Powered by top prospects, USA Baseball advances to Premier12 super round
Rich Hill, the ageless wonder, started the game on the mound. Forty-four years old and coaching his son's Little League team just a few short months ago, Hill was called upon to face rival Mexico in a must-win game if the United States wanted to advance to Tokyo for the super round at the Premier12.
While Hill and his floating curves and darting low-90s fastballs flummoxed the Mexican batters for 3 1/3 frames, it was the young Minor League prospects -- some born after Hill was drafted -- who carried the United States to a 12-2 run difference rule victory and a 2nd place finish in Group B.
Pirates No. 3 prospect (MLB No. 75) Termarr Johnson got the scoring started for the United States in the top of the second, smashing a solo home run to even the score at 1.
An inning later, Justin Crawford (PHI No. 3/MLB No. 53), the son of longtime big leaguer Carl Crawford, did the same to give the U.S. a lead it would not relent.
"Obviously, we're very pleased at how we finished. We have a lot of young players that are very athletic, but they're learning how to play the game," USA manager Mike Scioscia said after the game. "We stubbed our toe a couple times early in this series. You know, Puerto Rico beat us, Venezuela beat us and these guys never put their head down. They kept their head up and they kept playing and they put it all together this evening in a big way and that was fun to watch."
Up and down the lineup, the young players responded. MLB Pipeline's No. 22 overall prospect Matt Shaw -- an early contender for tournament MVP who enters the weekend leading this year's Premier12 with 12 RBIs and is tied for first with 11 hits -- kept up his hot hitting with a bases-clearing three-run triple in the fifth inning.
Pipeline's No. 4 prospect Carson Williams had displayed a patient eye and solid defense, but he broke out of his tournament slump with two hits in the victory, while fellow Rays prospect Chandler Simpson (No. 4 in Tampa Bay's system) added three hits and two RBIs. After swiping 104 bags in the Minor Leagues this summer, Simpson also swiped three more bags to give him a tourney-leading six steals in group play.
Dodgers prospect Ryan Ward also added two home runs in the victory, giving him four for the tournament.
"They played great baseball tonight, and I think even for the younger players, it's just a great opportunity for them to really get a sense of playoff baseball, and that's really what this tournament is, it's playoff baseball," Scioscia said. "And we were fortunate to get through with the two losses and move on to Tokyo."
The United States will join Venezuela, which won the group with a 4-1 record, in Tokyo. While the United States are relying on youth, Venezuela has looked to its veteran leaders: Major League veterans like Hern¨˘n P¨Śrez, Ehire Adrianza and Carlos P¨Śrez have led the offensive charge.
The teams will now wait to see who will finish in the top spots in Group B before the Super Round begins on Wednesday.