2023 U-18 Men’s WBSC Americas World Cup Qualifier

USA 6, Venezuela 0

SINCELEJO, Colombia – The USA Softball U-18 Men’s National Team (MNT) kicked off the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Pan American Championship today with a 6-0 shutout win over Venezuela, highlighted by three home runs off the bats of Wylie Baumer, Ian Carlin and Braden DuCharme. The pitching staff of Cody Gibbons and Karson Martin showed out in the circle with Gibbons setting the tone through the first six innings followed by one inning from Martin to seal the win for the Red, White and Blue.  

Scoreless through the first three innings, the U.S. bats came alive in the top of the fourth thanks to a walk from Gibbons and back-to-back home runs from Baumer and Carlin to put the Eagles on top, 3-0. The Eagles continued the momentum in the top of the fifth with aggressive base running from Logan Boom who put himself in scoring position after drawing a walk and stealing two bases for Gibbons to send him home with a single – improving the U.S. lead, 4-0. After a quiet sixth inning, the DuCharme duo re-lit the fuse for the U.S. in the top of the seventh with Brennan reaching base on a hit-by-pitch followed by a homer from Braden to score the final two runs of the game. Remaining steady through six innings, Gibbons retired 10 batters via strikeout to keep Venezuela off the board, while Martin came out strong in the bottom of the seventh to clinch the victory for the Eagles. 

USA 15, Peru 0

SINCELEJO, Colombia – A 10-run first inning paired with a combined 11 hits lifted the Red, White and Blue to a 15-0 (three innings) run-rule over Peru to close out game two of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Pan American Championship and improve to 2-0. The U.S. offense saw five batters tally perfect performances at the plate, led by Braden DuCharme with a 3-for-3 performance that was highlighted by one home run and three RBI. Also racking up perfect at-bats was Logan Boom and Brennan DuCharme with 2-for-2 showings, followed by Brody Von Berge and Logan Von Berge who each went 1-for-1.

The Eagles pressed the gas early, scoring an impressive 10 runs in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a walk from Boom and a pair of singles from the DuCharme brothers that set the stage for a two-run homer from Wylie Baumer – his second of the tournament – to give Team USA a 4-0 lead. Taking advantage of a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch, the U.S. tacked on six more to the lead thanks to three singles and a triple that put the U.S. ahead by 10. The bottom of the second saw four more U.S. runs cross home plate following a triple from Boom, a sac-fly from Brennan and a solo home run from Braden to extend the U.S. lead, 14-0. Lacking one run to force the three-inning run-rule, the Eagles delivered in the bottom of the third thanks to some heads-up base running from Ian Carlin who sped home on a pass ball to score the final run of the game – forcing the 15-0 run-rule for Team USA.

USA 2, Argentina 1

The U.S. U-18 Men’s National Team (MNT) improved to 3-0 today at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Pan American Championship after claiming a tight 2-1 victory over world-ranked No. 1 Argentina. Leading the U.S. offense in the win was Ian Carlin who recorded the only RBI of the game, along with Brennan DuCharme who was the only U.S. batter to tally a multi-hit performance at the plate. Going the distance in the circle for the Eagles was Cody Gibbons, fanning 13 batters while limiting the Argentina offense to two hits through seven innings. Today’s win put Team USA atop the tournament rankings with two opening round matchups left.

The U.S. got on the board in the top of the second, thanks to a walk from Gibbons that was followed by a fly-out from Wylie Baumer that landed Gibbons in scoring position. Carlin then sent a line drive to left field that saw the first run of the game cross the plate, putting the U.S. ahead, 1-0. After three quiet innings, the DuCharme duo re-ignited the U.S. offense in the top of the sixth, with Brennan tabbing a single and Braden reaching base on an error. Drawing a pair of intentional walks to load the bases, the Eagles scored their second run of the game after a wild pitch allowed Braden to speed home – improving the U.S. lead, 2-0. The Argentina offense answered back in the bottom of the sixth after a fielding miscue from the U.S. defense and a triple saw one run cross the plate. Gibbons remained strong in the circle to seal the win for the Eagles, retiring three batters in the bottom of the seventh – two via strikeout – to close out the game.

USA 10, Colombia 0

Continuing to take care of business at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Pan American Championship, the U.S. U-18 Men’s National Team (MNT) remains undefeated after claiming a 10-0 run-rule victory over Colombia. Braden DuCharme shined for the U.S. offense, tallying a perfect 2-for-2 day at the plate including a two-run blast in the bottom of the first inning. Cody Gibbons got the start in the circle for the Eagles, fanning nine batters through three innings, while Kyle Miller held steady in the top of the fourth to keep Colombia off the board. The pair did not allow a single batter to make contact in the matchup – marking the U.S. pitching staff’s first no-hitter of the tournament. Team USA remains the only undefeated team in the competition and stands as the No. 1 seed heading into the last matchup of opening round tomorrow.

A leadoff walk from Logan Boom followed by a two-run homer from Braden in the bottom of the first got things started for the Red, White and Blue, putting the U.S. ahead early with a 2-0 lead. Keeping the momentum in the bottom of the second, the Eagles saw one run cross the plate thanks to some heads-up base running from Logan Von Berge and a single up the middle from Logan Boom – improving the U.S. lead, 3-0. The Eagles tacked on another three runs in the bottom of the third after a leadoff walk from Braden and a single from Gibbons set the stage for Wylie Baumer to pressure the Colombia defense with a line drive single that forced an error, allowing all three to speed home, extending the U.S. lead, 6-0. Looking to put the four-inning run-rule into effect, the U.S. scored its final four runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a series of walks, followed by a fielding miscue from the Colombia defense and a walk-off single from Logan Von Berge to close out the game.

USA 6, Canada 7

Capping off opening round, the U-18 Men’s National Team (MNT) suffered its first loss of the 2023 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Pan American Championship after falling 6-7 to Canada in extra innings. Keeping the U.S. in the game with a strong offensive performance was Wylie Baumer (1-for-2) with a three-run RBI triple followed by Cody Gibbons who tallied a perfect 3-for-3 performance at the plate. The U.S. pitching staff of Braden DuCharme, Jackson Jordan, Karson Martin, and Kyle Miller combined for six strikeouts in the offensive showdown.

Despite today’s loss, Team USA remains the No. 1 seed as they advance to the Pan American Championship gold medal game slated for tomorrow, Sept. 9, at 5 p.m. CT. The Red, White and Blue will matchup against world-ranked No. 8 Venezuela – who Team USA previously defeated in opening round with a 6-0 shutout victory.

The U.S. fell behind early after allowing five runs to score through the first five innings and were unable to overcome Team Canada despite chipping away at the Canada lead with runs scored in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings. Determined to give Team Canada a fight, the U.S. offense came alive in the bottom of the fifth inning after a double from Braden DuCharme and a single from Gibbons saw one run cross the plate, narrowing the Canada lead, 5-1. After a quiet sixth inning from both sides, Team USA tied up the game in the bottom of the seventh with a three-RBI triple from Baumer and a double from Ian Carlin that scored one, evening the score, 5-5 – forcing the matchup into extra innings. Canada was able to see two runs home in the top of the eighth – while the U.S. scored its final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a ground ball off the bat of Manny Mendham and a fielding miscue from the Canada defense that allowed Griffin Boucher to speed home after being placed on second due to the international tie-breaker rule. Despite putting a runner on in the final inning, the Eagles were unable to muster more runs – falling 6-7 to Team Canada.

USA 6, Venezuela 1

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Once again proving victorious, the U-18 MNT posted its fifth and final win with a 6-1 victory over Venezuela to finish atop the podium. The U.S. combined for seven hits in the gold medal victory – three of which came in the bottom of the first inning – with Logan Boom tallying the only multi-hit performance at the plate with two base hits. Getting the start in the circle for the Red, White and Blue was Cody Gibbons who limited the Venezuela offense to three hits through seven innings while tossing his way to a career-high 15 strikeouts.

A matchup that proved to be exciting from the beginning, Venezuela opened the matchup with a lead-off solo home to take the lead before the arm of Gibbons took control with three-straight K’s to send the Eagles to the plate. A picture-perfect execution, Boom led things off with a single up the middle followed by a home run from Brennan DuCharme to hand the lead over to the Eagles. Hot at the plate, the U.S. offense plated another run after a single from Braden DuCharme and a walk from Gibbons led Wylie Baumer to knock one run in with a line drive single to extend the U.S. lead, 3-1. The second inning saw solid pitching and competitive glove work from both squads with the score holding steady until Team USA busted the game open again in the bottom of the third. Brennan and Gibbons got things started for the Eagles with a hit-by-pitch and a walk to set the stage for a pair of singles from Baumer and Brody Von Berge to plate two and improve the U.S. lead, 5-1. The bottom of the fourth saw the final U.S. run cross the plate after Logan Von Berge led the inning off with a hit-by-pitch and advanced to second on a sac-bunt to put himself in scoring position for Boom to send a hard ground ball up the middle to put the Eagles on top, 6-1. Gibbons proved dominant in the circle, fanning seven batters via strikeout through the final three innings to seal the gold medal win for the Eagles.