2016 South American Championship

The 2016 South American Championship was the 7th South American Championship won by Brazil. It was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from November 5 to November 12.

Round-Robin Summary[edit]

Argentina was 3-2 in the round-robin, but was outscored 19-20. Top hitters were Lucas Montalbetti (.500/.529/.714), Nicolás Arrube (.500/.556/.750), Eduardo Zurbriggen (.444/.450/.611, 8 RBI) and Federico Gómez (.389/.476/.611, 6 R) while Ezequiel Cufre (1-0, 1.29) was the top hurler.

Bolivia was 0-5 and was outscored 74-9. Brian Sossa (.333/.333/.417) and Brian Peñafiel (.250/.400/.375) were their best offensive performers. The team ERA was 18.93, with Elio Padilla (0-1) posting the lowest ERA at 10.57 (Ronald Quiroga had a 0.00 ERA and one unearned run in 1/3 of an inning).

Brazil swept through round one with a 71-18 run differential and a team OPS of 1072 (higher than the best Bolivian batter). Felipe Burin (.500/.650/.857, 6 RBI), Iago Januario (.500/.611/1.071, 9 RBI) and Gustavo Roque (.466/.588/.867, 9 RBI, 7 R) were among the star hitters, the latter two each having more RBI than the entire Bolivian team. Murilo Gouvea (1-0) allowed only one unearned run in six innings while Claudio Matumoto Jr. (1-0) allowed no runs in six.

Chile was 1-4 and scored 31 runs, the #3 offense, but allowed 52 runs. James Sommerville (.500/.550/.556), Daniel Catalan (.300/.333/.500, 6 RBI) and Carlos Beroiza (.250/.500/.375) led the offense. The team ERA was 10.22; Sebastian Vega (1-0, 4.91) had the best ERA and the lone win.

Colombia went 4-1 and outscored the opposition 35-14, allowing the fewest runs. Steve Brown hit .389/.455/.722 and scored six runs, Ronald Luna batted .389/.476/.611 and drove in seven and part-time Jonathan Lozada was an amazing 7-for-8 with four walks, a double and a triple. Juan Corpas (5 1/3 IP), Miguel Puello (8 IP, 15 K) and Randy Consuegra (7 IP) all allowed two hits and no runs, the latter two going 1-0.

Peru was 2-3 in the first round and scored 29 while allowing 38. Susumu Yoza hit .364/.391/.591 and drove in six but made four errors, while Jin Ishihara hit .286/.375/.643. His brother Ken Ishihara was their top hurler (1-0, 3 UER in 7 IP). Diego Uezu had a 2.45 ERA.

Brazil 12, Peru 0. Vitor Souza allows two hits and one walk in six shutout frames then former major leaguer André Rienzo closes out the 7-inning mercy rule win. Edson Piovan and Alonso Tenya get the lone hits for Peru, while Alan Fanhoni goes 3 for 5 with 3 runs and 4 RBI and Felipe Burin also scores three for Brazil.
Argentina 12, Colombia 9. Argentina holds a strong 9-4 lead entering the 9th in a bid to dethrone 2015 champions Colombia, who had topped Argentina in round one. Colombia rallies for five runs off Federico Tanco to tie it, but Argentina scores three in the 10th for the win. Juan Francisco Martín and Lucas Montalbetti each have 3 hits for Argentina while Efrain Contreras homers and drives in 3 for Colombia. Federico Robles gets the win, Horacio Acosta the loss.

Chile 9, Bolivia 1. Chile cruises to 5th place as Bogdan Leyton and two relievers allow one run. Daniel Catalan goes 3 for 5 with 3 RBI and pitches two shutout innings, while Carlos Beroiza also raps 3 hits. Walter Vargas takes the loss, going the distance and allowing 15 hits, 3 walks and 8 earned runs.

Brazil 10, Argentina 4. Murilo Gouvea throws five hitless innings for the win, though Argentina scores four runs off the bullpen. Felipe Burin drives in three and Tiago Magalhães collects three hits. Lucas Ramón is the losing hurler.

Colombia 10, Peru 0. The defending champions settled for Bronze as Miguel Puello tossed a gem (0 R, 2 H, 5 BB, 3 K in 7 IP) in a mercy rule win; Susumu Yoza and Jorge Tokumura got the only hits. Jonathan Farías allowed 7 runs in 1/3 of an inning for the loss. Héctor Acuña had two runs and two RBI to lead a balanced attack.

Tournaments All-Stars were as follows:

Felipe Burin of Brazil was named the Championship MVP.