TOKYO – Ryan Ward hit a go-ahead solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to lift Team USA to a 6-5 win over Venezuela in its Super Round finale at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 presented by RAXUS on Saturday afternoon at the Tokyo Dome.
After Venezuela erased a five-run deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth, Ward came to the plate with one out in the top of the ninth. He worked a full count against Venezuela reliever Enderson Franco before sending his 3-2 offering over the wall in straightaway center field, giving Team USA a 6-5 lead as the dugout poured out in celebration. The homer was Ward’s tournament-leading fifth of the Premier12.
Zane Mills then returned to the mound for the U.S. after getting the final out of the eighth. Mills retired the first two batters before issuing a pair of two-out walks, putting the winning run on first base. But the 24-year-old reliever locked back in, getting 10-year MLB veteran Hernan Perez to pop out to first base to secure the 6-5 victory.
Ward’s homer put the cap on a thrilling contest. It was all Team USA (4-4, 1-2) early on; starter Touki Toussaint was dialed in from the first pitch and the offense gave him early support. Chandler Simpson drove in the first run of the game in the top of the second, sending an RBI single into right center to give Team USA a 1-0 lead. Matt Shaw followed by adding to his tournament-leading RBI total with a fielder’s choice that brought Drake Baldwin home and put the U.S. in front by two.
From there, Toussaint took care of business through the fourth. He erased a leadoff walk in the second by coaxing an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play before working out of an even bigger jam in the third. The right hander got two quick outs to start the inning, but Dixon Machado singled and Alexi Amarista doubled to bring Hernan Perez to the plate. Toussaint was able to get Perez to hit a one-hopper to shortstop to escape the jam unscathed.
Toussaint struck out two batters in a perfect fourth and was then lifted after a leadoff walk in the fifth. Antonio Menendez took over and fanned his first batter on three pitches and induced a 5-3 double play to erase the leadoff baserunner.
The stars and stripes then added on in the top of the sixth. Baldwin kicked off the inning with a double, Luke Ritter walked, and Justin Crawford advanced the runners to second and third with a ground out. Simpson and Shaw followed with their second RBIs of the afternoon; Simpson hit a sacrifice fly and Shaw singled to center, both driving in runs to extend the lead to 4-0. Carson Williams then crushed a double off the left field wall to bring Shaw home and give Team USA a five-run cushion.
Venezuela (5-3, 1-2) began its comeback in the bottom of the fifth, chipping into its deficit on an RBI single by Herlis Rodriguez. An inning later, Carlos J. Perez hit a two-out, solo home run to get Venezuela within three runs.
Venezuela’s bullpen kept the U.S. in check in the seventh and eighth set up for the dramatic bottom half of the eighth, when the home side was able to knot the score at five against Darrell Thompson. Hernan Perez and Carlos E. Perez both singled and Venezuela manager Omar Lopez went to Diego Castillo off the bench to pinch-hit with two outs in the eighth. Thompson got ahead in the count, but Castillo hit a 1-2 pitch over the fence in left center to tie the game at five apiece.
That set the table for Ward, who flipped the momentum back in the United States’ favor with his towering shot over the center field wall. He joins Trea Turner as the only two U.S. players in the last decade to hit five home runs in a single tournament.
Team USA got multi-hit games from Baldwin, Shaw, and Simpson in the victory. Shaw added two RBIs to extend his tournament lead to 14 runs batted in. Simpson now leads the tournament in hits with 15; he has at least one knock in all eight games, including four multi-hit performances. Additionally, he swiped two more bases on Saturday and now has nine overall for the tournament, the most stolen bases for a U.S. player in a single tournament in team history.
Toussaint continued Team USA’s trend of strong starting pitching. He tossed four shutout innings and allowed two hits; U.S. starters now own a 1.38 collective ERA in 26.0 innings pitched. Menendez turned in his third scoreless outing of the tournament and Mills (1-0) earned the win, getting the final four outs of the contest. Franco (0-1) was the losing pitcher for Venezuela.
The two nations will meet for the third time of the 2024 Premier12 on Sunday for the bronze medal game. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. local/10:00 p.m. ET (Nov. 23) and the action can be streamed live on DAZN.
