For those of you who may not have caught all of the 2007 World Cup action from Prague, Czech Republic while it was happening, here is a link to a Technorati page that provides links and abstracts of the coverage (Technorati is a blog search engine.). Remember you can always search the Morning Brief blog directly, using the search engine built into it, on the upper right hand side. Here’s what that direct Morning Brief search generates.

From USA Softball:

Prague, CZ—The USA Softball Men’s National Team finished second at the 2007 ISF Men’s World Cup of Softball on Sunday after falling to Japan, 2-0, in the championship game. The U.S. rebounded from an opening round loss to Japan to defeat Venezuela and earn a rematch in the championship game.

Japan picked up the only run it would need in the bottom of the first inning when the U.S. defense faltered. Suzuki reached to lead off the inning on an error by U.S. third baseman Gregg Cascaes (Apple Valley, Minn.) and moved to second and third on back-to-back sacrifices by Yokohama and Ishimura. Japan continued to execute the fundamentals of the game with a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Suzuki.

The U.S. recorded its only hit of the game in the top of the fourth inning. Adam LaLonde (Cheboygan, Mich.) led off the inning with a single to left field but the U.S. was not able to bring a run across.

An insurance run was added by Japan in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 2-0 lead.

In the top of the seventh the U.S. mounted a comeback that would fall short. Omar Moraga (Agoura Hills, Calif.) reached after being hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to second when Chris DeLarwelle (Appleton, Wis.) reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. But the comeback was halted when Frank DeGroat, Jr. (Ringwood, N.J.) struck out and Nate Devine (Merced, Calif.) grounded into a double-play back to the pitcher to end the game.

The U.S. finished the game with just one hit and left three runners stranded while Japan collected two runs off eight hits and left five runners on base.

The USA will have a chance to redeem itself in less than a month when it faces off with Japan, Venezuela and Argentina in the inaugural KFC American Challenge Series, July 13-15, in Oklahoma City at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex.

The American Challenge Series is being hosted in conjunction with the 2007 KFC World Cup of Softball. Anyone holding a ticket for the KFC World Cup of Softball will be admitted for free to the KFC American Challenge Series.

From USA Softball:

(HR for Chris Delarwelle, Silver Medal Win for Travis Price)

Prague, CZ—The USA Softball Men’s National Team turned things around in the bronze medal game at the ISF Men’s World Cup by defeating Venezuela 5-2 to earn a spot in the championship game against Japan. A solid pitching performance by USA starter Travis Price (Santa Ana, Calif.) coupled with some timely hitting put the U.S. back on track for the title.

After a scoreless first inning, Venezuela took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Coronel was hit by a pitch, moved to third on a single by Flores and scored on a groundout by Guererro.

The U.S. responded in the bottom of the second to take a 2-1 lead. Chris DeLarwelle (Appleton, Wis.) led off the inning with a solo home run to tie the game at 1-1. With one out, Nate Devine (Merced, Calif.) got the offense going again with a single to right field. After a strikeout by Blake Miller (Albany, Ga.), Devine moved into scoring position when Gregg Cascaes (Apple Valley, Minn.) was hit by a pitch but it was an error by the Venezuelan defense that proved to be the difference. It looked like the runners would be stranded on a fielder’s choice by Lucas Goring (St. Paul, Minn.) but the second baseman muffed the throw from the shortstop and allowed Devine to score the go ahead run.

Venezuela tied the game in the top of the third with help from Price who hit three batters in the inning. A lead off double by Linares put the tying run on base and three hit batters in the inning allowed him to come around and scored without another ball being put into play.

In the bottom of the fifth inning the U.S. was the beneficiary of a batter being hit by a pitch. Chris Miljavac (St. Joseph, Mo.) led off the inning and was hit by a pitch. The next two U.S. batters were unable to move him into scoring position after being struck out so Miljavac put himself in scoring position by stealing second base. After a walk to Frank DeGroat, Jr. (Ringwood, N.J.), Devine collected his second hit of the game to score Miljavac and give the Red, White and Blue a 3-2 advantage.

The U.S. managed to hold Venezuela scoreless in the top of the sixth inning and tack on two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. With two runners on base, Miljavac laced a triple to left field that drove in the final two runs of the game to secure a 5-2 U.S. victory.

Price picked up the win in the circle after allowing two runs on five hits and being responsible for five batters being hit by a pitch.

With the win the U.S. advances to face Japan in the championship finals to decide the inaugural champion of the ISF Men’s World Cup. The two teams have split their previous two match-ups at the World Cup with the U.S. winning in pool play and Japan winning in the opening game of the playoffs.

Japan Gold, USA Silver, Venezuela Bronze

From

ISF World Cup Prague – final – Sunday, June 24, 2007

Game 39

USA – 5
Venezuela – 2

Game 40

Japan – 2
USA – 0

WORLD CUP Men – Day 7, Championship – JAPAN WON THE FIRST WORLD MEN’S CUP

After embarrassing defeat from Japan US team came back today beating Venezuela 5:2. Travis Price threw a good game against dangerous Venezuelan hitters.

Championship Game:

Kunihiko Iida pitched one hitter game against USA in front of 4-5 thousand spectators in a live broadcast game of the Czech national TV. 8 hits by Japanese hitters made the difference. What stats does not show is we had the great game ended up with double play with runners on first and second, one out. Iida fielded the ground ball and instead of throwing to third he had turned the ball in to the second fo succesfull doulbe play, which ended the game. Crowd appreciated nice plays from both teams but Japan got their heart.

Individual awards:
Best Pitcher: Kunihiko Iida (Japan)
Best Hitter: Hiraku Yokoyama (Japan)
MVP: Christopher Delawelle (USA)
Homeruns: Frank De Groat Jr. (USA)

We had the best tournament ever played in Europe. Thanks to all teams, umpires and organizers for this great introduction of mens fastball to Europe !!!

Pavel Prachar

(more…)

Japan run-rules USA 12-2 in opening game of playoffs at ISF Men’s World Cup

PRAGUE, CZ—Japan advanced to the championship game of the ISF
WorldCup with a resounding 12-2 five inning win over the USA
Men’s NationalTeam on Saturday evening before a crowd of more
than 1,200 people.

Japanwhich had lost earlier to the United Statesin round robin,
rocked two USApitchers for 12 runs and 11 hits, including five
infield singles, to advance toSunday’s championship round.

The USA, meanwhile, collected only five hits off two Japanese
pitchers and will face Venezuela Sunday at 2 p.m. with the winner advancing
to face Japanin the championship final. Venezuela(8-1) shutout
DeMo EHS (5-4) of the Netherlands, 8-0 in the earlier playoff
game to advance.

Japan pounded USA pitchers TravisPrice (Santa Ana, Calif.and Sonny
Perkins (St. Michael’s, Ariz.for 11 hits. Price hurled the first
three innings, allowing seven runs and seven hits in the third
inning. Perkins entered the game in the fourth inning and allowed
five runs on four hits.

The seven run Japan third included a solo homer by shortstop Ryuji
Hazeyama. Left fielder Kiensakus Nishio also had a single in the
inning and scored a run.

Japanused two pitchers to limit the USAto a run in the third
inning on an RBI single by catcher Frank DeGroat (Ringwood, N.J.)
and asolo homer to right center by Chris Miljavac (St. Joseph,
Mo.in the fifth inning.

Miljavac, who had a single in the third inning and was the only
USA player with at least two hits, hit his firsthomer of the
World Cup off Japanhurler Tatsuya Hamaguchi, who entered the
game for starter Kazutaka Murasato inthe fifth inning. Murasato
hurled the first four innings allowing one run on fourhits. Hamaguchi
hurled the last inning and surrendered one hit and the second
USArun.

Prague, June 23rd 2007

Venezuela beat Decos EHS in semi finals 8-0 and Japan beats USA
12-2 in a mercy rule 5 inning game.

Decos EHS finishes fourth and finishes as the top European Team
beating Czech Republic, Denmark, Tenerife, Zaragoza and Prague
Stars.

Japan is in in the final beating USA 12-2 and USA and Venezuela
will play for the second spot in the final.

More game info to follow on Sunday.

Norm

Norman Ames
Decos EHS Fastpitch, Haarlem, The Netherlands
www.demo-ehs.nl

From USA Softball via

USA Softball Men’s National Team pick up two more wins at ISF Men’s World Cup, Now 7-0

USA blanks Prague Stars for seventh consecutive win

PRAGUE, CZ—The USA Softball Men’s National Team coasted to
a 10-0 five inningrun rule victory over the Prague Stars (1-4)
on Friday morning to remainundefeated at 7-0 in the ISF Men’s
World Cup. Three-home runs in just oneinning helped to propel
to Red, White and Blue to their fourth victory via therun-rule.

The USA pounded two Prague pitchers for 12hits including three
homers in a six-run third inning. Ales Jetmar was thelosing pitcher
and worked two innings, allowing six runs and eight hits.Right-hander
Petr Bednar replaced Jetmar after the USA hitconsecutive homers
(DeLarwell and DeGroat) in the third inning andfinished the game,
allowing four runs and four hits.

Chris DeLarwelle (Appleton, Wis.) opened the third with a solo
blast toleft field and catcher Frank DeGroat (Ringwood, N.J.)
followed with a solo homer to centerfield before Adam LaLonde
(Cheboygan, Mich.) sent a blast over the center field fencelater
in the inning for the USA’s first grand slam of the WorldCup.

It was the second home run of the game for DeLarwelle who helped
putthree runs on the board in the first inning with a solo shot.
DeGroat increasedhis home run total to four with his solo home
run while LaLonde broke into thehome run club with his first.
The three homers in the third inning increasedthe overall USAtotal
to 14 in just seven games.

Although it wasn’t the first time LaLonde has hit a grand slam
in hiscareer, it was the first grand slam for him in his six-year
career as a memberof the USA National Team. LaLonde had a pair
of singles in two earlier at-bats tofinish off a perfect day.
DeLarwelle also had a perfect day offensively going3-for-3 with
a single and two home runs.

Cody Thomson (Salt Lake City, Utah) hurled the first three innings
for the USA to pick uphis second win in the circle. During his
stint in the circle he allowed onlyone hit, one walk and fanned
two batters. Left-hander B.J. Hunhoff (Harrisburg, S.D.came in
from the bull pen in the fourth inning to finish off the game.
In twoinnings of work he did not allow a hit and struck out two.

The U.S. must nowturn its sights towards a showdown with undefeated
Venezuela later in the day. Thewinner will secure the top seed
going into the page playoffs on Saturday. Thelast time these
two teams met up was in October of 2006 at the Men’s PanAmerican
Championships in Hermosillo, Mexico where Venezueladismantled
the USA8-0, and allowed only one hit. The U.S.went on to finish
fourth while Venezuelafinished as the runner-up.

-30-

USA holds off Czech Republic toremain undefeated in ISF Men’s
World Cup

HAVLICKUV, BROD—Holding off a last inning rally by the Czech
Republic(1-4), the USA Softball Men’s National Team won its sixth
consecutivegame on Thursday, 6-4, to remain undefeated in the
ISF Men’s World Cup. TheU.S.improved to 6-0 in pool play which
concludes on Friday with a double-header.

For the first time in the tournament the U.S. found itself trailing
ina game when the Czech’s took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom
of thesecond inning but the Red, White and Blue came storming
back in the top of thefourth inning after a couple is costly
defensive miscues.

Frank DeGroat, Jr. (Ringwood N.J.) reached on a fielding errorby
the shortstop to lead off the inning and Mo Kandouse (Patterson,
N.J.) wasinserted to pinch-run. A trot would be the extent of
running Kandouse wouldhave to do as Nate Devine (Merced, Calif.)
blasted his second home run of the World Cup toleft field to
give the U.S.a 2-1 advantage.

The Czech Republic came back to tiethe game in the bottom of
the fourth inning. T. Benda led off the inning with asingle and
scored on a single by V. Svoboda coupled with an error by U.S.
right fielder Chris Miljavac (St. Joseph, Mo.

The USA regained thelead with a pair of runs in the fifth inning
on a solo homer by shortstop OmarMoraga (Agoura Hills, Calif.)
and an RBI single by Devine but thepesky Czech’s added a run
of their own in the bottom of the sixth to cutthe lead in half.

Two insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning, which proved
to bethe difference in the game, increased the U.S. lead to 6-3.
Moragaled off the inning with a double to center field and scored
on an RBI single byChris DeLarwelle (Appleton Wis.). With one
out in theinning, DeLarwelle stole second, advanced to third
on an error by the shortstopand scored on a wild pitch.

With their home town fans behind them, the Czech’s mounted a
comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning. L. Prochazka led
off with a singleand advanced into scoring position on a wild
pitch. A walk to M. Cermakprompted Head Coach Peter Turner to
turn to his bull pen to put a stop to therally.

Sonny Perkins (St. Michael’s, Ariz.came in to relieve starter
Travis Price (Santa Ana, Calif.) with thewinning run coming to
the plate. D. Mertl greeted Perkins with a single toright field
that scored Prochazka but that would be all Perkins and the U.S.defense
would allow. A heads-up play by USAfirst baseman Nate Devine
(Merced, Calif.) turned a routine out into a double play when
hetook the throw from second baseman Blake Miller (Albany, Ga.and
laced it to third to pick-off the runner. Perkins wrapped up
his first savewith a strikeout to end the game.

Price picked up his third win of the World Cup, hurling 6 1/3
inningswith eight strikeouts. The USAand the Czech Republiceach
had eight hits apiece with Moraga and Devinleading the way with
three hits apiece for the USA.

The USA willcomplete the round robin portion of the World Cup
on Friday with games againstthe Prague Stars and Venezuela.

From USA Softball, a PDF with cumulative stats through the first five games.

Some notable numbers by the offense: (10 at bats or more):

(USA Leaders in total bases, and other offensive categories, Blake Miller, Chris Delarwelle, Frank DeGroat, Jr. and Omar Moraga. Blake Miller leads in 5 offensive categories – total bases, RBI, Hits, Runs and extra base hits)

Most total bases – Blake Miller, 17; Frank De Groat Jr. 14, Chris Delarwelle and Omar Moraga, 12.
Batting avg. – Chris Delarwelle, .533; Daryn Miller, .500, Blake Miller, .471, Nate Devine, .400
Most hits – Blake Miller and Chris Delarwelle with 8. (Miller 8-17, Delarwelle 8-12)
Most HR’s – Frank DeGroat Jr. 3, Blake Miller and Omar Moraga, 2;
Most RBI – Blake Miller with 8; Daryn Miller, 6, and Chris Delarwelle 5;
Most runs scored – Blake Miller 8; Nate Devine, 6, 3 others with 5;
On base % – Chris Delarwelle, .611, Tim Hunt, .545, Daryn Miller, .538

As for pitching and defense:

(Travis Price has 2 of the 5 wins, Sonny Perkins, the lowest ERA, at 1.00)

The pitchers are unbeaten in 5 games, and the defense has made but one error, while opponents have made 10. Pitching stats are almost equal, Sonny Perkins with the lowest ERA at 1.0, while the others were in the 2’s. Travis Price has 2 of the 5 wins.

As a team:

Batting avg. – .377
OB% – .456
55 hits in 146 at bats
9 homers
18 extra base hits
42 RBI
51 Runs scored
17 walks
30 K’s
-and-
every single non-pitcher has a hit