The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE a stellar performance on the mound from Cleve Sutherland, Team Bahamas was unable to generate enough run support and was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Cal Ripken Baseball Major 70 World Series.

Sutherland finished with 10 strikeouts and gave up just two hits, but Puerto Rico emerged with the 2-0 win yesterday at the tournament in Branson, Missouri.

Puerto Rico advanced to face Japan in tonight’s semi-final.

Sutherland struck out two in the bottom half of the first and struck out the side in the second to surpass his previous tournament-high after just two innings.

Denajh Williams reached on an infield single and Tavano Baker laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance him to second.

Puerto Rico intentionally walked Sutherland but the Bahamas was unable to take advantage as the game remained scoreless through two.

Sutherland again struck out two of the three hitters he faced in the third to bring his total to seven.

Throwing errors led to Puerto Rico plating the first run of the game and they took the decisive 2-0 lead on an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth.

In the top half of the fifth, the Bahamas had an opportunity for a late rally but failed to convert.

Lamar Sealy was hit by a pitch and eventually replaced by Jayden Brown to pinch run. Alex Eneas followed with a single and both runners advanced on a pass ball.

Puerto Rico’s Jezrael Melendez struck out two batters with the tying run in scoring position and his team maintained their lead headed into the bottom of the fifth.

Melendez would strike out the side in the sixth to end the game.

It was the Bahamas’ second loss of the tournament at the hands of Puerto Rico after they opened with a 6-1 loss in their debut.

Puerto Rico took an early lead in the first inning and scored an additional three runs in the fifth. Adrian Areizaga was credited with the victory for Puerto Rico. He went four innings, allowing zero runs on two hits, with nine strikeouts.

Tavano Baker took the loss for the Bahamas. He allowed three hits and three runs in one inning, with two strikeouts. Sutherland started the game for the Bahamas. He went four innings, allowing three runs on three hits and struck out seven. Baker and Williams each managed one hit to lead the Bahamas.

In game two, the Bahamas suffered an 11-1 loss to the Republic of Korea. Korea scored six runs in a big second inning. Eneas was on the mound for the Bahamas. He surrendered five runs on five hits with one strikeout. Malikh Brown threw two innings in relief out of the bullpen.

The team fell to 0-3 in the standings with a 4-0 loss to Japan on Monday as two pitchers combined to throw a shutout. Williams had the lone hit for the Bahamas in the second inning. Eneas got the start for the team and allowed two hits and two runs over two-thirds of an inning. Tejahri Wilson, Brown and Baker each contributed in relief for Bahamas.

The Bahamas got its first win of the tournament with a 4-3 advantage over New Zealand on Tuesday. The game was tied at three in the bottom of the fourth when Brown hit a solo home run to put the team ahead.

Baker got the start on the mound and went five innings. He allowed three runs on three hits and finished with four strikeouts. He had run support from the lineup with seven hits. Brown and Philandro Williams led the way with multiple-hit outings.

Last month, the Bahamas finished second in the 12U Division at the Perfect Game Series Classic in Fort Myers, Florida.

The Bahamas is one of 29 teams competing in the tournament and one of nine international teams in Pool E, including Japan, Mexico, Korea, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, New Zealand, Canada and Curacao.

Major 70 is a level of baseball beyond Little League but before professional that allows players to play on 70-foot base paths with a 50-foot pitching distance. It also allows runners to take leads and steal for the first time, playing mainly by official baseball rules.

This innovation helped to prepare the youth for a better transition to the 90-foot diamonds of the Babe Ruth Baseball 13-15 and 16-18 divisions of play.

Today, the Babe Ruth League has more than 1,000,000 players on 56,000 teams in 9,000 leagues in eight countries and all 50 states.