Sports Blog Far East baseball first round: Cinderella Samurai advance
Published: May 10, 2012
That’s why they play the games on the field, so the saying goes. Though the field of play in this tournament is one of the imagination, every now and then, a double-digit seed comes along and shocks the world when least expected.
That was my gut feeling when Round 1 of Pacific Sports Blog’s Far East High School Baseball Tournament of the mind was played (Friday).
Here’s how the first-round games turned out:
Asia Division
Game 2 – No. 5 Seoul American 6, No. 12 Yokota 1 – Chung Winchip struck out six and allowed only a solo home run by Panthers starter and loser Jesse Christmas. Alex McDonald doubled, tripled and drove in three runs for the Falcons, who advance to a quarterfinal battle with top-seeded American School In Japan.
Game 3 – No. 4 Nile C. Kinnick 8, No. 13 Daegu High 0. Donald Ross, the first punch in the Red Devils’ 1-2 combination, tossed a two-hitter (Sean and Ryan Lattanzi each had infield singles), walked none and struck out 14. Ross’ brother, Daniel, went 4-for-4 with two home runs and six RBI.
Game 4 – No. 8 Robert D. Edgren 2, No. 9 E.J. King 1 – In perhaps the most intriguing battle of the first round, Christian Wolfewicz broke up the Cobras’ Jessee Gorst’s no-hit bid with a solo homer in the seventh inning, and Tristan Jefferson followed with a walk-off blast. Ian Cockerel’s solo shot provided the Cobras their lone run. Eagles advance to face Red Devils in quarterfinals.
Pacific Division
Game 6 – No. 11 Matthew C. Perry 2, No. 6 Guam High 0 – The aforementioned Eagmin hit a two-run homer in the second inning and took advantage of the Panthers’ rusty bats (Guam High hasn’t played since December), allowing no hits and no walks and just missing a perfect game when he hit Panthers starter and loser Eddie Rey Garza with a pitch in the sixth. Samurai now face No. 2 Kubasaki in the quarterfinals.
Game 7 – No. 3 Kadena 7, No. 14 Zama American 2 – Freshman flamethrower Justin Sego shut down the Trojans, save for Christian Venzlauskas, who batted 3-for-3 with two solo homers and a walk. Sego helped himself with two RBI doubles and Jared Paul went 3-for-4, just missing the cycle when grounded out in the fifth.
Game 8 – No. 7 St. Mary’s International 3, No. 10 Osan American 1 – The Titans overcame four errors and starter Sengjae Zhou staved off further damage by striking out 4 and walking none while allowing only a solo blast by Tyler Harding. Daiki Matsunaga was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer in the third inning for St. Mary’s, which advances to the quarterfinals against Kadena.
Matchups and pitching probables coming up this weekend.
Think these results don’t stand the test of the imagination? Particularly the Guam High-Matthew C. Perry game? Sound off! Be true to your school, but remember: You’ve entered “THE” No-Hate Zone.
