2011 World Youth Championship

The 2011 World Youth Championship ran from August 19 to August 28 in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, Mexico. Competing nations were the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Mexico, Taiwan, Brazil, Cuba, the Netherlands, Australia, the United States of America, Venezuela and Japan. The US became the first team to win five Golds in World Youth Championship competition.

Games

August 19

• Mexico 8, Taiwan 6. Julián León is a two-way monster as he goes 3 for 3 with two doubles, a run and a RBI at the plate; on the mound, he allows one run in five innings for the win. 1B Chun-Hsien Ho goes 4 for 4 in a loss.
• USA 21, Australia 11. The US wins a slugfest, led by CF Austin Meadows (4 for 7, 4 R, 6 RBI), 1B Keegan Thompson (3 for 5, 3 R, 3 RBI) and C Zachary Collins (3 for 5, 2 R, 4 RBI). For Australia, 2B Corey Lyon scores three runs and gets three hits, while 1B Matthew Morris goes 3 for 4 with 4 RBI. Chrisian Pelaez tosses four shutout innings as one of the few effective pitchers.
• Indonesia 9, Dominican Republic 0. Indonesia wins in a forfeit as the Dominicans do not show up.
• Netherlands 9, Cuba 0. Cuba also fails to show up on time at the stadium, leading to a forfeit to the Netherlands.
• Venezuela 10, Japan 9. Venezuela edges Japan behind the offensive production of CF Jose Lino (3 for 5, 3 RBI), RF Alexander Palma (4 for 6, 3 RBI) and SS Victor Velasquez (4 R, 3 SB).

August 20

• Taiwan 7, Brazil 6. Brazil scores 5 in the top of the 9th to take the lead, but Taiwan scores three in the bottom to win it. Chia-Ming Tu allows one run in 7 innings as the starter, while RF Tse-Chun Wang goes 3 for 4 with two RBI and picks up the win in relief.
• Mexico 5, Australia 3. Jherson Esqueda allows one run in six innings while fanning eight; two relievers add four more whiffs as the hosts win.
• Netherlands 21, Indonesia 2. #8 hitter 2B Roen van Hoek (4 for 4, 4 R, 4 RBI) and LF Nick Peels (4 for 4, 2 R, 3 RBI) lead a 17-hit attack for the lone European entry.
• Cuba 6, Japan 5. Cuba leads 5-0 after six innings but Jose Pazos fades in the 7th and Japan ties it in the 8th. In the bottom of the eighth, Cuba scores off Shota Tatsuta to win a matchup of international powers.
• Venezuela 9, Dominican Republic 0. The Dominicans did not show up, giving a forfeit win to Venezuela.

August 21

• USA 19, Taiwan 6. CF Austin Meadows goes 4 for 5 with a double, two runs and 3 RBI while LF-3B Riley Unroe scores 4 and drives in three in a romp.
• Brazil 7, Mexico 6. The hosts fall in an upset as Luiz Gohara allows one unearned run in four relief innings. A balanced offense helps out, with 3 hits by 2B Marcos Barbosa. SS Luis Medina reaches base all four times up and produces three runs for the losers.
• Japan 3, Netherlands 0. Shogo Nohara, Taishi Bamba and Shota Tatsuta combine on a 4-hit, 11-strikeout shutout to outduel the Dutch squad, which gets fine pitching from starter Kaj Timmermans (2 R in 7 IP).
• Cuba 9, Dominican Republic 0. The Dominicans were not at the stadium on time, resulting in a forfeit to Cuba.
• Venezuela 21, Indonesia 1. In a five-inning mercy rule romp, 1B Pedro Lugo goes 4 for 5 with 3 runs and 3 RBI.

August 22

• Australia 19, Brazil 15. The two clubs combine for 38 hits, 20 walks, 13 wild pitches and 34 runs in another high-flying game for the Aussies. CF Ben Shorto goes 4 for 6 with 4 runs, a walk, 2 doubles and a RBI for the winners, while RF Leonardo Munhoz is 4 for 6 with a walk, triple, 3 runs and 4 RBI in a losing cause.
• USA 14, Mexico 3. 3,700 fans show up for the CF Austin Meadows (4 for 4, 2 SB, 5 RBI)-2B Bryson Brigman (4 for 4, 3B, BB, 3 R, RBI) show. Mexican SS Antonio Carazin scores three runs despite not getting an official plate appearance (3 BB, 1 HBP).
• Japan 10, Indonesia 0. Daiki Asama is a two-way threat, tossing 6 shutout innings (9 K, 3 H) for the win, while going 3 for 4 with a run and 3 RBI.
• Cuba 20, Venezuela 4. Cuba hands Venezuela its first loss, and it's a whopper of one. LF Eddy Martinez goes 3 for 7 with 3 runs and 3 RBI while Brandon Delgado picks up the win.
• Netherlands 9, Dominican Republic 0. Another day, another forfeit for the Dominicans.

August 23

• Taiwan 13, Australia 2. Wei-Chien Chang scores four runs as Taiwan finishes one spot ahead of Australia in Pool A.
• USA 16, Brazil 1. The US kept on cruising, with Zachary Collins going 3 for 4 with 3 runs and 4 RBI.
• Cuba 16, Indonesia 0. Ariel Diaz, Arbelio Quiros and Noel Ortiz combine on a no-hitter to finish round one on a high note.
• Venezuela 19, Netherlands 11. The Dutch look on the verge of winning round one, up 6-2 going into the 5th before blowing it. Angel Yepez and Keiber Rivas each score four for Venezuela, while Rachid Engelhardt and Tim Halderman combine for 8 RBI for the Europeans.
• Japan 9, Dominican Republic 0. The Dominicans again forfeit.

August 25

• USA 13, Netherlands 4. The Americans open the second round with another win, with 3 RBI apiece from 2B Bryson Brigman and CF Austin Meadows.
• Japan 6, Mexico 0. The hosts manage only five hits in being shut out by Daiki Tajima, Taishi Bamba and Shota Tatsuta.
• Taiwan 9, Venezuela 2. Chia-Ming Tu goes the distance, with no walks and eight whiffs, in another Asian win over Latin America.
• Cuba 9, Australia 2. Jose Pazos and Arbelio Quiros combine on a fine outing while LF Eddy Martinez leads the offense (3 for 3, BB, 3 RBI).
• Brazil 17, Indonesia 2. Brazil starts the 9th/10th place series with Indonesia with a romp. RF Leonardo Munhoz scores four times while SS Felipe Morishita goes 4 for 5 with 3 runs, 5 RBI and two doubles.

August 26

• Brazil 16, Indonesia 0. RF Leonardo Munhoz goes 5 for 6 with 3 runs and 2 RBI to again lead Brazil to victory over Indonesia.
• Taiwan 7, Netherlands 2. Yu-Cheng Chang whiffs 15 in 8 innings as Taiwan wins handily.
• Japan 10, Australia 9. In an exciting contest, Australia scores three in the 8th to tie the game at 9. In the bottom of the eighth, Japan rallied to win it on a single by LF Yoshitaka Nagasawa, a wild pitch and a squeeze bunt by P Taishi Bamba.
• USA 18, Venezuela 17. The US wins another slugfest as their bats help make up for poor pitching in a 10-inning affair. Venezuela leads 15-7 after six, pasting US starter Jacob Jarvis for ten runs and reliever Matthew Vogel for three in 1/3 of an inning. The US rallies to win, though. SS Franklin Barreto homers twice and scores four for Venezuela, while 2B-3B Luis Castro goes 4 for 5 and CF Jose Lino has 3 runs and 3 RBI. For the US, 2B Bryson Brigman goes 4 for 7 with 2 runs and 3 RBI, CF Austin Meadows goes 3 for 8 with 3 runs and 5 RBI and LF-3B Riley Unroe scores four times with two hits and four walks. The teams combine for 38 hits, 20 walks, 12 wild pitches and 11 errors.
• Cuba 11, Mexico 7. The hosts fall back to Cuba as Jherson Esqueda gives up 9 runs (only two earned) in three innings. 1B Mario Miranda scores 3 and drives in four for Cuba, while his Mexican counterpart Julián León is 3 for 4 with 2 runs and a RBI.

August 27

• Cuba 7, Taiwan 4. Cuba advances to the finals behind two homers from C Orlando Roa and the pitching of Arbelio Quiros (5 1/3 shutout innings in relief).
• Venezuela 9, Australia 8. A day after both teams lost by one run in close matches, another high-scoring one-run game ensues. Australia leads 8-5 after four and a half innings and is still up 8-7 entering the 9th before Venezuela rallies. Soid Marquez and Victor Ramirez toss scoreless ball over the final 4 2/3 innings. 2B Corey Lyon goes 3 for 4 with 3 RBI for the losers. On the winning side, the offense comes from SS Franklin Barreto (4 for 5, 2 R, 2 RBI), RF-1B Alexander Palma (3 for 6, 2 R, 2 RBI) and 2B Angel Aguilar (4 for 5, 2 R).
• Japan 8, USA 6. The US is handed its only loss in an extra-inning battle with Japan. Japan leads 5-0 after 4 1/2 innings but the US rallies to make it 5-4 entering the 9th. Japan scores once in the top of the 9th, but the US scores twice in the bottom of the 9th to even it. In the 10th, Japan scores two more for the win. Shota Tatsuta got the victory while LF Taishi Bamba goes 2 for 4 with a walk and two RBI.
• Mexico 11, Netherlands 5. Tim Halderman shut down Mexico for four innings as the Netherlands built a 4-0 lead but Mexico rallied to win. 1B Julián León went 4 for 4 with 3 runs, 5 RBI and two home runs to lead the charge.

August 28

• Japan 8, Mexico 7. In the Bronze Medal game, the hosts fell short. Each team scored twice in the first. In the 6th, Mexico scored twice, but Japan answered in the bottom of the inning with five runs to put it away. CF Koki Kugimaya went 3 for 4 with a run and 2 RBI.
• USA 9, Cuba 0. In front of 2,300 fans, the US beats Cuba in the finals for the second straight time, winning their 5th World Youth Championship to break their tie with Cuba for the most. After getting little pitching in many games, the US rode the arm of Keegan Thompson, who fanned 12 in a four-hit whitewash. Thompson also went 4 for 5 with a run and 2 RBI, while CF Austin Meadows was 3 for 5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI.

Final Standings

1. USA
2. Cuba
3. Japan
4. Mexico
5. Taiwan
6. Venezuela
7. Netherlands
8. Australia
9. Brazil
10. Indonesia
11. Dominican Republic

Awards

• MVP: Zachary Collins, USA C
• Outstanding Defensive Player: Zac Shepherd, Australia SS

All-Star Team

(Statistics do not count the Gold Medal Game or Bronze Medal Game)

• C: Zachary Collins, USA (.536/.618/.964, 9 R, 16 RBI, 3 HR)
• 1B: Julián León, Mexico (.500/.600/.700)
• 2B: Bryson Brigman, USA (.594/.629/.719, 15 R, 11 RBI, 5 SB)
• SS: Zac Shepherd, Australia (.500/.571/.571, 7 R, 8 RBI)
• 3B: Yoan Moncada, Cuba (.500/.643/.800, 9 R)
• OF: Yu-Cheng Chang, Taiwan (.414/.469/.690, 9 R, 2 A)
• OF: Austin Meadows, USA (.528/.564/.806, 14 R, 25 RBI, 6 SB)
• OF: Leonardo Munhoz, Brazil (.500/.536/.577, 10 R, 8 RBI)
• SP: Luiz Gohara, Brazil (1-0, 0.00, 8 K in 7 1/3 IP)
• RP: Chris Pelaez, USA (1-0, 0.00, 8 K in 6 IP)