Team USA breaks out the lumber
Snyder, LaHair, Wood homer in 23-0 rout of Guatemala
By Jim Street / MLB.com

PHOENIX -- Right-hander Chris Lambert didn't intend to save his best for last in Arizona, but that's the way it worked out.
Lambert, drafted in the first round by the Cardinals in 2004, ended his '05 season Tuesday afternoon with five shutout innings as Team USA opened the Regional Olympic Qualifying tournament with a resounding 23-0 rout of Guatemala at the Maryvale Baseball Field.

The game was shortened to seven innings because of the 10-run rule. Team USA scored four runs in the first inning, then piled it on with a six-run fourth and an eight-run outburst in the seventh.

mlb.com

A lot of the guys from the AFL are showing up here, although most of the AFL pitchers have gone home.

PHOENIX -- Many of the players on Team USA spent the better part of the last three days insisting that their game against Mexico would be no different than their contests against the other four teams in this week's CONCEBE Regional Olympic Qualifier.
Yet Wednesday afternoon's affair at Phoenix Municipal Stadium proved to be a tense, emotional contest that wasn't decided until the final pitch.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Team USA to a 5-4 victory over its neighbors to the south, providing a measure of vindication in the process. It was Team Mexico that defeated the United States in 2003, dashing the Americans' hopes of repeating as the Olympic gold medalists.

Now, Team USA, having defeated its nemesis, joins Canada as the only other unbeaten team left in the tournament. The Americans will face Nicaragua (1-1), which defeated Panama, on Thursday at Maryvale and are in good position to run the table before meeting Canada in a final-game showdown on Saturday.
...
Rest of the wrap up at this link.

U.S. edges Mexico in thriller

box score - US Edges Mexico 5-4

Harris, hustle carry Team USA

Americans remain unbeaten with 7-4 win over Nicaragua

Hustle, power and a second chance has Team USA standing on Havana's doorstep.
Those were the primary ingredients for the unbeaten Americans (3-0) on Thursday afternoon as they overcame a one-run deficit in the sixth inning and defeated Nicaragua, 7-4, in the CONCEBE Regional Olympic Qualifier tournament.

Third baseman Brendan Harris (Nationals) put Team USA ahead with a two-out, two-run home run -- an at-bat made possible because of the way Brad Snyder (Indians) hustled to first base to avoid what would have been an inning-ending double play.

box

Unbeaten U.S. takes down Panama - Shealy's near-cycle, Salty's two homers lead 9-3 rout.

MESA, Ariz. -- With the primary mission already accomplished, Team USA continued its run-the-table ambition Friday afternoon in the next-to-last day of the CONCEBE Regional Olympic Qualifier at HoHoKam Park.
The unbeaten Americans (4-0) rode first baseman Ryan Shealy's near-cycle and a pair of solo home runs by catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia to defeat Panama, 9-3, leaving them a win over Canada (3-1) Saturday afternoon in Phoenix from a clean sweep in this six-team round-robin tournament.

The USA team beat Canada today (5-2) to extend their unbeaten streak, and completing the qualifyin grounds with a perfect record 5-0.

box

The wrap was not up yet, but it will be here shortly.
wrap