TEPIC, Mexico – Team USA scored seven runs in the first two innings and got seven strong frames out of its bullpen to beat Panama, 9-3, on Tuesday night in group play of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 presented by RAXUS at Coloso del Pacifico.
The offense came early and often for the U.S. (2-2) after it fell into a quick hole in the top of the first. With two outs and nobody on for Panama (2-2), Ruben Tejada socked a home run to left field to immediately put the stars and stripes behind the eight ball.
But as it did in Sunday’s win over the Netherlands, Team USA responded immediately in the bottom half and took the lead. Matt Shaw drew a walk and Luke Ritter doubled to right center to set the table for cleanup hitter Ryan Ward, who pulled the second pitch he saw for a two-run single to give the U.S. the lead. The rally continued when Colby Thomas was hit by a pitch and Termarr Johnson drew a four-pitch walk, prompting Panama to go to the bullpen with just one out in the first.
Gilberto Chu entered for Panama and instantly walked Justin Crawford on four pitches to plate Ward, and Drake Baldwin followed with an RBI ground out to first that brought Thomas across home plate and made it a 4-1 lead in the first.
Team USA starter Touki Toussaint returned to the mound and as he did in the first inning, struck out the first two batters of the frame with relative ease. But after a hit-by-pitch and a walk got leadoff hitter Edgard Muñoz to the plate as the tying run, Toussaint locked back in and finished his night by coaxing an inning-ending ground out. Toussaint had five strikeouts in his two innings of work.
Escaping the jam gave more life to the stars and stripes, who got back-to-back singles from Simpson and Shaw to kick off the second. With one out and those two runners on second and third, Ward cranked an opposite-field, three-run blast to give Team USA a commanding 7-1 advantage. Ward’s homer was his second of the tournament after his solo shot against the Netherlands on Sunday.
U.S. manager Mike Scioscia then went to his bullpen, which gave the United States seven strong innings. Sam Benschoter was first out of the bullpen, tossing two scoreless frames. Benschoter was able to work around leadoff singles in each of his two innings before Darrell Thompson and Austin Vernon worked the fifth and the sixth. They were the only two U.S. relievers to allow a run in the contest, both surrendering solo homers as Panama trimmed its deficit to 7-3.
The United States was leading by four when Dan Altavilla got the ball in the top of the seventh. The fireballer twirled a perfect frame, throwing his fastball up to 99 miles-per-hour and picking up a strikeout. Team USA then came to bat in the bottom of the seventh and found a pair of two-out insurance runs off the bat of Simpson. Baldwin got the two-out rally started with an infield single to second base and Carson Williams drew a four-pitch walk to set the stage for Simpson. The speedy right fielder delivered by socking a single back up the middle to easily plate Baldwin before Williams took advantage of a slight bobble by the center fielder to make it 9-3 in favor of the United States.
Spencer Patton was next out of the stars and stripes’ bullpen, this time with a comfortable six-run lead. Panama got one-out singles from Carlos Quiroz and Rodrigo Orozco to create some traffic, but Patton punched out Jose Ramos and induced an inning-ending fly out to maintain the edge.
Zane Mills followed Patton, making his tournament debut and getting the first two outs of the ninth inning. Anthony Gose was the final reliever in the contest, as he got Luis Castillo to fly out to left field to secure the United States’ 9-3 victory.
As the bullpen dominated, the top of the U.S. order was firing on all cylinders. The top four hitters–Simpson, Shaw, Ritter, and Ward–combined to collect nine of the team’s 12 total hits. Simpson led the charge at the top of the order with a 4-for-5 day, collecting three singles, a double, and driving in two runs. Shaw stayed scathing hot as he went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, Ritter picked up the first-inning double, and Ward went 2-for-5 with a game-high five RBIs–driving in two runs with his single and smoking a three-run blast. Additionally, Williams had a hit and two walks to reach base in three of his four plate appearances.
Benschoter was credited with the win thanks to his two shutout innings after the red, white, and blue tagged Panama for seven runs early on. Bryan Caceres suffered the loss for the visitors, recording only one out and allowing four runs. Kevin Miranda was effective in 3.1 strong innings out of Panama’s bullpen to keep his side within striking distance before Team USA got to Severino Gonzalez for two runs in the seventh.
The United States has a day off on Wednesday before wrapping up group play against host Mexico in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Thursday. First pitch will be at 8:00 p.m. local time/9:00 p.m. ET from Estadio Panamericano, and all the action can be streamed live on DAZN.
