By John Manuel

August 11, 2000

Mark Teixeira Photo: Larry Goren

Team USA's summer of dominance knows no boundaries.

The summer college national team coached by Southern California's Mike Gillespie rolled its unbeaten streak to 19 games Thursday with its most impressive victory of the summer. Playing in the Honkbal Baseball Week tournament in Haarlem, The Netherlands, Team USA rode seven three-hit innings by Middle Tennessee State righthander Dewon Brazelton and five RBIs by Long Beach State's Bobby Crosby to defeat Cuba 9-1.

Team USA has now run its record to 25-3-1, the last loss coming in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of South Korea on July 5. After that game, Gillespie had a 30-minute closed-door meeting with his charges, who haven't lost since. The only blemish on the record since then was a 12-inning, 2-2 tie against the Cape Cod League all-stars on July 29.

While this wasn't Cuba's Olympic team--only one member of Cuba's starting lineup, catcher Roger Machado, played in the Pan American Games in Winnipeg last summer--any win against the Cubans in international play is significant. USA Baseball scored a win against Cuba with its pro team in Winnipeg last summer, but lost to Cuba in the Pan Am gold-medal game.

The win ran Team USA's mark to 3-0 in the Honkball tournament, leaving the United States and the Pat Murphy-coached host, The Netherlands, as the tournament's two unbeatens in round-robin play. Murphy's Dutch were scheduled to play Cuba on Friday, with the U.S. getting the winner in Saturday's semifinal. The tournament championship is scheduled for Monday.

In Thursday's win, Brazelton gave up one run in seven innings, striking out six while walking four. He leads Team USA in victories this summer and is now 6-0, 0.52 with seven walks and 43 strikeouts in 34 innings. He's allowed just 24 hits.

Georgia Tech third baseman Mark Teixeira, the College Player of the Year, has been the team's best hitter all summer and continued his torrid pace with two hits and two RBIs against Cuba. Teixeira, who leads the team in RBIs, was second in both home runs and average, has a 21-game hitting streak and was hitting .370-4-22 in 108 at-bats.

Teixeira had plenty of help Thursday as Team USA banged out 121 hits. Leadoff man Chris Burke (Tennessee), also enjoying an excellent summer and the team's leading hitter, went 3-for-3 with a pair of walks in five plate appearances. Burke is hitting .373-0-7 with a team-best 19 stolen bases.

He led off the game with a single to start a four-run first as Team USA sent nine men to the plate, scored three runs and had two of Team USA's four stolen bases. Crosby capped the team's fast start with a three-run homer in the third to give the Americans an 8-0 lead against Cuban starter Ernesto Guevara. Crosby ranked second on the team with 20 RBIs, passing the slumping Tim Merritt (South Alabama), who was stuck on 19.

Team USA is 4-0 in the Honkball tournament, which was billed as an Olympic tuneup but has not lived up to that billing. Japan and Cuba did not send teams representative of the clubs that will line up in Sydney's Olympics next month, leaving Team USA's confident collegians as the clear favorite.

In its other wins in Holland, Team USA beat Taiwain 10-4 behind a home run and three RBIs by Tulane DH Jake Gautreau. Stetson lefthander Lenny DiNardo moved to 5-0 but gave up four runs in six innings, by far his worst outing of the summer. DiNardo has a 1.82 ERA in 29 2/3 innings and has given up 23 hits and 12 walks while striking out 35.

Team USA needed three runs in the top of the ninth to beat Italy 5-2 as Clemson's Patrick Boyd and Oklahoma State's Ryan Budde knocked in the ninth-inning runs. Italy's team was more representative of its Olympic club, featuring former minor leaguers such as pitchers Jason Simontacchi and Marco Carbone, former Mariners farmhand Claudio Liverziani, and former minor leaguer and University of North Carolina catcher Chris Madonna.

The Americans' other win came in an 8-0 rout of a Japanese team nowhere close to its Olympic team in talent. According to a USA Baseball spokesman, the Japan entry in the Honkball tournament was a regional amateur league champion, akin to the U.S. sending the winner of the NBC World Series to Holland.

Georgia Tech second baseman Richard Lewis went 3-for-3 with two RBIs against Japan to lead Team USA's nine-hit attack, while four American pitchers held Japan to one hit. Southern California righthander Mark Prior went six innings to get the win, striking out six, walking one and giving up one hit. One of the relievers was Miami's rising sophomore righthander Kiki Bengochea, who continued to have a dominant summer. Bengochea was 3-0 and had not given up any runs in 19 innings. He's allowed just seven hits and six walks while striking out 20 in 13 games (one start).

Southern California righthander Anthony Reyes is scheduled to start Saturday's semifinal for Team USA.