TAINAN, Taiwan - The USA Baseball 12U National Team run ruled its opponent for the second straight game, defeating Nicaragua, 10-0, in five innings in the second game of Pool Play in the 2017 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup on Saturday afternoon at Shan-Hwa Stadium.
Team USA got on the scoreboard early, with three walks from Kai Caranto (Santa Clarita, Calif.), Benjamin Reiland (Irvine, Calif.), and Raffaele Velazquez (Long Beach, Calif.), when Brad Burnes (Belvedere, Calif.) reached on a fielder's choice to score the first run of the game. Owen Egan (Yucaipa, Calif.) followed up with an RBI-single through the left side to score Velazquez, while four more U.S. runs scored in the inning on a balk and three wild pitches, to take the early 7-0 lead.
The United States struck again in the fourth inning, when Josh Atomanczyk (Franklin, Texas) led off the inning with a home run to center field. Velazquez and Burnes followed with back-to-back singles and Egan doubled down the left field line to extend the Team USA lead to 10-0.
In the fifth, relievers CJ Rice (Pleasanton, Calif.) and Atomancyzk shutdown the Nicaragua offense to end the game due to the WBSC run rule.
The U.S. squad had 10 stolen bases, drew seven walks, advanced on four wild pitches, and were hit by pitches three times in route to the win.
Egan earned the win on the mound, throwing three scoreless innings, while allowing one hit and striking out a game-high five and leading the United States offense, going 2-for-3 with three RBI.
Team USA will continue Pool Play in the WBSC U-12 World Cup tomorrow against South Korea at 2:00 a.m. ET in Tainan Stadium. The game will be streamed LIVE on the WBSC YouTube Channel and fans can also follow the game on USABaseball.com or on Twitter .