After seeing its first game get postponed because of rain, USA Baseball's 18-and-under team opened play at the IBAF 18U World Championships with a rout of the Netherlands. Team USA pounded out 16 hits, including six for extra bases, on the way to the 17-0 win.

"The first couple of innings was just everyone trying to get their feet wet," manager Scott Brosius said in a postgame release. "We've had two or three days off, and I think once they settled into the rhythm of the game they performed well."

Lefthander Garrett Williams (Calvary Baptist Academy, Shreveport, La.) got the start on the mound and pitched six shutout innings, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out nine.

"I really relied on my team with those ground ball outs," Williams said. "My command was off the first couple of innings, but I settled in and started pumping the strike zone and we came out with the victory."

Team USA first got on the board in the top of the second inning when Andy McGuire (Madison HS, Vienna, Va.) singled, advanced to second on a hit batter and scored on an infield single by Dom Nunez (Elk Grove, Calif., HS). After a scoreless third inning, the U.S. blew the doors open with at least one run in the next four innings. They scored two in the fourth when Nunez drove in McGuire for a second time and then scored on a double by Christian Arroyo (Hernando HS, Brooksville, Fla.). A four-run fifth and one-run sixth made it 8-0 before the offense erupted for nine runs in the seventh.

Arroyo finished the game 3-for-5 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored. McGuire went 1-for-2 with two walks and four runs scored while Jeremy Martinez (Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, Calif.) went 2-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored.

Next up for Team USA is Korea, the tournament host. That game will be played Sept. 1 at 2 p.m. local time (1 a.m. EST). Korea is also 1-0 after beating Venezuela 2-1.