Game 12
 Transatlantic 3 vs. Caribbean  10
Sunday, August 18, 2001
5:00PM ET

Crafty Curacao ‘steals’ a victory

Curacao continues to roll at the 55th Little League World Series.

Their 10-3 victory over the all-stars from Arabian American Little League Sunday at Volunteer Stadium puts them in control of their own destiny in the hunt for a berth in the semifinal round.

“I am very happy with how we played,” said Curacao manager Mark Van Zaten.  “We did not strikeout a lot, and everything went according to our plans.”

A crowd of 3,400 was on hand to see the speedy Curacao team, but many spectators quickly dispersed when a loud clash of thunder from an incoming storm could be heard.

Before all the havoc, Curacao wasted no time getting on the board.  With two outs in the first inning, Curacao left fielder Erick Rafael knocked in Dinyor Antonia with a single to right. 

Rudson Pieter followed Rafael’s RBI single with grounder that went past the shortstop.  The error allowed Michelangelo Trinidad and Rafael to come home, increasing Curacao’s lead to 3-0.

But the team from Saudi Arabia amounted a two-out rally of their own in the bottom half of the inning.  

With the bases loaded, Jad Ibrahim sent a laser beam to the right side, which brought home Craig Lumpa.  

Drew Crofton scored on a wild pitch during the next at-bat, and Blake Dieterich added another run, scoring on a passed ball.  

With the score tied, Blythe Bumstead hit a soft-liner to the first baseman to end the rally.

Curacao went right back at it the next inning with the help of crafty base running.  They would score four times in the inning to take a 7-3 lead.  Curacao used the double steal multiple times during the game, and that contributed to the runs scored.

“That aggressive style of baserunning is something we have practiced and mastered,” Van Zanten said.  “We know the reactions of kids, and that is what we play off of.”

In the fourth inning, Rafael hit a home run to center field that extended his team’s lead to five runs.

Curacao scored twice more in the top of the sixth to give them a commanding lead on the Transatlantic team.

With just a single out left in the game, heavy rains began to cover Volunteer field.  After an hour and a half rain delay, Trinidad was able to retire Jed Abrahim on a single pitch, and end the game with Curacao on top, 10-3.

-  David Graham-Caso
Special Correspondent

Game Scoring By Inning:

1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Caribbean 3 0 4 1 0 2 10 11 0
Transatlantic 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 3

Home Team Box Score:

Transatlantic POS AB R H RBI AP As PO E
Lumpa, Craig 2b 3 1 2 0 3 1 3 0
Heine, Cord 1b 3 0 0 0 3 1 7 1
Echevarria, Nikko p-cf-ss 3 0 0 0 3 2 0 0
Crofton, Drew ss 2 1 1 0 2 3 1 1
Dieterich, Blake lf-p 2 1 0 0 3 0 0 1
Ibrahim, Jad c 3 0 2 1 3 0 7 0
Lee, Wesley cf-lf 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Blythe Bumstead 3b 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Hunt, Nate rf 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Conner, Trevor lf 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Hunter-Smith, Neil ph-rf 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Latendresse, John ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 21 3 5 1 24 8 18 3

Visiting Team Box Score:

Caribbean POS AB R H RBI AP As PO E
Martis, Richandro
ss
4
0
0
0
4
2
1
0
Daal, Argenis
2b
2
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
Antonia, Dinyor
1b
3
1
0
0
4
2
6
0
Trinidad, Michelangelo
p
4
3
3
1
4
1
0
0
Rafael, Erick
lf
3
3
3
2
4
0
0
0
Pieter, Rudson
cf
4
0
0
0
4
1
0
0
Martina, Frensley
rf
3
0
2
1
3
0
1
0
Martis, Neldrick
3b
0
0
0
0
2
1
2
0
Paulina, Prinstonyor
c
2
1
0
0
2
0
6
0
Gomez, Lujairo
2b
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
0
Lake, Devin
ph
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
Elizabeth, Gilmare
ph
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
Daal, Farley
ph
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
McDonald, Arthur
ph
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
Totals
29
10
11
5
34
8
18
0

Winning Pitcher: Trinidad, Michelangelo 
Losing Pitcher: Echevarria, Nikko
IP R ER ERA H K BB HP TP KP BP
Transatlantic
Echevarria, Nikko 2.0 5 3 9.00 5 2 2 0 49 30 19
Dieterich, Blake 4.0 5 3 4.50 6 5 2 0 70 45 25
Caribbean
Trinidad, Michelangelo 6.0 3 2 2.00 5 6 2 1 99 61 38

ERA computed assuming 6 innings per game


© 2002 Little League Baseball Incorporated