FLOWER MOUND, Texas – Team USA scored six runs in the first inning and allowed just one hit all game en route to a 19-0 win over the Texas Scrappers on Monday afternoon at Bakersfield Park in Flower Mound, Texas. With the win, the 12U National Team finishes its three-game exhibition schedule undefeated. 

The six-run first got started on an RBI single by Julian Rodriguez (Boca Raton, Fla.), before Jacob Seamon (Rolling Meadows, Ill.) and Jake Welch (Lehi, Utah) followed with a pair of their own RBI singles. Angel Gonzalez (Whittier, Calif.) capped the rally with a two-run double to right center field, giving Team USA a 6-0 lead it would not relinquish.

Gonzalez led Team USA’s offensive attack in the win, hitting a homer to go along with two more hits and five RBIs. Seamon and Welch also had three hits for the stars and stripes, who got a homer from Brodie Campbell (Newnan, Ga.) for the second consecutive game. Aaron Garcia (Pico Rivera, Calif.) picked up two hits for the third straight game. 

Team USA’s pitchers combined to allow just one hit over seven dominant innings. Jared Grindlinger (Huntington Beach, Calif) started on the mound for the stars and stripes and delivered two scoreless innings, striking out four. Isaac Vidal (Miami, Fla.) earned the win, tossing two perfect frames with five strikeouts. Brady Bickham (Claremont, Calif.) and Derek Vazquez (Charlotte, N.C.) put the finishing touches on the performance, striking out five combined batters in three innings of work. Charlie Gamber suffered the loss for the Scrappers.

Key Moments

• With Julian Martinez (New York, N.Y.) and Hudson Brown (Iola, Texas) in scoring position in the first, Rodriguez singled through the left side to score the game’s first run. Seamon followed with a two-run single to give Team USA a 3-0 lead.
• Welch singled to left field to score Seamon, and Gonzalez followed a batter later with a two-run double to cap the six-run rally in the first.
• Kekahupono Kong (Mililani, Hawaii) plated a run with an RBI groundout and Caleb Hudson (Carrollton, Ga.) scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-0 in the third.
• With Welch on second, Gonzalez pulled a two-run blast over the right field wall to give Team USA a 10-0 lead.
• The lead grew to 12 as the stars and stripes scored twice more in the third, once on a passed ball and again on a sacrifice fly by Rodriguez.
• Gonzalez drove in his fifth run of the day in the fourth, making it 13-0 with an RBI single to left field. Team USA added three more runs on a single by Garcia, an RBI groundout by Jackson Fetters (Montgomery, Texas), and a wild pitch to extend the lead to 16-0.
• After Seamon doubled and Welch walked with two outs in the fifth, Campbell went the other way for a three-run blast to give Team USA a 19-0 lead that it would protect over the final two frames.

Notable Information

• With the win, Team USA finishes its 2021 three-game exhibition slate with a perfect 3-0 record.
• The stars and stripes outscored their three opponents, 55-3, in the exhibition contests.
• Bickham, Grindlinger, Vazquez, and Vidal combined to allow just one hit in the victory. The lone baserunner for the Scrappers came in the first inning on a two-out single.
• Brown had a game-high three walks, reaching via the base on balls in all of his plate appearances.
• With the three-hit performances by Gonzalez, Seamon, and Welch, Team USA had at least one hitter with three hits in each game it played.
• The red, white, and blue hit 11 home runs in three games, including seven in Sunday’s win over Premier National.
• Team USA finished its slate with just one error, and played its final two games without a defensive miscue.
• Gonzalez and Bickham tied for the team lead in batting average, both hitting .750 over the three games.
• Every pitcher who took the mound for Team USA recorded at least two strikeouts in the three games.

Social

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