TAINAN, Taiwan – Team USA scored five in the final two innings, Christopher Chikodroff drove in the winning run, and the U.S. overcame a four-run deficit to defeat Chinese Taipei, 6-5, on the second day of World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup Super Round play at Asia Pacific International Baseball Stadium.
With the win, Team USA improves to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Super Round standings, per WBSC tournament rules.
The United States hung in the fight, never surrendered, and came out on top in a dogfight under the lights and in front of a clamorous crowd who heavily favored Chinese Taipei. For the fourth time in the tournament, the opposition struck first, and the stars and stripes fell behind early. After a busy first inning in which both teams drew level after scoring a run apiece, Chinese Taipei picked up momentum in the second and held onto a lead that would last until the fifth. As the U.S. navigated traffic on the base paths and faced adversity finding the strike zone throughout the first two frames, Kristian Valadez entered in relief in the second inning and put forth an effort just as praiseworthy as Chikodroff’s. Tonight’s unsung hero pumped strikes and allowed only one hit in the final 4.2 innings, highlighted by two frames in which he needed fewer than 10 pitches, affording Team USA a chance to dig itself out of a four-run hole. Behind Valadez was a defense that only improved as the contest progressed, as a pair of diving grabs by both shortstop Russell McGee and center fielder Duncan Mount in the sixth fired up the red, white, and blue’s bench and sparked an offensive effort in the home half of the last inning.
Collecting both the first and last hit of the ball game, Chikodroff played hero tonight and stunned a packed crowd who rallied behind Chinese Taipei for all 125 minutes of the match. From the second inning until the beginning of the fifth, Chinese Taipei surrendered only two hits and countered any chance of Team USA’s bats to get hot and shift the momentum. The United States’ rally began in the fifth, as Jack Carson and AJ Elliott teamed up to score the first two runs of a four-run frame. Mount and McGee kept alive the stars and stripes’ chance of a comeback with back-to-back, clutch two-out base hits to plate two more and pull even. Obviously shaken, Chinese Taipei struggled to throw strikes in the sixth and allowed the U.S. to put a runner in scoring position with no outs. Embracing the moment as a pure hitter, Chikodroff needed only one pitch to change the game and did so, as he barreled a ball to center field to drive in the winning run, hand the U.S. its first and only lead of the contest, and end the night at the bottom of a dogpile.
Chikodroff accounted for nearly half of the team’s hits, as he went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Carson and Mount posted nearly identical days; they each tallied a pair of hits, notched an RBI and scored once. Jameson Wilhite got the nod today and struck out a pair, while Valadez earned the win today after he logged 4.2 innings on the bump, conceded only one hit, allowed no earned runs, and punched out five batters.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Chinese Taipei jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after Qi-sheng Chen drove in Cheng-chun Hsieh–who reached on a walk–with his RBI double.
- The U.S. knotted up the score at one apiece in the home half, as a ground ball off the bat of Hunter Sundby passed through the second baseman’s legs to score Chikodroff, who reached on a double.
- Lengthy at-bats kicked off the top of the second, as Bing-rong Li landed in scoring position via a two-bagger. After a sacrifice hit and an RBI base knock by Cheng-en Hu, Chinese Taipei regained a two-run advantage.
- The away team kept pressure on the U.S. defense, as a single sandwiched between a pair of walks loaded the bases for Chinese Taipei in the fourth. On a would-be third out, a pop fly dropped in the infield grass and scored two unearned runs, ballooning the deficit to four.
- Tonight’s winning pitcher, Valadez, led off the fifth and got the rally going after drawing an eight-pitch walk. A single down the left field line by Chikodroff put runners on the corners and set the stage for Carson, who smoked the first pitch he saw for an RBI double.
- After Elliott proceeded to produce an RBI groundout, Mount ripped a first pitch offering through the right side to make it 5-4. With two outs on the board, McGee embraced the moment and hammered a pitch to deep right center, tying the game with a stand-up double and firing up the U.S. dugout.
- Back-to-back walks signaled trouble for Team USA’s opponents, as the United States’ hottest hitter stepped up to the plate: Chikodroff. Wasting no time, Chikodroff drilled the first pitch to center field, driving home Kai Sapp from second base for a walk-off base hit.
NOTABLES
- With the win, the United States is 7-2 all-time against Chinese Taipei at the 12-and-under level of competition.
- Tonight marks the first time a matchup between the U.S. and Chinese Taipei has been decided by one run, as the slimmest margin of victory had been an 8-6 win in 2022 in favor of the United States.
- The United States’ last win via walk-off fashion came in the 2023 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas qualifier, when Team USA defeated Venezuela 29-28 on a walk-off throwing error.
- As of Friday evening, the United States is second among all nations in hits (62) and RBIs (56). Meanwhile, its pitching staff leads all teams in strikeouts (41) and is third on the leaderboard in ERA (1.95).
- Thanks to tonight’s 3-for-4 performance, Chikodroff has now racked up four three-hit games over the past seven contests.
- Chikodroff leads all players in batting average (.565) and hits (13), while Valadez’s 1.071 slugging percentage and 11 RBIs lands him atop the leaderboard in each respective category.
QUOTABLES
- “All the credit goes to them,” Manager Bryan Madsen said. “These guys fought and never gave in, especially in this stadium on Chinese Taipei’s home turf, this team kept on fighting. They’re tough and have some serious resilience.”
ON DECK
The United States wraps up the Super Round slate tomorrow, August 2, against Japan. First pitch is set to be thrown at 2:30 p.m. local/2:30 a.m. ET at Asia Pacific International Baseball Stadium.
SOCIAL MEDIA
To follow along with all the action with the 12U National Team, be sure to follow @USABaseball12U on X and @USABaseball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X.
