TEPIC, Mexico – Team USA fell to Puerto Rico, 1-0, in the opening game of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 presented by RAXUS on Saturday evening at Coloso del Pacifico.
Sabin Ceballos hit a solo homer in the sixth inning for Puerto Rico to account for the only run of the game, as Team USA put itself in position to score in the late innings but was held off the scoreboard.
Rich Hill started for the U.S. on Saturday night and pitched three scoreless innings, going pitch-for-pitch with Puerto Rican starter Jonathan Bermudez. Hill worked around a two-out double in the first and leadoff baserunners in the second and third innings to keep Puerto Rico off the board, striking out three batters in the outing.
Hill passed the baton to Team USA reliever Darrell Thompson, who was first out of the bullpen and pitched two perfect innings with a pair of strikeouts. Sam Benschoter entered in the sixth and retired the first two batters with strikeouts before Ceballos hit a towering fly ball just out of the reach of U.S. centerfielder Justin Crawford and over the wall, giving Puerto Rico a 1-0 lead.
Facing a one-run deficit with 12 outs remaining, the U.S. was able to string together rallies in each of the final four innings but came up just short each time. In the sixth, Chandler Simpson singled and stole second, Matt Shaw was hit by a pitch, and Simpson swiped third to put runners on the corners with one out for the heart of the order. But Luke Ritter and Willie MacIver both hit into tough-luck outs, each smoking line drives into the gloves of Puerto Rican infielders to keep it a 1-0 game.
Benschoter (0-1) was effective in the seventh, giving way to the stars and stripes’ offense to load the bases in the bottom half. Carson Williams, Colby Thomas, and Cam Devanney all drew walks to fill the bags for Simpson, who grounded into a fielder’s choice to halt the threat.
Anthony Gose then spun a 1-2-3 eighth inning before Shaw singled and Ritter doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the frame. But after a MacIver ground out, Puerto Rico went to Luis Cintron who coaxed a shallow fly out to keep Shaw on third and then got Williams to fly out to left to maintain the 1-0 deficit for Team USA.
After Spencer Patton struck out the side in the top of the ninth, Crawford lined the first pitch of the bottom of the inning down the right field line for a leadoff double. Crawford then advanced to third on a deep fly ball to center by Thomas which prompted Puerto Rico to put Luis Cruz in out of the bullpen. With the infield drawn in, Devanney hit a ground ball to second base and Crawford ran on contact but was thrown out at the plate. Simpson then lined out to second base for the final out of the 1-0 Puerto Rico victory.
The stars and stripes mustered six hits in the defeat, with half coming from Shaw. The designated hitter collected three singles and was hit by a pitch, putting together the first perfect day at the plate (min. three at-bats) for the U.S. since Todd Frazier went 4-for-4 at the Americas Olympic Qualifier in 2021.
Crawford, Ritter, and Simpson picked up the other three hits for the United States. Simpson stole two bases, and the U.S. had six overall as a team, its most in a game since 1992.
The United States allowed just four total hits on Saturday. Thompson, Gose, and Patton all turned in hitless innings and Benschoter had a team-high four strikeouts. Puerto Rico used seven pitchers in the victory; Raymond Burgos (1-0) got the win, pitching 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Cruz got the save.
Team USA will look to bounce back on Sunday against the Netherlands. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. local/6:00 p.m. ET from Coloso del Pacifico, and the game can be streamed live on DAZN.
