2009 World Youth Championship

The 2009 World Youth Championship was held in August 2009 in Taichung, Taiwan. It was the 13th World Youth Championship sponsored by the IBAF. The USA won its 4th Gold Medal, tying Cuba for the all-time record. Mexico became the 11th different country to win a Medal.

First Round Games

August 15

• Cuba 9, Australia 1. Guillermo Aviles homers twice and drives in six while Elbis Martinez tosses a fine game (1 run in 8 innings).
• USA 28, Hong Kong 0. In a game ended after five innings due to the mercy rule, 13 Americans score runs. Catcher Evan Powell drives in seven runs in two at-bats before leaving.
• Venezuela 15, Taiwan 14. Ssu Tan Yu goes 5 for 6 with four runs in a losing cause. Rougned Odor makes three errors at SS and 2B but drives in four on four hits for the winners.
• South Korea 5, Mexico 4. Seong-min Kim gives up 1 run in 5 2/3 relief innings as South Korea rallies to edge Mexico.
• Japan 20, Russia 0. Taiki Morikawa goes 4 for 5 with 3 runs and 5 RBI to lead Japan in a five-inning mercy rule game. Shintaro Fujinami fans 9 and gives up one hit in four shutout innings.
• Netherlands 11, Czech Republic 2. Rodney Daal leads the Netherlands offense with a 2-for-5, 3 RBI, 2 run, 2 double day. Lars Huijer gives up two runs in six innings of work for the victory.

August 16

• Australia 15, Russia 2. Australia bangs out five triples among its 17 hits in a 7-inning mercy rule win. Cleanup hitter Guy Edmonds fell a double shy of the cycle and had 3 runs and 3 RBI.
• Mexico 20, Hong Kong 3. Mexico also has five triples, with 20 hits in 33 at-bats en route to a 5-inning mercy rule game. Adolfo Lopez went 4 for 4 with a run and 3 RBI.
• Japan 15, Taiwan 12. Taiwan again lost a close slugfest. Japanese leadoff man Katsushi Nakamichi went 3 for 5 with 2 homers, 3 runs and 5 RBI to lead the way.
• USA 18, Czech Republic 1. The US hurlers fan 15 batters in six innings while Francisco Lindor goes 3 for 3 with 2 triples, 2 walks, 3 runs and 2 RBI.
• Cuba 12, Venezuela 2. Raydel Medina drives in five as Cuba cruises to a win.
• South Korea 10, Netherlands 0. Seung-jun Baek is the ultimate two-way threat, going 3 for 3 with 2 runs, a RBI, a walk, a double and a triple at the plate and fanning 11 in 6 innings of 3-hit shutout ball.

August 17

• Taiwan 19, Russia 1. The hosts win their first, as cleanup hitter Kun-Yu Wen goes 4 for 4 with 3 runs and 4 RBI.
• USA 15, Netherlands 1. John Hochstatter fans nine in five innings of two-hit shutout ball for the win.
• Venezuela 9, Australia 8. Venezuela gets their second one-run win. Rougned Odor again leads the way, falling a triple shy of the cycle, scoring three and driving home three.
• Mexico 13, Czech Republic 2. Yousamot Cota goes 3 for 5 with 3 runs, 3 RBI and is a home run short of a cycle.
• Cuba 5, Japan 2. In a matchup of contenders, Darién Núñez allows one earned run in nine innings to beat Hiroaki Yokotsuka, who also goes the distance.
• South Korea 16, Hong Kong 0. Tae-su Kim goes 4 for 4 with a walk, 2 runs and 2 RBI as South Korea romps past Hong Kong.

August 18

• Japan 7, Venezuela 6. Japan rallies in the 9th for the win. Hiroaki Yokotsku gives up one run in three innings for the win a day after he threw a complete game.
• South Korea 14, Czech Republic 3. Jun-yeong Jo scores four runs as Korea goes for an easy win.
• Cuba 16, Russia 1. Three Cuban batters produce four or five runs in a rout. Rogelio Armenteros gets the win.
• Netherlands 16, Hong Kong 6. RF Peter van Doesburg goes 4 for 5 with 2 runs, 2 steals and 5 RBI to lead the charge; he falls a home run shy of the cycle.
• Taiwan 8, Australia 4. Tzu-Wei Lin goes 4 for 5 with a run and a RBI to lead a balanced offense while Jyun-Long Jhang fans 10 in a complete game win.
• USA 16, Mexico 6. LF Austin Cousino goes 4 for 7 with two doubles, a home run, 3 runs and 5 RBI to power the Americans to victory.

August 19

• Venezuela 21, Russia 1. Leonardo Colorado goes 4 for 4 with two runs and 3 RBI and allows one run in five innings in a mercy rule win.
• Mexico 8, Netherlands 6. Manuel Paez went 3 for 5 with a triple, run and 2 RBI and tosses a scoreless 9th for the save. Urving Kemp goes 4 for 5 with a run in the loss.
• Australia 10, Japan 9. Liam Reford goes 2 for 5 with two runs, 4 RBI and a triple while Tyler Dale allows one run in 3 2/3 innings.
• USA 11, South Korea 1. Austin Cousino is a homer shy of the cycle, scored two and drives home three. Parker French, Dylan Davis and Hayden Hurst combine on a 2-hitter.
• Cuba 7, Taiwan 5. Raydel Medina doubles, triples and drives in four to lead Cuba past the hosts.
• Hong Kong 6, Czech Republic 5. Hing-Long Yip goes 3 for 5 with two runs and a RBI as Hong Kong wins the matchup of winless teams. Wing-Sing Li goes the distance for the victory.

First-Round Standings

• Cuba, 5-0
• USA, 5-0
• South Korea, 4-1
• Japan, 3-2
• Venezuela, 3-2
• Mexico, 3-2
• Taiwan, 2-3
• Netherlands, 2-3
• Australia, 2-3
• Hong Kong, 1-4
• Czech Republic, 0-5
• Russia, 0-5

Second Round Games

August 21

• Australia 15, Czech Republic 0. In the 9th-12th seed games, Australia got off to a quick start with a 2-hit shutout by Kieran Glynn. 2B Daniel Nilsson singled twice, tripled, homered, stole a base, scored four runs and drove in five.
• Russia 5, Hong Kong 3. Dmitry Semenov outduels Wing-Sing Li, who both toss complete games, Li throwing 134 pitches in his.
• Cuba 13, Netherlands 3. 1B Guillermo Aviles fall a triple shy of the cycle, scores 3 and drives in two as Cuba advances to the final four.
• Mexico 5, Japan 4. In a complete game, Hiroaki Yokotsuka strikes out 10 but also walks 8 in a loss to Mexico.
• USA 11, Taiwan 8. The hosts almost eliminate the unbeaten Americans from a chance at the Gold after Ricardo Jacquez gives up 7 runs in under 3 innings, but Cory Geisler strikes out 11 in 6 1/3 innings of excellent relief to save the USA. Austin Cousino doubles, homers and drives in four.
• Venezuela 11, South Korea 5. Venezuela moves to the final four by getting 17 hits, 14 of them singles. Angel Guerra gets the victory.

August 22

• Australia 10, Russia 0. In the 9th/10th place game, the Aussies rout Russia, which gets only four hits. 1B Guy Edmonds drives in four runs.
• Czech Republic 16, Hong Kong 0. In their rematch, the Czechs easily avenge their earlier upset loss to Hong Kong. Ivan Hamža and Michael Vykoukal hold the Hong Kong club to five hits in five innings. RF Robert Regner (3 for 3, 2 2B, BB, 4 R, 2 RBI) and CF Jan Vondřička (3 for 4, 2 2B, 3 R, 4 RBI) lead the way at the plate as the Czechs finish 11th and Hong Kong 12th.
• Cuba 9, Venezuela 0. Cuba cruises into the finals as RF Raydel Medina goes 3 for 5 with 3 RBI. Hector Mendoza allows only 3 hits in a a shutout win.
• South Korea 5, Netherlands 4. South Korea edges the Dutch for a spot in the 5th/6th place Game. Seong-min Kim strikes out 8 in 6 2/3 IP of relief as Korea rallies to win.
• USA 9, Mexico 5. The US goes to the finals as C Evan Powell gets 3 extra-base hits and SS Francisco Lindor gets 3 singles and 3 RBI. Parker French picks up the win and John Hochstatter the save.
• Taiwan 10, Japan 6. 1B Kun-Yu Wen goes 4 for 4 with a walk, 2 runs and 2 RBI and Taiwan beats Japan to move into the 5th/6th place game.

August 23

• Japan 11, Netherlands 1. In the 7th/8th place game, Japan cruises to a win. 1B Mitsutaka Tomita goes 3 for 5 with 2 runs and 3 RBI.
• Taiwan 11, South Korea 0. A similar rout takes place in the 5th/6th place contest. Lee-Wei Chiang and two relievers hold Korea to only two hits while 3B Li-Jen Chu goes 4 for 5 with 2 runs and a RBI.
• Mexico 11, Venezuela 10. On the other hand, the Bronze Medal game is an exciting affair. 1B-2B Rougned Odor is a triple shy of the cycle and scores 3 and drives in 2 in a losing cause. Venezuela leads 9-2 after 5 1/2 innings before Mexico rallies, led by SS-P Manuel Paez (3 for 5, 4 RBI; on the other hand, he allowed 5 runs in under 3 innings). In the 9th, 3B Fernando Perez hit a 2-out single for Mexico. Paez followed with a single to right and an error by RF Rainiero Coa scored Perez with the 11th and winning run.
• USA 7, Cuba 6. The Gold Medal game is also a close one. Cuba pounded Kent Matthews to go ahead 5-1 by the end of the third. Cory Geisler once again provided excellent relief for America, giving up only 1 run the rest of the way. Darién Núñez allowed a second US run in the 5th. In the 7th, two Cuban errors helped America pull even at five. LF Roberto Baldoquin singled in RF Raydel Medina with the go-ahead run in the 8th as Cuba was up 6-5. In the 9th, the US faced Rogelio Armenteros. With one away, LF Austin Cousino walked and SS Francisco Lindor singled for his third hit, putting Cousino on third. Lindor swiped second in a daring move. 2B Kevin Kramer tied it with a sacrifice fly, as Cousino scored his third run of the game. With two outs, cleanup man Evan Powell came to the plate and did his job, doubling in Lindor to put the US up 7-6. In the bottom of the 9th, SS Andy Ibáñez reached on a miscue by his counterpart, Lindor, but Geisler retired the next three in order to end the game.

Final Standings

1. USA
2. Cuba
3. Mexico
4. Venezuela
5. Taiwan
6. South Korea
7. Japan
8. Netherlands
9. Australia
10. Russia
11. Czech Republic
12. Hong Kong

Awards

• MVP: Austin Cousino, USA LF
• Outstanding Defensive Player: Lázaro Hernández, Cuba

All-Star Team

(statistics do not count final games for the top 8 teams)

• C: Guy Edmonds, Australia (.464/.484/.893, 9 R, 15 RBI)
• 1B: Guillermo Aviles, Cuba (.520/.636/1.120, 7 XBH, 11 R, 9 RBI)
• 2B: Rougned Odor, Venezuela (.536/.545/.857, 5 SB, 9 R, 12 RBI)
• SS: Francisco Lindor, USA (.556/.618/.963, 4 SB, 17 R, 13 RBI)
• 3B: Li-Jen Chu, Taiwan (.452/.500/.710, 10 R, 10 RBI)
• OF: Austin Cousino, USA (.586/.618/1.172, 7 2B, 15 R, 17 RBI)
• OF: JoMarcos Woods, USA (.696/.733/1.348, 4 3B, 18 R, 10 RBI)
• OF: Katsushi Nakamichi, Japan (.500/.531/.933, 5 2B, 9 R)
• RHP: Hector Mendoza, Cuba (2-0, 1.12)
• LHP: Cory Geisler, USA (1-0, 0.00, 16 K in 8 1/3 IP)