The USA Baseball 16U Blog

Game Eight Live Blog: USA 7 Mexico 3 (FINAL)

2008-09-21T22:05:27Z

9th INNING: Harper singles to right to begin the inning. Harper steals second. Rodriguez flies out to center, advancing Harper to third base. Montgomery singles to right, scoring Harper. Lopes strikes out. Delmonico walks. Hector Gutierrez comes in to pitch for Mexico. Lipka flies out to center to end the top half of the inning. Mayoral hit by pitch to begin the bottom of the 9th. Pinch hitter Barragan strikes out. Loya strikes out and Mayoral is caught stealing at second to end the game. Team USA wins the gold! Thank you to everyone who has been following us over the last three weeks. We are coming home with the gold medal and a 23-game international win streak.

8th INNING: Lipka flies out to center to begin the inning. Tago strikes out for the second out. Wolters homers to right field. LIttlewood flies out to left to end the top half of the inning. Gomez strikes out to begin the bottom of the 8th. Williams grounds out to second. Alvarez strikes out to end the inning.

7th INNING: Montgomery flies out to right. Lopes flies out to center. Delmonico strikes out to end the top of the seventh. Peter Tago comes on in relief for Team USA. Loya grounds out to Tago for the first out of the bottom of the 7th. Elenes walks. Flores grounds out to short, Elenes advances to second base. Jaques grounds out to third to end the inning.

6th INNING: Hernandez now on the mound for Mexico, Jaques moves to second base. Delmonico walks, Lipka reaches on throwing error by the shortstop, Delmonico advances to third. Pfeifer grounds out to the pitcher, Lipka advances to second. Wolters walks. New pitcher Misael Flores on the mound for Mexico. Littlewood hits a bases clearing double down the right field line. Harper flies out to left. Littlewood advances to third on a passed ball. Rodriguez strikes out to end the top of the 6th. Jaques walks to start the bottom of the 6th. Jaques steals second base. Gomez strikes out. Williams grounds out to Littlewood at short for the second out. Jaques steals third base. Alvarez hits single, scoring Jaques. Mayoral singles to right, Alvarez advances to second. Mendivil strikes out to end the inning.

5th INNING: Wolters leads off with a double to left center. Littelwood moves Wolters to third on a groundout to the catcher. Harper doubles to right center, scoring Wolters. Harper is picked off second base. Rodriguez singles to right. Montgomery reaches when no one catches the pop up in front of the mound. Lopes hits a grounder to short, Montgomery out at second to end the top of the 5th, but Team USA gets one run to tie up the game. Loya strikes out begin the bottom of the 5th. Elenes pops out to Wolters for the secound out. Hernandez strikes out to end the inning.

4th INNING: Lopes flies out to left to begin the inning. Delmonico walks. Lipka strikes out. Pfeifer strikes out to end the top of the 4th. Alvarez grounds out to short, a nice play by Delmonico at first to get the ball in the dirt. Mayoral strikes out, Pfeifer's fifth K of the night. Mendivil strikes out to end the inning.

3rd INNING: Littlewood grounds out to first. Harper walks. Rodriguez pops out to right and Montgomery grounds out to first to end the top of the 3rd. Mexico starting pitcher Ricardo Jaques pops out to Wolters at second to begin the bottom of the third. Gomez and Williams strike out to end the inning.

2nd INNING: Lopes flies out to right to begin the inning. Delmonico doubles to left center. Lipka walks. Pfeifer strikes out. Wolters strikes out to end the top of the 2nd. Jesus Loya grounds out to Delmonico t begin the Mexican half of the 2nd. Silvano Elenes flies out to Harper in center for the second out. Felipe Hernandez strikes out to end the inning. Pfeifer strikes out Gomez.

1st INNING: Wolters starts the game with a walk and steals second base. Littlewood flies out to right for the first out of the game. Wolters to third on a passed ball. Harper walks. Rodriguez strikes out. Harper steals second and advances to third on an error by the second baseman Felipe Hernandez, Wolters scores on the error. Montgomery flies out to center to end the top of the 1st. Carlos Gomez homers to right to begin the bottom of the 1st. Oscar Williams reaches on an error by Wolters. Williams steals second and reaches third on a throwing error by Montgomery. Michel Alvarez is struck out by Pfeifer for the first out of the bottom of the 1st. Adrian Mayoral hits a sac fly to right, scoring Williams. Eduardo Mendivil grounds out to Littlewood at short to end the inning.

PREGAME: Hola! and welcome to Team USA's eighth and final game of the 2008 COPABE "AA" Youth Pan American Championships. Tonight, Team USA looks to finish undefeated in Veracruz as they take on host nation Mexico (4-3) at Estadio Beto Avila. The stadium is slowly filling up and we are less than an hour away from first pitch.

Starting Lineup:

1. Tony Wolters, 2B
2. Marcus Littlewood, SS
3. Bryce Harper, CF
4. Jake Rodriguez, 3B
5. Ladson Montgomery, C
6. Christian Lopes, LF
7. Nicky Delmonico, 1B
8. Matt Lipka, RF
9. Philip Pfeifer, P

Game Seven Live Blog: USA 8 Aruba 0 (FINAL)

2008-09-20T18:00:45Z

Top 9th: Thiel is hit by new Team USA pitcher Matt Lipka to begin the inning. Loopstok reaches on a fielders choice, Thiel out at second. Loopstok out at second on as Wouters reaches on fielder's choice. Manuel strikes out to end the game. Team USA moves to 7-0 with the victory and will meet Mexico in thier final game tomorrow night at 7:00PM CST at Estadio Beto Avila.

8th INNING: Tromp flies out to center, Boggerts reaches on a throwing error by Camarena. Koolman strikes out swinging. Escobar singles to center. Pinch hitter Arrindell strikes out to end the top of the 8th. Allen flies out to center field for the first out of the bottom of the 8th. Delmonico and Lorenzen single. Delmonico scores on a an error by left fielder and Lorenzen scores on a wild pitch. Pinch hitter mason and Wolters ground out to end the inning.

7th INNING: Loopstok flies out to Lopes in left. Camarena strikes out Wouters for the second out. Manuel grounds out to Rodriguez at third to end the top half of the inning. Wolters and Littlewood single after a Camarena strike out. New pitcher Lends Diksez in for Aruba. Harper walks to load bases. New pitcher Jhon Lopez in for Aruba. Rodriguez hits a sacrifice fly to left, Wolters scores. Lopes fouls out to first to end the inning.

6th INNING: Escobar grounds out to short to begin the 6th. Schuilenburg singles to left. Thiel grounds into the 1-6-3 double play, ending the top of the 6th. Harper popped out to second to begin the bottom of the 6th. Rodriguez doubles to left center. Lopes singles, Rodriguez tagged out at third base. Allen doubled to left, scoring Lopes from first. Delmonico hit by a pitch. Lorenzen fouled out to the catcher to end the inning.

5th INNING: Tromp flied out to left to begin the inning. New catcher Jair Boggerts and Marlin foul out to Rodriguez to end the top of the 5th. Lorenzen reached first on an error by the pitcher, who dropped the pop up. Lorenzen advances to second on a wild pitch and to third on a second wild pitch. Camarena reached on an error by the shortstop, Lorenzen scored, Camarena thrown out while running to second on the throw. Wolters walks. New pitcher Lynell Koolman comes on in relief for Aruba. Wolters picked off at first. Littlewood grounds out to Koolman to end the inning.

4th INNING: Loopstok strikes out to begin the 4th. Camarena strikes out Wouters for the second out and Manuel grounds out to short to end the top half of the inning. Lopes fouled out to Escobar in right on a nice diving catch against the wall. Allen grounds out to Thiel at short. Delmonico flies out to center to end the inning.

3rd INNING: Cedrik St. Jago singles to lead off the inning. Shurman Marlin reaches on an error by Delmonico. Runners advance on a ground out by Darwin Escobar. Schuilenburg grounds out to Camarena and Thiel flies out to right to end the top of the 3rd. Wolters grounds out to second to begin the home half of the inning. Littlewood popped out to first. Harper doubles to right center. Rodriguez flies out to right to end the inning.

2nd INNING: Jean-Franco Wouters strikes out to begin the 2nd. Gregory Manuel grounds out to Littlewood for the second out. Jiandido Tromp flies out to Lorenzen in center to end the top of the 2nd. Rodriguez walks to begin the bottom of the second. Lopes reaches on a fielder's choice, Rodriguez out at second. Lopes advances to second on a passed ball. Lopes advances to third on another passed ball. Allen singles to center, scoring Lopes. Delmonico strikes out for the second out of the bottom of the 2nd. Lorenzen homers over the left field wall. Camarena flies out to right to end the inning.

1st INNING: Aruba will be up first in the top of the inning. Jxomar Schuilenburg grounds out to Littlewood to begin the game. Camarena strikes out Edson Thiel for the second out. Sicnarf Loopstok strikes out looking to end the top of the 1st. Wolters walks to start things off for Team USA. Littlewood flies out to center and Wolters is out at first after failing to tag up. Harper flies out to center to end the inning.

PREGAME: Hello and welcome to Team USA's seventh game here in Veracruz at the 2008 COPABE "AA" Youth Pan American Championships. Today, Team USA takes on Aruba at Estadio Beto Avila. We are a little under one hour until the first pitch.

Starting Lineup:

1. Tony Wolters, 2B
2. Marcus Littlewood, SS
3. Bryce Harper, RF
4. Jake Rodriguez, 3B
5. Christian Lopes, LF
6. Will Allen, C
7. Nicky Delmonico, 1B
8. Michael Lorenzen, CF
9. Daniel Camarena, P

We´re Where We Want To Be

2008-09-20T06:21:36Z

I´m not personally where I want to be right now because it´s about 1:30 in the morning and I´m in a smoky internet cafe. But that´s better than being outside of a smoky internet cafe where I waited an hour and a half for a computer to open up earlier in the evening, pacing back and forth infront of the sliding glass doors like a tiger at the zoo while taking down a liter of cola. I was misplaced from the hotel lobby because the hotel´s internet is down for the second straight day so I was forced to walk past the excellent taco stand to the internet place a few blocks away. And I was waiting so long because two of the four working computers were being occupied by a grown man with a real live mustache who was playing online video games for hours at a time, and a member of Team Mexico who should have been in bed like our players but was rather doing Mexican Face Book (Cara Libro, perhaps) while smoking a few cigarettes. I did not intend to blog write about this when I was on my way over, but I had a little time to reassess what I wanted to say.

At any rate, I should be, and am, happy about where the team is. Very happy and proud. They´ve done a great job thus far and I´m confident they´ll keep that going for the last two days of the tournament. We´re 6-0 and in the driver´s seat for the gold. We accomplished our first goal of qualifying for next year´s World Championships so that USA Baseball can justify my employment for the year of 2009, and now it´s time to fulfill our team goal of going undefeated and winning the gold. If we are as focussed during our remaining two games as we were today to start the Venezuela game, we should have no problem doing just that.

We actually almost didn´t play our game against Venezuela. The president of their federation wanted the team to forfeit so they could focus on their game vs. Mexico later in the night. Fortunately he was talked out of that ridiculous stance by his own team, and they showed up later than they were supposed to after our win against Brazil. We wanted to make them wish they had taken the forfeit, however, and i think we did that with the 6 spot to start the first. We kept adding on as the game went and were able to get out of their in a run-rule shortened 5 innings.

After the game their manager didn´t want to shake our hands as he felt we were running up the score, but this is knockout baseball and if you can put runs on your opponent´s record in the event a tie breaker comes up, or you just want to save your pitching, you score as often as possible. We wanted to do both and we did that, and Venezuela just didn´t understand that, unfortunately, alothough they had no problem scoring 16 and 18 runs against their first two opponents. At any rate, 3 of their kids did come out and shake our hands and they did that on their own in front of their screaming coach and I give them a lot of credit for doing the right thing. The rest of the team finally came out, and the crowd applauded, and they went on to beat Mexico in the nightcap, and I hope they shook the hands of the host country afterwards.

In our first game we threw the second no-hitter in 16U history. Dan Child started it off with 2.1 no-hit innings, and Bryan Radziewski came out of the pen to throw 4.1 perfect innings before an error allowed his first batter to reach base with two outs in the 7th. He got the next guy to keep the no-hitter intact and get us another knockout win. Great job by those two and by the team in general for coming out and getting the job done in the early game and not looking past the salty Brazillians towards our next game against the previously undefeated Venezuelans.

Actually, we should have had a no-hitter in the first game by Cody Buckel, because the infield hit recoreded by the official scorer really should have been scored as a fielder´s choice as the runner on first beat Littlewood´s throw to second. That´s beside the point, however, but I´m just saying.

We´ve got two more days to push ourselves to reach our second goal. We will do it and then we´ll get back home to all of you. These have been 3 great, yet hard weeks for the boys and we´re almost done. They and the staff have done a tremendous job dealing with a lot of adversity and coming out on top each time. I am very proud of all of them for how they´ve represented USA Baseball thusfar. Now we´re ready to finish and bring back a gold medal, and we will.

The kid from Mexico just left. it´s 1:55 now. Best of luck to him on Sunday. I´m headed back to the hotel myself and I´ll hopefully get some pictures up soon when I can get my own computer hooked up to the web.

Game Six Live Blog: USA 14 Venezuela 3 (FINAL)

2008-09-19T19:00:24Z

5th INNING: Bases are loaded with one out for Mason. Mason strikes out and Wolters grounds out to end the top of the 5th. After a scoreless bottom half of the 5th for Venezuela, Team USA wins in a 10-run rule shortened game. With the win, they move to 6-0 at the 2008 COPABE "AA" Youth Pan American Championships. Next up for Team USA is Aruba at 2:00PM CST at Estadio Beto Avila in Veracruz, Mexico. With the win today, Team USA officially qualifies for next year's "AA" World Championships!

4th INNING: Harper reached on an error by the left fielder and advanced to second. Rodrgiguez struck out and Harper stole third. Montgomery singled to right, scoring Harper. New pitcher Bernardo Diaz on the mound for Venezuela. Lopes hits single deep to shortstop, bringing Montgomery to third base. Delmonico hit by a Diaz pitch. Lipka singles to right, scoring Montgomery. New pitcher Juan Carlos Alvarez in for Venezuela. Buckel grounds out to first base, scoring Lopes. Wolters strikes out to end the top of the 4th. Machado reaches on an error by Littlewood. Connor Mason on in relief of Buckel. A pair of singles score, two Venzuelans.

3rd INNING: Delmonico leads off with a single to center. Lipka walks before Buckel grounds out to the shortstop, advancing Delmonico and Lipka. New pitcher Jhusue Bermudez on the mound for Venezuela. Wolters singles, scoring Delmonico and Lipka. Wolters out on the play for failing to step on second base. Littlewood flies out to center to end the top of the 3rd. Buckel walks the first two batters to begin the bottom of the 3rd. Buckel strikes out Moreno for the first out in the bottom of the third. Buckel records his second K of the inning by striking out Rondon looking at a curveball. Perez singles to right, loading the bases. Danny Ramirez grounds out to second to end the Venezuelan threat.

2nd INNING: Littlewood grounds out to second to begin the inning. Harper doubles to right center field. Rodriguez strikes out swinging. Harper to third on a passed ball. Montgomery walks. Lopes grounds out to the shortstop to end the top of the 2nd. Sequera flies out to Lopes in left to begin the bottom of the second. Machado hits an infield single to the gap at shortstop. Ocando grounds out to second base for the second out. Montgomery throw Machado out at third on the attempted steal.

1st INNING: Wolters walks to begin the game. After a 5 minute delay so the Venezuelans could fix the mound to their liking, Littlewood walks. Harper reached on an error by the shortstop. Rodriguez reached on a fielder's choice to third, Wolters scored, Littlewood out at third. Montgomery singles to center, scoring Harper. New pitcher William Ocando comes in for Venezuela. Lopes singles to left, scoring Rodriguez. Delmonico singles to left, loading the bases for Lipka. Montgomery scores on a passed ball, Lopes scores on an error by the third baseman trying to tag Lopes out at third base. Lipka fouled out to the first baseman. Buckel singles to center, scoring Delmonico. Wolters struck out to end the top of the 1st. Rusbel Gonzalez grounds out to Buckel to begin the bottom of the first inning and Ronald Torreyes grounds out to Wolters for the second out. Ismael Guillon is hit by a Buckel offering, one on, two out. Williams Moreno hits a bloop single to right, scoring Guillon. Buckel strikes out Cesar Perez to end the inning.

UPDATE: The Venezuelan team has arrived and first pitch is scheduled for 3:15PM CST

Starting Lineup:

1. Wolters, 2B
2. Littlewood, SS
3. Harper, CF
4. Rodriguez, 3B
5. Montgomery, C
6. Lopes, LF
7. Delmonico, 1B
8. Lipka, RF
9. Buckel, P

PREGAME: Welcome to game two of Team USA's doubleheader today at Estadio Beto Avila in Veracruz, Mexico. After their 12-1 win over Brazil just under an hour ago, Team USA will take on undefeated Venezuela, with an estimated start time of 3:15PM CST. Venezuela is en route from Xalapa, so stay tuned for further updates, including a Team USA lineup and specific start time.

Game Five Live Blog: USA 12 Brazil 1 (FINAL)

2008-09-19T16:00:27Z

7th INNING: Harper hits a leadoff home run before three straight outs to send the game to the bottom of the seventh. Radziewski strikes out the first two Brazilian batters to begin the bottom of the 7th. Relief pitcher Paulino reaches on an error by Delmonico. Radziewski strikes out the final batter of the game. Team USA wins 12-1 in the 10-run rule shortened game. Next up for Team USA is undefeated Venezuela later this afternoon, with an approximate start time of 3:15PM CST.

6th INNING: Delmonico flies out left and Wolters grounds out to third before Radziewski walks. Littlewood strikes out to end the top of the 6th. Radziewski retires three straight to move to the seventh inning.

5th INNING: Radziewski flies out to left to begin the inning. Lipka strikes out for the second out of the top of the 5th. Littlewood knocks a 2-out single to center. Harper follows with a walk. Rodriguez hits single to left, scoring Littlewood. Harper scores and Rodriguez advances to second on the double steal. Rodriguez goes to third on a throwing error by the Brazilian catcher. Lopes singles to center, scoring Rodriguez. Allen flies out to center to end the top of the 5th. Radziewski makes a nice play on a high grounder to the mound, recording the first out of the bottom of the 5th. Guirau lines out to new right fielder Lipka for the second out. Harper has moved to center and Wolters is now at second base for Team USA. Radziewski hits Watanabe with a pitch. A fly out to center ends the Brazilian 5th.

4th INNING: Team USA scores 3 in the top half of the 4th with a Rodriguez 2 RBI single and a Lopes sacrifice fly. Radziewski retired all three batters faced in bottom of the 4th.

3rd INNING: Child strikes out Ramos to begin the inning, then walks Guirau, who advances to second on a passed ball. Child walks Watanabe. After another walk and a past ball, a wild pitch puts the first run across for Brazil before the inning ends. New pitcher Bryan Radziewski replaces Child to get the final two outs inning.

2nd INNING: Harper grounds out to first to begin the inning. Rodriguez strikes out and Lopes flies out to center to end the top of the 2nd. Child forces a groundout and strikes out to in the 1-2-3 bottom half of the 2nd.

1st INNING: Lipka flies out to right to begin the game. Littlewood singles down the left field line, Harper is hit by a pitch. Two on for Rodriguez with one out. Rodriguez singles, scoring Littlewood. Lopes homers to left field off the Coke sign. Allen walks after Brazil brings in new pitcher Sebastianey. Delmonico singles, moving Allen to second base. Lorenzen fouls out to the third baseman. Child is walked to load the bases for Lipka, who singles, scoring Allen. Littlewood flies out to left to end the top of the 1st. Child walks Guirau and Watanabe to begin the inning. Burin grounds out to first, advancing the two runners to second and third. Child strikes out the final two batters of the inning to move to the second inning.

PREGAME: Hello and welcome to Team USA's fifth game of the COPABE "AA" Youth Pan American Championships in Veracruz, Mexico. Today's game against Brazil has been moved up to make room for this afternoon's rescheduled game vs. Venezuela, which was postponed due to rain yesterday.

Starting Lineup:

1. Matt Lipka, 2B
2. Marcus Littlewood, SS
3. Bryce Harper, RF
4. Jake Rodriguez, 3B
5. Christian Lopes, LF
6. Will Allen, C
7. Nicky Delmonico, 1B
8. Michael Lorenzen, CF
9. Dan Child, P

Venezuela Game Rescheduled

2008-09-19T01:20:35Z

The USA vs. Venezuela game that was scheduled for this afternoon at Estadio Colon in Xalapa, Mexico was postponed in the first inning due to rain. It has ben rescheduled to Friday, Sept. 19th as part of a doubleheader for Team USA. Team USA will play Brasil at 11:00AM CST at Estadio Beto Avila in Veracruz, Mexico. Forty minutes after this game ends, the rescheduled game betwen USA and Venezuela will take place at Estadio Beto Avila.

Game Five Live Blog: USA at Venezuela (PPD Rain)

2008-09-18T18:26:16Z

Rain Update: Today's game has been postponed due to rain. We are awaiting final confirmation from tournament officials, but it looks like today's game will be made up on Saturday at 7:00PM CST following a 10:00AM CST game vs. Aruba at Estadio Beto Avila in Veracruz, Mexico.

Top 1st: Wolters walks to lead off the inning as rain begins to fall here in Xalapa. Littlewood reaches on a fielder's choice, Wolters out at second. The players are called off the field due to the rain. Stay tuned for an update on when play will resume.

PREGAME: Hello and welcome to Team USA's fifth game of the COPABE "AA" Youth Pan American Championships in Xalapa, Mexico. After a scheduled tournament off day, Team USA returns to Estadio Colon in Xalapa to take on Venezuela this afternoon.

Starting Lineup:

1. Tony Wolters, 2B
2. Marcus Littlewood, SS
3. Bryce Harper, RF
4. Jake Rodriguez, 3B
5. Ladson Montgomery, C
6. Christian Lopes, LF
7. Nicky Delmonico, 1B
8. Michael Lorenzen, CF
9. Cody Buckel, P

Sights of El Estadio Beto Avila

2008-09-17T22:24:21Z

A STATUE OF MR. BETO AVILA

CHILI RELLENOS FOR SALE

POTATO CHIPS BALANCING ACT

THE COACHES SCOUTING FROM THEIR LUXURY SUITE

Game Four Live Blog: USA 23 Guatemala 3 (FINAL)

2008-09-16T18:35:54Z

5th INNING: Hurtarte popped out to Harper at first for the first out. Van Alstine issued walks to Caal and Caseres. Cerezo struck out. Figueroa doubled to right field, scoring Caal. Pinch hitter Seti Lopez struck out to end the game due to the 15-run rule. Team USA moves to 4-0 at the COPABE "AA" Youth Pan American Championships.After a scheduled tournament off day tomorrow, the next game for Team USA is Thursday at 2:00PM CST back here at Estadio Colon vs. Venezuela.

4th INNING: Kyle Van Alstine comes on in relief of Michael Kelly. Van Alstine hits Figueroa to begin the inning. Montes singles to right, advancing Figueroa to second. Van Alstine strikes out opposing pitcher Hernandez for the first out of the inning. Flores pops out to Wolters for the second out. Pezzarossi grounded out to Allen to end the top of the 4th. Harper walks to begin the bottom of the 4th. After a Harper stolen base, Rodriguez homered over the right field wall for Team USA's fourth round-tripper of the game. Lopes reached on an error by the first baseman. Allen reaches on a fielder's choice, Lopes out at second base. Allen advances to second on a passed ball. Lipka is walked. Lorenzen reached first on an error by the shortstop. Van Alstine struck out swinging, Wolters walked, scoring Allen from third. Littlewood singles to center, scoring Lipka and Lorenzen. Littlewood advanced to second on a passed ball. Harper doubles to left center, scoring Wolters and Littlewood. Harper thrown out at third base trying to stretch the double into a triple.

3rd INNING: Harper moves to first base, Lipka goes to right field. Kelly walks opposing pitcher Donis to begin the 3rd. Flores hits a single to left, advancing Donis to second. Donis advances to third, Flores to second on a passed ball. Right fielder Paolo Pezzarossi hits bloop single to shallow left, scoring Donis. Hurtarte strcuk out swinging for the first out of the inning. D'Angelo Caal flies out to deep right, scoring Flores. Caseres singles to center. Cerezo flies out to center on a nice catch by Lorenzen. Kelly doubles to right to leadoff the bottom of the 3rd. Wolters grounds out to second base, advancing Kelly to third. Littlewood hits double down the left field line, scoring Kelly. Harper singled to right and advanced on an error by the right fielder to second. Littlewood advanced to third on the play. Viktor Osorio replaces Donis on the mound for Guatemala. Rodriguez singles to center, scoring littlewood and Harper. Lopes hit by a pitch. Rodriguez and Lopes advance on a wild pitch. Allen grounds out to third, scoring Rodriguez. Lipka is walked. Connor Mason pinch hits for Kelly and singles to right. Wolters doubles to right center, advancing Mason to third. Manuel Hernandez comes on in relief of Osorio for Guatemala. Littlewood grounds out to the first basemen to end the inning.

2nd INNING: Kelly hits Diego Cerezo to begin the inning. Guatemalan catcher Diego Figuero grounds into the 6-4-3 double play. Adolfo grounds out to Rodriguez at third to end the top of the 2nd. Delmonico begins the bottom of the second with a ground out to the first baseman, Dennis Hurtarte. Lorenzen grounds out to third base, Kelly singles to left center. Wolters hit by a Donis offering. Littlewood hits a triple off the top of the right field wall, scoring Kelly and Wolters. Harper knocks a single to right field, scoring Littlewood. Rodriguez hits a double to left center, scoring Harper from first base. Lopes hits a double to center field, scoring Rodriguez. Allen nails a shot over the center field wall for the second home run of the game for Team USA. Pinch hitter Matt Lipka draws a walk to continue the inning. Lorenzen hits a home run over the left field wall.

1st INNING: Kelly hit the first two Guatemalan batters to come to the plate, then snagged a line drive on the mound and picked off the runner at second. He struck out Estuardo Caseres to end the top of the 1st. Wolters singles to center to begin the bottom of the 1st for Team USA. Littelwood grounds out to second. Harper hits a bomb over the right field wall, USA up 2-0. Rodriguez follows with a single to left. Lopes pops out to the third baseman for the second out.Rodriguez steal second base. All strikes out to end the 1st inning.

PREGAME: Hola! and welcome to the fourth game for Team USA at the 2008 COPABE "AA" Youth Pan American Championships. Team USA is 3-0 and looks to improve on that record this afternoon against Guatemala at Estadio Colon in Xalapa, Mexico.

Starting Lineup:

1. Tony Wolters, 2B
2. Marcus Littlewood, SS
3. Bryace Harper, RF
4. Jake Rodriguez, 3B
5. Christian Lopes, LF
6. Will Allen, C
7. Nicky Delmonico, 1B
8. Michael Lorenzen, CF
9. Michael Kelly, P

Game Three Live Blog: USA 16 Puerto Rico 1 (FINAL)

2008-09-15T18:56:34Z

6th INNING: Zapata draws the leadoff walk. Tago strikes out three straight Puerto Rican batters to end the top of the sixth. Lopes flies out to center to begin the bottom of the sixth. Allen knocks a double down the left field line. Delmonico reached on an error by the second baseman, Allen scored on the play. Lipka hits a bloop single to right, advancing Delmonico to second. Delmonico advanced to third, Lipka to second on passed ball. Tago doubles to right field, scoring Delmonico. Wolters walks to load the bases before Littlewood hits a double to deep center, scoring Delmonico and Lipka. Harper hits single to center, scoring Wolters and Littlewood. Rodriguez singles to left, advancing Harper to second. Lopes draws the walk to load the bases once again for Team USA. Allen singles to left, scoring Harper. Delmonico reach on an error, Rodriguez scored from third base and Lopes scored on the error. The game is called due to the 15 run rule, Team USA defeats Puerto Rico 16-1 and moves to 3-0 at the COPABE "AA" Youth Pan American Championships.

5th INNING: Tago strikes out Pena to begin the fifth inning. Rivera singles to left. Gomez grounds into fielder's choice, Rivera out at second. Diaz strikes out to end the top of the fifth. Lipka flies out to center to begin the bottom of the 5th. Tago draws the walk and advances to second on a wild pitch. Wolters singles, scoring Tago to make it 7-1. Wolters steals second base. Littlewood draws a walk. New PR pitcher Sanchez comes onto the mound in relief. Harper strikes out and Wolters is tagged out on the base path after a Rodriguez grounder to third to end the inning.

4th INNING: Zapata walks to begin the inning. Cintron grounds into fielder's choice, Zapata out a second. Rivera grounds into fielder's choice, Cintron out at second. Ramos draws a walk. Cotto grounds out to Wolters to end the top of the 4th. Littlewood pops out to the shortstop to begin the inning. Harper and Rodriguez hit back to back base hits. Lopes singles to left, scoring Harper. Lopes and Rodriguez advance to 2nd and 3rd on error by left fielder. New PR pitcher Ray Cintron comes onto the mound. Allen strikes out for the second out of in the bottom of the fourth. Delmonico pops out to the shortstop to end the inning. 6-1 USA after four.

3rd INNING: Tago walks Cotto to begin the inning. Cotto steals second. Tago strikes out Pena to for the first out of the inning. Rivera fouls out to USA catcher Allen for the second out. Gomez hits a single to left field, Cotto scores on error by Lopes. Diaz ground out to Wolters at second to end the inning. Allen flied out to center and Delmonico single to center to begin the home half of the third. Lipka draws a walk. Tago singles to right, loading the bases for Wolters.

2nd INNING: PR's Kenny Diaz pops out to Delmonico to begin the inning. Emanuel Zapata reaches first base on a throwing error by Littlewood. Tago walks Micael Cintron. Tago strikes out opposing pitcher Addiel Rios for his third K of the game. Henry Ramos grounds out to Tago to end the inning and the Puerto Rican threat. Lopes leads off the bottom half of the second with a double to deep right field. Allen grounds out to the shortstop, advancing Lopes to third. Delmonico walks to put runners on the corners with one out. Lipka draws the walk to load the bases for starting pitcher Tago. Tago hits a double to deep center, scoring all three baserunners. Tago advances to third on the throw and scores on a throwing error by the second baseman. 4-0 USA. Wolters reaches on the second error of the inning by the second baseman. Wolters then steals second before Littlewood is walked. Harper knocks a double down the right field line, scoring Wolters and advancing Littlewood to third.New pitcher Luis Rivera come on in relief of Rios.Rodriguez strikes out for the second out of the bottom of the second. Lopes flies out to center to end the inning, but Team USA puts 5 on the board as we head into the third inning.

1st INNING: Puerto Rico's Omar Cotto drew a leadoff walk and stole second after Roberto Pena lined out to Littlewood at shortstop. Tago struckout Gabriel Rivera for the second out. Tago recorded his second K of the inning to end the top half of the first inning. Wolters walks to begin the bottom of the 1st.Littlewood reaches on a fielders choice to the shortstop, Wolters out a second. Harper flies out to right for the second USA out. Littlewood steals second base. Rodriguez flies out to right to end the inning.

PREGAME: Buenas Dias and welcome to live coverage of USA vs. Puerto Rico at Estadio Beto Avila in Veracruz, Mexico. This afternoon Team USA looks to improve upon thier 2-0 record at the COPABE "AA" Youth Pan American Championships after a thrilling victory in extra innings last night against Cuba.

Starting Lineup:
1. Tony Wolters, 2B
2. Marcus Littlewood, SS
3. Bryce Harper, CF
4. Jake Rodriguez, 3B
5. Christian Lopes, LF
6. Will Allen, C
7. Nicky Delmonico, 1B
8. Matt Lipka, RF
9. Peter Tago, P

Un Clasico

2008-09-15T16:43:40Z

That was a top-step game the whole way. I don't think anyone on either side sat down for any of the 11 innings played over three hours and fifty minutes in a rain soaked Estadio Beto Avila. It was unbelievable. It was a "you-had-to-be-there" game.

It started about an hour and a half late due to a long and sloppy Puerto Rico/Aruba game that finally ended after a lengthy rain delay. Puerto Rico only had one more out to get when they pulled the tarp -- which was frustrating -- but in the end they pulled it at the right time, because if they'd waited we may not have gotten our game in because the rain came down pretty hard shortly thereafter.

The team just hung out in the stands and ate peanut butter sandwiches and granola bars while they thought about the game to come. When the PR/Aruba game ended, we settled on a start time of one hour from that point, but about 5 minutes later they changed it to 45 minutes. We reluctantly adjusted our schedule and all ended up well.

A couple of lefties went at it today and it was a game to remember. Philip Pfiefer threw 7 scoreless for us, continually working out of some tough jams. He was lifted in the 8th for a pinch hitter, but he deserves a ton of credit for keeping us in the game when our bats weren't working like we would have liked.

Meanwhile, the Cuban starter, lefthander Orlando Luis, was just as good. He threw 8 shutout frames, allowing us only 3 hits before leaving to a standing ovation after hitting Tony Wolters to begin the ninth. The crowd was definitely pulling for the Cubans, but it made it fun. It was a great atmosphere and they got their money's worth, for sure, especially our fans.

The game was scoreless through 10 and you can thank the defenses for that, particularly ours. We turned 4 double plays and they were all big. Pfiefer started one in the second to get out of a first and third jam, and

Tony Wolters chipped in on two others. He started a great one in the third with a backhand glove flip on a ball up the middle, and used his quick hands to turn an around-the-horn 5-4-3 to end the sixth. He also made a great diving stop to his left in short right field to end the fifth. Had the ball gotten through, Cuba would have had runners on first and third with two outs.

We also got lucky when Cuba botched a squeeze play in the ninth. I don't know how we got out of that one. Connor Mason, who breezed through his first inning on the mound in the eighth, got a little wild in the bottom of the ninth and walked four guys. Luckily Cuba's attempt at a one out, two strike squeeze play was unsuccessful as a curveball up and in brushed the Cuban batter off the plate and catcher Ladson Montgomery had him hung up between home and third. Jake Rodriguez applied the tag on the runner to take a little pressure off.

We got into the 11th and had our first shot at the new International Baseball extra-innings rule. Coach LaFevers decided to put our 9th and 1st batters on base, bunt them over with our number two, and let Bryce Harper get the first stab at driving them. After a Marcus Littlewood walk loaded the bases for Bryce, he showed some patience and drew a walk to push across that first run. The next two scored on almost back-to-back wild pitches, and we could have had another run added to our Talley, but Bryce, who was attempting to score from second on the play and was thrown out at home. Regardless, without the aid of a hit, we took a 3-0 lead into bottom of the eleventh.

Bryce stepped on the mound to close it out and the scouts I was sitting near had him at 95mph, which is pretty good. Cuba got their 5th infield hit of the day and Bryce threw it away to put the tying run at second with no outs. After a ground out and fly out kept the runners in place, Coach LaFevers elected to intentionally walk their third baseman and best hitter, Jorge Soler. With the winning run now on first, Bryce picked up a dribbler back to him and threw to first to retire the batter for a save and clinch the game for the USA.

It was a huge game, and despite my distaste for Cuba, I respected their play a ton tonight and I hope they did the same to us. It really was as good of a game as it gets between the two premier programs in International Baseball. Our win exacted a little revenge on them for getting our Olympic Team 5-4 under the new extra inning rules back in August.

We've got another big one tomorrow. Puerto Rico's nothing to mess with. If we have a let down after tonight's game, we'll be in trouble.

Until then, I wish everyone could have been at the game tonight. It was truly a great show. I'm glad we came out on the right side of things because it must be hard to loose a game like that.

Game Two Live Blog: USA 3 Cuba 1 (FINAL)

2008-09-14T22:53:07Z

11th INNING: Wolters Placed at 1st base, Mason placed at 2nd base to begin inning. Littlewood hit by pitch to load the bases. Harper walked, Mason scored. All runners advance on passed ball, Wolters scores. Wild pitch by Delgado, Littlewood scores. Bottom of the 11th: Rivalta placed at second base, Ramirez placed at first base. Rivalta scores on throwing error by new pitcher Bryce Harper. Aviles grounds out for the first out of the inning. Fuste flies out to left. Soler walks, loading the bases. Penaluer grounds out to the pitcher for the final out. Team USA wins 3-1 in 11 innings over Cuba.

10th INNING: Montgomery and Lopes grounded out to begin the inning. Delmonico drew a walk. Pinch hitter Matt Lipka singles up the middle, advancing Delmonico to third. Lipka advances to second on a wild pitch. Mason strikes out to end the top of the 10th. Ajete grounds out to first base to begin the bottom of the 10th. Aviles draws the one out walk. Fuste grounds into 6-3 double play to end the 10th. Onto the 11th and the new rules for extra innings in international play.

9th INNING: Wolters is hit by a pitch to begin the 9th. Cuban pitcher Hansel Delgado comes on in relief of Luis. Delgado picks Wolters off of first for the first out of the 9th. Littlewood struckout for the second out. Harper hit a single to right field. Rodriguez struck out to end the top of the 9th. Mason walked the first two Cuban batters before striking out Jimenez to get the first out of the bottom of the 9th. Mason walks Delgado to load the bases, then Soler is tagged out by Rodriguez in a run down at third. Rivalta is walked to load the bases for second time in the 9th. Ramirez hits a grounder to third, Rodriguez steps on third for the final out of the 9th. We now go into extra innings with the score knotted at 0.

8th INNING: Lopes reached on an infield single to the shortstop to start the inning. Delmonico reached first base on a bunt down the third base line, advancing Lopes to second. Lorenzen struck out swinging. Pinch hitter Connor Mason hit into the 1-4-3 double play to end the USA threat. Mason came on in releif of Pfeifer. Ajete grounded out to first for the first out of the bottom half of the 8th. Aviles grounded out to third base for Cuba's second out of the inning. Fuste grounded out to Delmonico at first to the end the 8th inning. On to the 9th with no score here at Estadio Beto Avila.

7th INNING: Harper began the inning by grounding out to the shortstop. Rodriguez flied out to center field before Montgomery lined out to second base to end the top of the 7th. The bottom of the 7th began with a infield single by Jimenez. Luis struck out looking attempting to sacrifice bunt. Jimenez was thrown out by Montgomery at second. Rivalta hit a 2-out single to center. Ramirez grounded out to Wolters at second for the final out of the inning.

6th INNING: Lorenzen began the inning with a walk. Pfeifer laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Lorenzen to second base. Wolters advanced Lorenzen to third on a groundout to the first baseman. Littlewood popped up to the second baseman for the final out of the top half of the 6th. Fuste began the Cuban half of the inning by running out a grounder to third for an infield single. Soler then flied out to Bryce Harper in right field for the first out. Team USA recorded thier third double play of the game to end the 6th inning. Still scoreless after 6 innings of play.

5th INNNING: Ladson Montgomery grounded out to third for the first out of the inning. Starter Luis struck out Lopes and Delmonico to end the top of the 5th. The bottom of the 5th began with a groundout to second base by Cuban second baseman Yamil Rivalta. Cuban centerfielder Lazaro Ramirez flied out to Littlewood. Ajete then hit a bloop single to center for the first hit of the inning. Tony Wolters made a diving grab on a Guilermo Aviles grounder in the gap and threw to first to end the inning. Score remains 0-0 after 5 innings here in Veracruz.

4th INNING: Littlewood grounded out to the pitcher to begin the inning. Harper grounded out to second and Rodriguez popped up to the shortstop to the end the top half of the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th, Cuban catcher Javier Fuste leadoff with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pfeifer walked the next batter before striking out Yosani Penluer for the first out. Gelkis Jimenez then flied out to right, advancing Fuste to third. Pfeifer then struckout Luis to record the final out of the inning. After 4, the game remains scoreless.

3rd INNING: Cuban starting pitcher Omar Luis retired the first three batters he faced in the top half of the 3rd. In the bottom of the 3rd, Pfeifer walked the leadoff batter before inducing a 4-6-3 double play. Yansiel Ajete then singled to left field and was thrown out by Michael Lorenzen at third base after a single into center field two batter later. On to the 4th inning...

2nd INNING: In the top of the 2nd, Christian Lopes hit a two out single to left field before Nicky Delmonico flied out to left field to end the top half of the 2nd. Jorge Soler lead off the bottom of the 2nd with a double to left center. After a groundout to third advanced Soler to third base and a walk by the next Cuban batter, Pfeifer induced a 1-6-3 double play to end the Cuban threat.

1st INNING: In the top of the 1st inning, Tony Wolters lead off with a walk. Marcus Littlewood struckout, Bryce Harper flied out to center. Wolters caught stealing at 2nd base. In the bottom of the 1st, Philip Pfeifer issued one walk, struck out 2 and induced a fly out to right field to end the 1st inning.

UPDATE: Puerto Rico has defeated Aruba 14-13. Team USA and Cuba have moved onto the field at Estadio Beto Avila. Approximate start time is 8:15PM CST.

PREGAME: Good evening and welcome to Game 2 for Team USA at the COPABE "AA" Youth Pan American Championships in Veracruz, Mexico. Tonight Team USA will take on Cuba at 7:00PM CST. Currently we are in a rain delay with 1 out remaining in the Puerto Rico vs. Aruba afternoon game. Stay tuned for an updated start time as the rain begins to clear.

Starting Lineup:
1. Tony Wolters, 2B
2. Marcus Littlewood, SS
3. Bryce Harper, RF
4. Jake Rodriguez, 3B
5. Ladson Montgomery, C
6. Christian Lopes, LF
7. Nicky Delmonico, 1B
8. Michael Lorenzen, CF
9. Philip Pfeifer, P

Cuba Day

2008-09-14T20:52:05Z

It's Cuba day.....we think. As of last night, the Cuban team had yet to arrive in Veracruz (EDIT: They are here -- Game on). They were having some travel difficulties following Ike's visit to the island last week. We were fortunate to get out ahead of Ike's supposed onslaught of Miami - which, fortunately for south Florida, never really transpired as predicted - but they were not, evidently.

Cuba should have arrived on Thursday but they didn't and as of Saturday night I'm not quite sure if they ever got here. The schedule was rearranged giving them their off day on Friday and then they missed their game against Puerto Rico on Saturday. I'm assuming we'll get them tonight, but they're going to have to play a double-header at some point to make up their missed games, as well as play on the tournament-wide off day on Wednesday.

We haven't had a chance to scout them as a result of their absence thus far, which is disappointing, but certainly not too critical. We know they'll be good and we know they'll throw their ace at us. We'll be ready to do the same.

There's just a different feel to USA-Cuba games than to any others. Every game in this tournament is crucial due to the round robin format, but you can't help but get just a little more excited to play our biggest rival in the sport. We've had some good fortune against them the last two years; beating them in both 2006 and 2007 in comeback fashion. Hopefully we don't have to come back this time.

It'll help our cause if we can have some innings like the third inning against Panama. After the first batter struck out - the 7th K of our first 7 outs - 13 straight guys reached base and 12 of those scored. Back-to-Back homers by the same two guys (Bryce and J-Rod) twice in the inning was pretty incredible. We'll have to ask Elias how many times that's happened before. I'm gonna guess not too many.

Cody Buckel pitched a great 5 innings for us. He started off a little rough, and I'm sure that had to do with the bundle of nerves everybody was saddled with at the beginning of their first game in a week since the last trials game. And when I say rough, I mean that he actually allowed runners. Nobody hit the ball out of the infield against him, and the play ruled a hit in the first inning could actually have been ruled a fielder's choice which would have given him a 5-inning no-hitter.

We'll play some teams a lot better than Panama and it starts with Cuba today and then Puerto Rico the next day. We're deep and ready. And we're fueled by McDonald's, which I bribed the players with if they run-ruled Panama. They took care of business and earned some McFlurry's on top of their combo meals. If that's what it takes, then we'll be headed to McDonald's a couple more times.

Game One Live Blog: USA 15 Panama 0 FINAL

2008-09-12T17:11:25Z

5th INNING: A Matt Lipka triple scored Montogmery in the bottom of the 5th to make the score 15-0 and end the game due to the 15 Run Rule. Team USA moves to 1-0 in the tournament and will next face Cuba Sunday night at 7:00PM CST at Estadio Beto Avila.

4th INNING: After a scoreless top half of the inning for Panama, Buckel reached on an error by the second baseman Avila and scored after an error by right fielder Molina on a Wolters double to left field. Littlewood then singled to right, scoring Wolters to make the score 14-0.

3rd INNING: Buckel retired the first three batters he faced in the top of the 3rd, inducing two groundouts and recording a strikeout to end the top half of the 3rd. After a one out single by Marcus Littlewood in the bottom half of the inning, Bryce Harper homered to right center, putting Team USA up 2-0. The next batter, Jake Rodriguez, made it back to back home runs with a solo shot over the left field wall. A Nicky Delmonico double to left field scored Ladson Montgomery, making the score 4-0. Lopes and Delmonico scored on a passed ball and throwing error by new pitcher Amilcar Ayauz. Lorenzen scored from third after a passed ball, making the score 7-0 in favor of Team USA. Littlewood doubled to center field, scoring Buckel. Harper hammered his second home run of the inning to deep right field, scoring Littlewood and Wolters, making the score 11-0. Rodriguez followed with his second homer of the inning. The inning ends with Team USA up 12-0.

2nd INNING: Buckel struck out the side in the top of the 2nd. Christian Lopes and Michael Lorenzen recorded singles before Buckel struck out to end the inning. The score remains 0-0 heading into the top of the 3rd inning.

1st INNING: The game remains scoreless after one inning. Panama SP Andy Otero struck out three in a row after issuing a lead off walk to Tony Wolters. USA SP Cody Buckel allowed one hit in a scoreless top half of the 1st.

PREGAME: Welcome to Game 1 for Team USA at the COPABE "AA" Youth World Championships. Team USA will be taking on Panama at 2:00PM CST in Veracruz, Mexico at Estadio Beto Avila.

Starting Lineup:
1. Tony Wolters, 2B
2. Marcus Littlewood, SS
3. Bryce Harper, RF
4. Jake Rodriguez, 3B
5. Ladson Montgomery, C
6. Christian Lopes, LF
7. Nicky Delmonico, 1B
8. Michael Lorenzen, CF
9. Cody Buckel, P

Getting You Up to Speed

2008-09-11T06:54:32Z

Since last we talked, a lot has happened. We selected our 2008 16U National Team.xls. We decided it was best to get out of Miami ahead of Hurricane Ike and then we did just that. We settled into Veracruz at the Hotel Villas Dali (fortunately, that's not what it sounds like when you're inside). We worked on our game at the Estadio Beto Avila (pictured right). We got a schedule. And we've waited and waited to play a game. Our wait is over on Friday afternoon when we open up with Panama, but everybody is getting antsy to get out there for real. Batting practice and first and thirds can get a little old after awhile.

Last Friday was a tough day as it always is. The group of 33 had become tight, but we were losing many of them because we could only keep 19. Normally that number is 18, but we learned that the roster size had been expanded to 20 and since Coach Padron was staying in Miami through the Hurricane to be with his family, there was one extra ticket that was already paid for. So we selected another player.

The night before we had a talent show after dinner. Gio Alfonzo, Angelo Gumbs (left with Gio wotking the music), and Eric Snyder were the stars of the show. Everyone had a great time and you could tell this was a group that got along which made cutting the group down that much harder. There were some very tough decisions for the coaches but in the end we got a great group of kids that gives us what we think is our best chance to defend our gold medal.

For those that didn't make it, the wakeup calls were early as we had everyone on a plane by 8:50 am. The newly minted 16U National Team had a chance to sleep in a bit, eat breakfast, move into their new rooms, and then we took care of some administrative stuff. They had 470 autographs to sign for their Upper Deck baseball cards and then Santa Claus came early when they picked up their new team gear.

We headed over to the field for a workout and then a photo shoot for said card set. The guys looked great in their whites and the photographer got some great shots. The practice was important, too, as it was our first opportunity to work on a lot of important things as a team. We ended the day with a team meal at a barbecue joint for some ribs and then celebrated Michael Kelly's 16th birthday with some ice cream cake and a badly sung song. Sorry we didn't have any car keys for Michael.

Sunday was another long practice followed by packing up for our 4 AM bus to the airport. Travel to Mexico went smoothly. All of our bags arrived with us, although we had to go to Veracruz in two shifts as there wasn't enough room for all 27 members of our traveling party on the flight from Mexico City to Veracruz since we had rescheduled at such a late date. 16 got in at 12:45pm while the other 11 got in at 3:40pm. No big deal.

The setup here is very good for a tournament based on my previous experiences. I'll list some of the positives: The rooms have AC, which is nice, because Veracruz is a muggy, muggy city. More so than Miami in my opinion. We have a wireless internet connection in the lobby which comes in handy for late night blogging. We are a five-to-ten-minute bus trip to the field and our dining hall (Chow time to the right. Check out the butter brick). We have more than one but less than three English language channels on our TV's. As well, the TV in room 307 has an interesting fun house mirror effect to it that makes foreheads look huge and lower body halves look tiny. It adds to the entertainment value of TV programs you don't care much about. There are jugglers who stand in front of idling cars at intersections and juggle fire. I found a place about 3 blocks away called Taqueria Guero that sells 10 Tacos Al Pastor for 270 pesos, which is about $2.60 and that is awesome. Everyone is very nice and has gone out of their way to accommodate our requests, whether they be for field usage, laundry, food, study hall rooms, bus availability for Costco runs to pick up water, you name it.

As far as negatives go, just make sure you don't assume that pedestrians have the right-of-way when trying to cross the street in Veracruz. They don't.

So far so good here in Veracruz. We just need to get a chance to play. Hopefully that happens as planned on Friday, but knowing the way that these tournaments seem to take U-turns at the last minute, we'll proceed with caution as I won't be shocked at all if the schedule changes by opening day. We are ready, regardless. This is a strong, versatile, deep team and we are focused on our goal.

Although we didn't get in a scrimmage tonight as we would have liked (we couldn't find an opponent -- everyone is scared), we did get a chance to take BP at the stadium under the lights to get a feel for Beto Avila at night. It really looks cool at night. We also found out there is a little bit of Wrigley in Veracruz when we had some onlookers present behind the wall in right watching from the "rooftop" of the sports dorm where we eat our meals.

Coach Padron gets in tomorrow for our last workout before the tourney starts. It will be great to have our group complete finally. We'll put the finishing touches on our game, get some American food for dinner, and relax a bit before getting a good night's rest to be ready to go to work on Friday.