High School

Collection of extra base hits, CJ Sampson’s strong outing guide USA Baseball U-18 National Team to win over China

Team USA is now 4-0 in World Cup pool play

Kevin L. Smith

Coleman Borthwick, pictured here competing for the South Walton varsity baseball team (Florida), had an RBI double in Team USA's 10-0 win over China on Monday morning at the WBSC U-18 World Cup at Okinawa Cellular Stadium in Japan
Coleman Borthwick, pictured here competing for the South Walton varsity baseball team (Florida), had an RBI double in Team USA's 10-0 win over China on Monday morning at the WBSC U-18 World Cup at Okinawa Cellular Stadium in Japan / Gregg Pachkowski / gregg@pnj.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

CJ Sampson of Tomball High School (Texas) pitched five scoreless innings, and timely extra-base hits carried Team USA to a 10-0 win over China on Monday morning at the WBSC U-18 World Cup at Okinawa Cellular Stadium in Japan.

The Americans are now 4-0 as they lead the Group B standings. USA and China, at the U-18 level, squared off for the first time since 2000.

Sampson tossed 58 pitches, 48 of them strikes, and threw an immaculate inning in the second. 

With Sampson’s shutout performance, the trend of strong outings by Team USA pitchers continues. USA’s squad currently has a tournament-leading earned-run average of 0.27, a combined 0.62 WHIP, a .128 batting average-against and 35 strikeouts.

USA pitchers also have only allowed one run through 26 innings of work.

Team USA collected its fair share of big hits against China. The Americans led 4-0 after the first inning, and went up 8-0 in the fourth.

Five different players had two hits apiece in the victory. Aiden Ruiz of The Stony Brook School (New York) singled and scored and Will Brick of Christian Brothers High School (Tennessee) hit a two-run triple. Coleman Borthwick of South Walton (Florida), Jacob Lombard of Gulliver Schools (Florida) and Anthony Murphy of Corona (California) each provided RBI doubles for the Americans.

Brick now has a tournament-leading 1.768 OPS, Ruiz recorded his third multi-hit game at the World Cup.

Team USA concludes pool play against Australia on Tuesday morning at Okinawa Cellular Stadium. The first pitch is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. JST/9:30 p.m. ET (Sept. 8).

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Kevin L. Smith
KEVIN L. SMITH

Kevin L. Smith, a Rochester (NY) native and a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, has been covering high school sports for over a decade. He started out as a freelance sportswriter in 2013. Since then, he’s held sportswriter and editor positions for newspapers in Coudersport (PA), Sayre (PA) and Oswego (NY). Smith currently covers high school sports in the Greater Syracuse Area for syracuse.com | Post-Standard, a position he’s held since 2021. You can follow him on social media @KevLSmittie. Story ideas can be sent to KLSFreelancing@outlook.com.

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