1981 Intercontinental Cup

The 1981 Intercontinental Cup was the 5th Intercontinental Cup. It was held from August 6 through August 16 at Renfrew Park and South Industrial Park in Edmonton, AB, Canada.

Australia tied for last at 1-6.

Canada did well as hosts, going 4-3 and upsetting the U.S. 9-7 and Cuba 2-1, shutting down Cuba more than any other team did. Perry Lychak led the event with a 0.66 ERA.

Cuba went 5-2 in the first round and beat South Korea 9-1 to open the second, but lost 6-5 in 10 innings to the USA to fall to a Silver Medal. They were managed by Servio Borges. Luis Casanova led the event in average (.517), runs (12), hits (15), homers (6) and RBI (19), dominating the leaderboard. Casanova was named an All-Star outfielder and took home MVP honors in a losing cause. No other Cuban made the All-Star team, though Antonio Muñoz hit .429.

Dominican Republic was 4-3 in the first round, tying Canada for 4th place; like Canada, they beat Cuba. In the Bronze Medal game, they outlasted South Korea 4-3 in 15 innings. They had three All-Stars in 1B Victor Mercedes, 2B Orlando Guerrero and OF Junior Gelbal. Gelbal led the tourney with five doubles.

Japan went 3-4 to finish 6th. Mitsugu Kobayashi led the Cup with 8 stolen bases. Shinichi Tani was named the All-Star 3B.

Panama had a 1-6 record to tie Australia for last, though they did have All-Star OF Roberto Dominguez.

South Korea was 5-2 in the first round but 0-2 in the second round to finish fourth overall. Dong-won Choi led the tourney with a 2-0 record and was named an All-Star pitcher. Jae-bak Kim was named the All-Star shortstop.

United States went 5-2 in the first round then beat the Dominican Republic 5-3. In the finale, Ed Vosberg got the start and the USA went on to win 6-5 in 10 innings to win their second Gold in an Intercontinental Cup. They had no tourney leaders but several All-Stars in C Burk Goldthorn and DH John Russell.