushed by a six-run second inning from Taiwan, never managing to come back in the game. They flipped the script against Cuba with a big inning of their own, drawing even in the standings with a huge matchup against Japan on the horizon. Starting pitcher Been Gwak got off to a great start in the game by setting down the first six batters he faced in the game, setting the stage for the second inning rally in the bottom of the frame. The inning got off to an inauspicious start with the first two Korean hitters making outs, but when seven-hole hitter Bogyeong Moon split the gap with a double a two-out rally was born. Seonghan Park sliced a single into right field to extend the lead, and while shortstop Erisbel Arruebarruena made a terrific diving stop to save a run for the moment, he wasn’t able to get an out at any base and Korea found themselves on the board first. A walk and a hit batter forced in a run, bringing up the dangerous Doyeong Kim in a massive spot for Korea. Livan Moinelo made a mistake, elevating a first pitch fastball to Kim, and Kim jumped on it and hit a towering, no-doubt grand slam to break the game wide open.

Gwak had his struggles, but always managed to wiggle out of them to keep Cuba off of the board. A couple of hits in the third inning put him in danger, but he got key strikeouts from the bottom of the order to prevent the Cubans from flipping the lineup with a big inning on the table. A walk and a single in the fourth inning was followed by an inning-ending double play, but after two walks in the fifth inning Gwak’s time was finally up and he was pulled expeditiously. Hyeongjun So clutched up and retired the side, preventing Cuba from cutting into the Korean lead, but more troubling for Cuba is Yoan Moncada’s status. Cuba will need to win out to have a chance at making the next round, but a So fastball ran up and in and hit Moncada on the right hand. Moncada went down in immediate pain, eventually leaving the game and being replaced by Roberto Baldoquin. It certainly was a concerning sight for Cuba and Moncada, and if they play the rest of the torunament without his presence they could be in trouble offensively. X-rays came back negative, but via Francys Romero he is doubtful for the rest of the tournament.

Korea would add on runs following this, getting an RBI single from Choi Wonjun in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 7-0. A hit and two errors gave Cuba their biggest chance in the top of the seventh inning, loading the bases with no outs, but the loss on Moncada potentially loomed large with this scoring opportunity. Baldoquin flew out to shallow right field for the first out, not able to score the runner from third. Alfredo Despaigne got Cuba on the board by beating out the slowest infield single in Premier12 history, scoring a run from third, but Cuba’s hope of taking a chunk out of Korea’s lead was dashed. Doyeong Kim then got that run right back, getting another first pitch fastball and cranking a second home run in the game. Cuba finally got runs back on the board with back-to-back home runs in the top of the eighth inning, but those two hits were their last in the game. Yeonghyun Park shut down the Cuban hitters in order in the ninth inning to seal a Korean win.

CHINESE TAIPEI 2 — 1 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

box score | replay

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Tzu-Peng Huang, TPE: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Pedro Fernandez, DOM: 6 IP, 1 R, 6 K
Kun-Yu Chiang, TPE: 1-3, HR

Both Taiwan and the Dominican Republic put up dominating pitching performances in their openers, and both came into this game looking to do the same. The Dominican squad sent out Pedro Fernandez and Taiwan sent out Tzu-Peng Huang, and both pitchers delivered in major ways. Fernandez got off to an incredible start in the first inning. Chieh-Hsien Chen may have beaten out a roller to first base on which the fielder fell over, then bounced a throw to a covering Fernandez, but Fernandez struck out the other three Taiwanese batters to clean up any hope of early runs. Huang walked a batter in his first inning of work, but that would prove to be the Dominican Republic’s best scoring opportunity of his start. Huang forced a double play to end off the inning, then started carving through the Dominican lineup and hanging zeroes.

Fernandez mostly matched the success Huang had, facing the minimum in the second inning while Huang went 1-2-3 on the other side. Throughout his start Fernandez was able to get ugly swings off of his sweeping slider, forcing weak contact and running up six strikeouts. Fernandez was also able to gas up most of the hitters he faced and dominate with that combination of fastball and slider, but all it took was one third inning mistake. Fernandez left his sweeper well up and on the inner half of the plate, and nine-hole hitter Kun-Yu Chiang didn’t miss. Chiang turned on the mistake and blasted it over the left field wall, that solo home run marking the only run either pitcher would give up in the game. Taiwan was able to scatter a couple of hits over the next few innings, but Fernandez benefitted from three double plays to keep them off of the board.

Huang, on the other hand, didn’t need a double play after that first inning. The Dominican Republic hitters simply couldn’t hit him. His sidearm delivery and sinker-slider combination had the lineup off balance throughout the game, and save for that first inning walk the Dominican Republic didn’t get a single runner on against Huang. He retired the final 16 batters he faced, eventually departing after six no-hit innings with a 1-0 lead. In the 8th inning Taiwan finally made another push to score, and it all started on a dropped fly ball. That runner would end up not scoring, a Chen-Wei Chen base hit failing to score him when a terrific throw from Luis Mieses in left field cut the runner down at home. Chen advanced to second on the throw, however, and a wild pitch then sacrifice fly scored an all-important insurance run.

Arismendy Alcantara led off in the eighth inning with a base hit, then stole second base to give the Dominican Republic a major opportunity to at least cut a piece out of Taiwan’s lead. Ricardo Cespedes struck out, however the DR went to the bench and got Pedro Gonzalez in to face new pitcher Kuan-Yu Chen. With the Dominican Republic now holding the platoon advantage, Chen wasn’t able to bury his changeup and Gonzalez hit a roller up the middle. Gonzalez reached, by second baseman Kai-Wei Li made a diving stop to prevent the ball from rolling into center field, and Alcantara had to stop at second base. Chen then locked in, rewarding Li for his efforts by locating two outstanding changeups to get Michael De Leon and Micker Adolfo to strike out swinging.

Now the Dominican Republic was down to just three outs to score, and they had to contend with Taiwan’s closer Chun-Wei Wu, who closed out the game one win. The Dominican’s quickly proved the game isn’t over until the final out. Jose Devers bounced a leadoff single up the middle, and Wu would need to get the rest of the outs facing the prospect of one swing being able to tie or win the game. Kelvin Gutierrez followed, and he too bounced one perfectly up the middle which skated through into center field for the second hit of the inning. The Dominican Republic opted to have pinch hitter Alen Hansen lay down a sacrifice bunt, hoping cleanup man Rainer Nunez or Arismendy Alcantara would come through with the winning hit. Nunez, facing a 1-2 hole in the count, battled back full in the critical matchup of the inning. Wu left a slider up, in a hittable spot, but Nunez got on top of the ball and chopped it over to the hero of the game, Kun-Yu Chiang, who charged in after it. Chiang cut the ball off and fielded it cleanly, allowing the runner to score from third but getting that important second out. Alcantara watched two fastballs go by for strikes one and two, then whiffed when Wu elevated a cutter, striking out to end a impressively-pitched showdown.

Schedule for November 14th / 15th

GROUP A – November 14th

Netherlands (2-2) vs Venezuela (3-1) — 1:00 PM Local/2:00 PM EST

Venue: Estadio Panamericano, Guadalajara, Mexico

How to Watch: DAZN

Puerto Rico (1-3) vs Panama (2-2) — 7:00 PM Local/9:00 PM EST

Venue: Coloso del Pacifico, Tepic, Mexico

How to Watch: DAZN

United States (2-2) vs Mexico (2-2) — 8:00 PM Local/9:00 PM EST

Venue: Estadio Panamericano, Guadalajara, Mexico

How to Watch: DAZN

GROUP B – November 15th

Dominican Republic (1-1) vs Australia (0-1) — 3:00 PM Local/2:00 AM EST

Venue: Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium – Taipei City, Taipei

How to Watch: DAZN

Korea (1-1) vs Japan (1-0) — 6:00 PM Local/5:00 AM EST

Venue: Taipei Dome – Taipei City, Taipei

How to Watch: DAZN