It looked to be an even matchup in the early game of the WBSC U18 Baseball Confederation of Oceania Championships going on at the Paseo Stadium, when Palau opened with two runs against American Samoa.
Palau held American Samoa scoreless in the second inning, then allowed them to tie things up in the third at 2-2.
But American Samoa’s pitcher Seamos Cleary settled into a groove just as the Palau pitching went awry. American Samoa loaded the bases and kept them that way, taking a 4-2 lead to chase Reese Ramarui from the mound. Relief pitcher Ichiro Matsutaro walked in a handful of runs right afterward.
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American Samoa’s Chase Taylor delivered the coup de grace, taking Matsutaro’s 1-0 offering over the left field wall, scoring Kyle Coburn and giving his team the last runs they needed to end the game by mercy rule. Games are seven innings, but will end early if a team holds a 15-run lead after four innings, or 10-run lead after five innings.
Guam is one of five Oceania teams vying for an automatic berth in the World U18 Championships later this year.
Round robin play continues with games at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. through Friday, with playoffs on Saturday and the gold medal game at 5 pm. Sunday, Jan. 27
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This article originally appeared on Pacific Daily News: American Samoa routs Palau 13-2 in U18 Oceania baseball
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