Team China win several exhibition games
olympicbaseball June 29th, 2008
For New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) team at exhibition games with China Olympic Baseball Team, the result is not what they thought. Before excitement 917 fans who arrived at Rogers Park, Danbury Westerners lost by 6-19, and they are impressive by Team China.
Following the game, Westerner catcher Brad Pippa came away impressed with the offensive performance of Team China.
“They’re obviously a very good hitting team. They can jump on pitches if you make mistakes. They hit the ball hard all over the place.”
According to East Windup Chronicle:
Team China has been on an east coast tour, mostly playing teams from the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Yesterday the team beat the Danbury Westerners 19-6 and while the level of competition isn’t what it will face in the Olympics, everyone seems to think Jim LeFebvre’s squad is improving. The team pounded out 23 hits and five HRs in the game.
Later when they meet Holyoke Blue Sox, who lost 2-7 to Team USA before more than 3,600 fans on June 13, Team China won again.
It’s not often that Olympic level competition comes to Western Massachusetts.
But that was the case yesterday, as the Chinese national baseball team defeated the Holyoke Blue Sox 2-1 in an exhibition game at MacKenzie Field in Holyoke.
The Chinese took advantage of two early errors by Blue Sox left fielder Jonathan Ross to take a 2-0 first inning lead, with an RBI coming from Hou Fenglian and Wang Chao.
Lowell All-Americans lost too.
Lowell, MA- The Chinese National team visited Lowell Friday night to take on the All-Americans. It was all China in this one touching up starter Alex Szymanski (Franklin Pierce/Londonberry,NH) who allowed 4 runs off of 4 hits and a 2 run home run to begin the game. He would settle down not allowing another run until a solo shot off the bat of Zhang Yufeng making the score 5-0 in the fourth. China would not score again until a 2 run home run to right field in the 8th made it a 7-0 Chinese lead. China would tack on two more to make the final 9-0.
This was an exhibition game between the Chinese National team and the Lowell All-Americans, the Chinese team has been training in Arizona since April in preparation for this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing. The All-Americans were one of many stops this summer for the Chinese team as they played a full schedule of opponents in the NECBL.
Keene Swamp Bats can not win.
Chinese National Team Holds Off Swamp Bats, 9-7
2008 Beijing Summer Games hosts open 9-1 lead early, hold off late Keene chargeRINDGE, N.H. (June 25, 2008) – The National Baseball Team for the People’s Republic of China held off a late rally by the Keene Swamp Bats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) to post a 9-7 victory before 901 at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field on the campus of Franklin Pierce University tonight.
Centerfielder Sun Lingfeng (Beijing/Beijing Tigers), catcher Wang Wei (Beijing/AZL Mariners) and leftfielder Wang Chao (Tianjin/Tianjin Tigers) led a 16-hit attack for the Chinese National Team, which will represent the host country in the baseball tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing with three hits each. Lingfeng was 3-for-5 with a home run, while Wei hit 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a run scored and three RBI. Chao finished 3-for-5 with an RBI. Shortstop Zhang Yufeng (Shanghai/Shanghai Eagles) batted 2-for-5 with a double, RBI and run scored, while designated hitter Hou Fenglian (Tianjin/Tianjin Lions) scored three runs and stole four bases in the contest.
Righthander Li Chenhao (Beijing/Beijing Tigers) picked up the win on the mound, allowing two earned runs on five hits with a strikeout and walk over four innings. Righthander Chen Kun (Sichuan/Sichuan Dragons) pinned down the save with a scoreless and hitless ninth, working around a two-out walk.
John Barr (Ivylans, Pa./Virginia) led Keene’s nine-hit attack, hitting 2-for-3 with two triples and four RBI. Shortstop Chris Tremblay (Cranberry Township, Pa./Kent State) batted 2-for-4 with a double and run scored, while first baseman Paul Karmas (Douglaston, N.Y./Saint John’s) chipped in by going 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Lefthander Tom Cote (Swanzey, N.H./Franklin Pierce) took the loss, surrendering seven runs, six earned, on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks over 2.2 innings.
China jumped ahead as its first batter of the night, Lingfeng, laced a lead off homerun down the rightfield line. Fenglian followed with a walk, stole second and third before scoring on a wild pitch. The Swamp Bats got one of those runs back in the home half of the first as Tremblay led off with a double down the rightfield line and scored on a single to left by Karmas.
China added a single run in the second with an RBI single by Sun Wei (Beijing/Beijing Tigers), before breaking the game open with a four-run third to chase Cote. Wang Wei and Yufeng each posted RBI doubles, before Li Lei (Beijing/Beijing Tigers) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Chao notched an RBI single.
The teams traded single run innings through the middle frames, before Keene got back in the contest with a four-run seventh. A hit batter, walk and single loaded the bases for the Swamp Bats with one, before Barr cleared the bases with a triple down the rightfield line. Barr scored on a passed ball and Keene loaded the bases again, but stranded them all to end the rally.
Keene (9-6, 9-4 NECBL) is back in action tomorrow night when it hosts the Pittsfield (Mass.) Dukes in an NECBL interdivisional battle at Alumni Field in Keene at 7 p.m. The Chinese National Team is back in action on Friday, when it faces the Lowell (Mass.) All-Americans of the NECBL at 7 p.m.
Chinese National Team 9, Keene Swamp Bats 7
1-2-3 4-5-6 7-8-9 R-H-E
CHN 2-1-4 1-0-1 0-0-0 9-16-3
KNE 1-0-0 1-1-0 4-0-0 7-9-3CHN: Li Chenhao, Chen Junyi (5), Zhu Dawei (7), Li Weiliang (7), Guo Youhua (8), Chen Kun (9) and Wang Wei, Yang Yang (5).
KNE: Tom Cote, Sean Tierney (3), Adam Kolarek (7), Sean McDermott (8), Matt Jebb (9) and Franco Valdes.WP: Chenhao
LP: Cote
SV: KunHR: CHN – Lingfeng (solo in the 1st)
TOG: 3:05 ATT: 901
Torrington Twisters Strong but loss.
The Torrington Twisters played well, but did not have enough Saturday night against a tough Chinese Olympic team, losing 2-1 in an exhibition game at Fuessenich Park. Josh Zeid pitched well for Torrington, going eight innings. In those eight innings, Zeid gave up two runs on six hits, striking out seven while walking two. “Josh Zeid pitched a gem,” Twisters coach Gregg Hunt said.
Torrington got runners on base against five Chinese pitchers as they banged out five hits, reached base on two errors and drew four walks. The Twisters left 10 men on base, getting a run only on a fifth-inning sacrifice fly from first baseman Jaren Matthews. The run was unearned due to two errors by Team China in the inning. “We had guys on base,” Hunt said. “We had guys in scoring position all night, and we didn’t cash in.” Torrington had runners in scoring position in the first, second, third, fifth and sixth innings, but scored just the one run. “Fundamentally, (Team China is) very, very solid,” Hunt said.
Even when the Twisters hit the ball hard, a Chinese player was in position to make the play, something that is preached by the Chinese coaching staff. “You got to train smart,” coach Jim LeFebvre said. The players constantly communicate with one another, especially on any ball hit in the air. “We work a lot on that,” LeFebvre said. “Communication is very important. You’ve got to practice. Everything is important.”
With the talent level from the United States, Cuba, Japan, South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Canada expected to be high at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese will need to be on top of their game, LeFebvre said. “We’re just going to go out there and play hard and play the game right,” LeFebvre said.
Team China was able to get plenty out of its pitchers. Starter Wang Nan was solid in five innings, giving up the one unearned run on five hits. Nan struck out four and walked two. The star of the bullpen for China was Bu Tao. Tao started the eighth inning and proceeded to strike out all five batters he faced. “You got to work at your game,” LeFebvre said. “We do that everyday. The game is about defense. Pitching and defense.” Four Chinese relievers yielded just two walks and struck out seven batters in four innings of work. LeFebvre appreciated the experiences his team had in front of a big crowd at Fuessenich. “It’s the kind of game we need to play,” LeFebvre said of the one-run game. “We put a couple of guys in the game that we needed to get in the game.” Hunt also enjoyed the experience. “It’s fantastic,” Hunt said. “It’s a great honor to play them.”
Zeid called it an honor to pitch against the Chinese Olympic team and said that the hitters were tough, fouling off many pitches and refusing to strike out. China scored a run in the third on a two-out, run-scoring double by Feng Fei. Team China added one more in the fourth on a sacrifice fly to deep center field by Li Lei.
Newport Gulls did win.
Jared Prince, normally an outfielder, pitched two scoreless innings of relief to lead Newport to a 4-2 victory over the Chinese National team in an exhibition game Sunday.
The game was the last of six exhibition games the Chinese team played against New England Collegiate Baseball League competition. The team will serve as the host squad this summer at the Beijing Olympics.
In his two innings of work, Prince struck out three batters. Reliever Chase Reid struck out the side in the top of the ninth to preserve the victory and earn the save.
A two-run fourth inning keyed the win for Newport. Mike Melillo scored on a single by Mike Tamsin, and then Kyle Socorro brought in Kyle Conley with an RBI single. Melillo later drove in Kyle Rhoad ? who scored twice for Newport ? with a sacrifice fly.
China scored its first run in the top of the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Wang Chao that drove in Sun Lingfeng. Li Lei scored the team?s other run on a double-play grounder in the top of the seventh.
So maybe host China could have a chance to win one or two games at 2008 Olympics.
The Schedule of China vs NECBL is: 19 CHINA @ Danbury Westerners 16-9 21 CHINA @ Torrington Twisters 2-1 23 CHINA @ Holyoke Blue Sox (POSTPONED) 25 CHINA @ Keene Swamp Bats 9-7 27 CHINA @ Lowell All-Americans 9-0 28 CHINA @ Holyoke Blue Sox 11:30am 2-1 29 CHINA @ Newport Gulls 2-4
