Tucson talent Carlo Rivero earned the Most Valuable Player honor for leading Team USA’s 12U team to the gold medal of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier with a 14-7 win over the Dominican Republic on Saturday night.
Rivero batted .478 with two home runs and a team-high 14 RBIs and also was 2-0 with 14 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings on the mound in the seven games played at Panama City, Panama.
Rivero, playing at shortstop Saturday against the Dominican Republic, hit a two-run single in the fifth inning to give the U.S. a 9-7 lead. He went 2 for 3 with two runs and four RBIS.
Team USA, which went 7-0 in the weeklong event, has now won back-to-back WBSC World Cup Qualifier titles and earned its seventh gold and ninth medal in 11 years.
#ForGlory pic.twitter.com/WHMQMmE3cO
— USA Baseball 12U (@USABaseball12U) October 27, 2024
Rivero and his teammates battled the Dominican Republic over the course of six hours and on two different playing fields in Panama City. The day started at Estadio Nacional Rod Carew and ended at Estadio Municipal Andy Alonso, as rain made the former unplayable.
Team USA scored at least one run in all six frames while handing the Dominican Republic its only loss of the week.
Leadoff man Josh Pierre got the team started by reaching base for the seventh consecutive game. After Joshua Park advanced Pierre to third with a bunt-single, Rivero lifted a high fly ball to center field for a sacrifice fly.
The Dominican Republic strung together a six at-bat bottom-of-the-first inning to take an early 2-1 lead, putting Team USA behind for the first time in 36 innings in the event.
These guys absolutely dominated
MVP: Carlo Rivero (.478 BA, 14 RBIs, 2 HR | 2-0, 7.1 IP, 14 Ks)
Most RBIs: Carlo Rivero (14)
Most Runs Scored: Josh Pierre (16)
Most SB: Josh Pierre (10) pic.twitter.com/EeVXNfPYsw— USA Baseball 12U (@USABaseball12U) October 27, 2024
The U.S. answered, sending six batters to the plate in the second inning. Clayton Ratliff drew a six-pitch walk and Miles Lockridge delivered a hard-hit ground ball, that was not handled by the shortstop. A run scored to tie the game at 2.
The Dominican Republic took advantage of an errant throw to score two more runs in the bottom of the second to take a 4-2 lead.
The back-and-forth affair continued in the third as the U.S. scored twice to tie the game.
Rivero and Jack Mattingly both reached base to get the inning going and put pressure on the Dominican defense. Christian Cicero hit a two-run single to right field to score Rivero and Mattingly.
The Dominican Republic’s Caonabo Cosme hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning. Carlos Marrero also had an RBI groundout to put Team USA behind 7-4.
That’s when the team shifted stadiums, moving to Estadio Municipal.
Daylon McCants and Pierre led off the fourth with back-to-back singles and Park followed with a sacrifice fly to score McCants. Pierre took advantage of a Dominican error and scored the final run of the inning to cut the lead to 7-6 after four innings.
Ratliff struck out the first three batters he faced and gave Team USA a chance to take the lead.
Ratliff drew a walk to lead off the fifth and later came around to score the tying run.
Team USA forced three consecutive walks and a Dominican pitching change.
With bases loaded, Rivero drilled a 2-2 offering up the middle for a two-run single, handing the U.S. its first lead of the day and one it would never relinquish. An error and a flurry of wild pitches allowed the U.S. to score three more runs to build the lead to 12-7.
Two more unearned runs scored in the last inning put the U.S. up 14-7.
Ratliff needed only 12 pitches in the sixth to get the job done and painted the corner with a breaking ball to punch out the last batter and secure the win for Team USA.
Ratliff tossed 3 innings of no-hit ball and struck out five.
Not only did the U.S. win a gold medal, but it secured a berth to the 2025 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup. Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Panama have all qualified and will accompany the United States in next year’s World Cup and represent the Americas Region in Tainan, Taiwan.
TEAM USA AWARDS
- Most Valuable Player: Carlo Rivero (.478 BA, 14 RBIs, 2 HR | 2-0, 7.1 IP, 14 Ks)
- Most RBIs: Carlo Rivero (14)
- Most Runs Scored: Joshua Pierre (16)
- Most Stolen Bases: Joshua Pierre (10)
WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier All-Team
- P: Carlo Rivero (USA)
- DH: Sebastian Gil (Venezuela)
- C: Carlos Gutiérrez (Venezuela)
- 1B: Jack Mattingly (USA)
- 2B: Brandon Baez (Dominican Republic)
- 3B: Daibel Barrero (Cuba)
- SS: Humberto Alfonso (Cuba)
- LF: Joshua Park (USA)
- CF: Jose Reyes (Mexico)
- RF: Adolfo Alcoser (Nicaragua)
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