Baseball: Gold medal for USA 18U team with 2-1 win over Japan
A group of Southern California high school baseball players will be returning with a gold medal after the USA 18U team defeated Japan, 2-1, in the championship game of the WBSC U-18 World Cup on Sunday in Japan.
Nick Pratto, a junior pitcher from Huntington Beach, was the winning pitcher after throwing 6 1/3 innings, striking out nine, walking one and allowing six hits. Pratto, a USC commit, was also named tournament MVP.
Blake Rutherford from Chaminade had one hit and scored one run in the championship game but also delivered a three-run home run earlier in the week to keep USA alive. He was named all-tournament.
It was quite a loud, energetic atmosphere beating the home team. Here’s a link to video highlights.
The players coming home with gold medals include Reggie Lawson from Victor Valley, Kevin Gowdy from Santa Barbara, Hagen Danner from Huntington Beach and Hunter Greene from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Cal State Northridge Coach Greg Moore was the pitching coach.
Now it’s back home, back to school and doing lots of homework for the players who have been on the road for more than two weeks.
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
