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USA Softball Men's National Team Opens Play with 9-2 Win at ISF Men's World Cup
By Brian McCall // USA Softball // June 19, 2007
PRAGUE---The USA Men’s National Team registered a 9-2 run rule win over DeMo EHS of the Netherlands today in its opening game in the ISF World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic. The U.S. out-hit their opponents 11-4 while taking advantage of three DeMo EHS errors to start off play 1-0.
The game was called at the end of six innings (seven after five) because of the ISF run rule after the USA had scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning against DeMo relief hurler Jared Welsh. Welsh entered in the fourth after the USA hit DeMo starter Doug Gillis to take a 6-2 advantage. Welsh allowed three runs and three hits in three innings.
The 42-year-old Gillis, a former member of the USA Men’s National Team, hurled the first three innings, allowing six runs on eight hits. One of the hits was a 280-foot two-run homer in the third inning by USA catcher Frank DeGroat (Ringwood, N.J.) over the left field fence,
“We had a good effort today,” USA Head Coach Peter Turner (Stockton, Calif.) said. “Travis (Price) gave us a solid performance and we’ve got the kind of team that creates a lot of havoc against the opposition with our speed and hitting ability.”
Price, one of the veterans on the team, went six innings and fanned eight, allowing a pair of runs on four hits. The two runs came in the top of the second when DeMo EHS took an early 2-1 record on an RBI double to the fence by Jeffery Visser and a throwing error by Price.
The USA seized the lead for good with three runs in the second inning before DeGroat increased the margin with the USA’s first home of the World Cup.
Leading the USA offense was Blake Miller (Albany, Ga.) who scored a pair of runs and went three-for-three including a triple in the fifth inning. Mo Kandouse (Patterson, N.J.) also had an RBI triple in the sixth inning and scored on a passed ball to conclude the scoring for the USA, which has a pair of games on Tuesday. Chris Miljavac (St. Joseph, Mo.,) also had a pair of singles for the USA for an RBI and a run scored.
Team USA plays tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. (5:30 am CST) against the Denmark National Team (1-0) and at 8:00 p.m. (2:00 pm CST) against the Japanese National Team.
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