I attended this game and ran a Live Blog sharing my thoughts on the game. You can check it out by clicking here.
I will be running a chat at 6:30 eastern time for the Team USA game against the Holyoke Blue Sox.
FROM TEAM USA RELEASE
(MANCHESTER, N.H.) – Team USA pitchers surrendered only two hits and Yasmani Grandal (Miami) brought in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly in the second inning as the U.S. defeated the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) All-Stars 4-1 at MerchantsAuto.com Stadium.
With the win, Team USA has won its tenth consecutive game in the summer and its thirty-fourth consecutive game dating back to last summer.
Tyler Holt (Florida State) started things off for Team USA in the bottom of the first inning when he hit a single up the middle on NECBL All-Star starting pitcher Brach Davis. Holt advanced to second on a stolen base and then to third on a sacrifice bunt by third baseman Rick Hague (Rice) with only one out. Christian Colon (Cal State Fullerton) brought Holt in for the first run of the game with a single down the left field line.
Matt Newman (Arizona State) hit a single up the middle and advanced to second on an error by the shortstop and Michael Choice (UT Arlington) popped a ball up to the right field warning track that the fielder lost in the sun for a double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Grandal put the U.S. up 2-0 in the second when his sacrifice fly to centerfield brought in Newman to score.
The NECBL All-Stars threatened in the top of the third inning on Team USA starting pitcher Cody Wheeler (Coastal Carolina). With one out, Ian Tomkins singled to left field and Peter Verdin walked to put runners on first and second base. But Wheeler forced Henry Dunn to fly out to right field and Taylor Featherston to ground out to the pitcher to keep the NECBL All-Stars off the board.
Team USA tagged another run on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead when Brad Miller’s (Clemson) single through the right side scored a speedy Michael Choice (UT Arlington) from second base.
NECBL scratched a run on the board in the top of the fifth inning on a struggling Wheeler. After giving up an early single in the inning, he walked a runner and threw a wild pitch that advanced everyone 90 feet. With the runners on second and third, Verdin grounded out to short to bring in the first run for NECBL to cut its deficit to 3-1.
Miller picked up his second RBI of the day and capped the scoring for Team USA when his fielders choice with bases loaded brought in Bryce Brentz (Middle Tennessee State) for the final score of 4-1.
Wheeler (2-0) was the victor on the day and finished with seven strikeouts in five innings pitched, only surrendering one rn one the day. Chad Bettis (Texas Tech) came in for the first save opportunity on the summer for Team USA. Bettis (1) forced two ground outs and a pop out for the save.
Team USA (10-0) has now extended its winning streak to 34 games dating back to last summer.
The U.S. will travel to Holyoka, Mass., Monday, July 6 to face the Holyoke Blue Sox at 7:00 PM at MacKensie Stadium.
Game notes:
§ Attendance for Sundays game was 1,214
· With the win, the USA Baseball National Team (Collegiate) has won 34 consecutive games dating back to last summer.
