Defending titlist wins its opener Martis paces Curacao with five-hit shutout

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BANGOR – For the Senior League baseball team from Willemstad, Curacao, getting an early win in the Senior League World Series was important.

It was something the Latin America representative couldn’t do in last year’s tournament.

But the defending World Series champions made a big statement Monday afternoon at Mansfield Stadium.

Shairon Martis threw a complete-game five-hitter without giving up a walk, and Curacao used its team speed to manufacture runs en route to a 10-0 victory in a Pool B matchup against Southwest entry Brenham, Texas.

The game lasted just 1 hour and 33 minutes because of the 10-run mercy rule. Curt Smith, who was 2-for-4, hit a long single to left that drove in the final run of the game.

Curacao didn’t exactly pound the ball – the Latin Americans had nine hits overall – but used sacrifices and smart baserunning to produce offense.

“We run the bases aggressive, and that’s good,” Smith said.

Curacao also took advantage of some Texas errors. A sixth-inning miscue with the bases loaded brought in two runs.

Martis, who hit three singles, scored two runs and had an RBI, was throwing in the mid- and high 80s, and mixed up a fastball and a curveball. He had seven strikeouts.

“I’m happy with it,” he said.

Martis gave up a hit to the first batter of the game, who was promptly forced out at second. He set down eight straight after that, including five strikeouts.

Texas’ Blake Schwarze got six straight outs to open the game, but gave up a leadoff walk in the third and struggled after that. Curacao scored three runs in the third, three in the fourth, and four in the final two innings.

“We were trying to stay away from the fastball but they figured him out and scored a couple of runs quick,” said Texas East coach Lloyd Schwarze. “When you can do that it doesn’t take many hits.”

The Southwest team, which is made up of players from Washington County Little League, managed to get just two runners to second base but no one to third. Michael Kramer doubled in the fifth and Jon Schwarze hit another in the sixth.

“[Martis] didn’t give us any opportunity to score runs,” Lloyd Schwarze said.

LATIN AMERICA 10, U.S. SOUTHWEST 0

Texas East (1-1) Curacao (1-0)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Faubion, 2b 3 0 1 0 Paulina, cf 3 2 2

B. Schwarze, p 2 0 1 0 Dos Passos, rf 2 0

Kankel, p 1 0 1 0 b-Rojer 0 1 0 0

Price, ss 3 0 0 0 Servania, rf 0 1 0

Crowson, c 2 0 0 0 Schoop, ss 4 0 2

J. Schwarze, 1b 2 0 1 0 Smith, 3b 4 1

Ebert, 3b 2 0 0 0 Bonevacia, 1b 3 0 1

Kramer, cf 2 0 1 0 Carolus, 2b 2 1 0

Mangan, lf 2 0 0 0 c-R. Martis 1 0 0

Steele, rf 1 0 0 0 Mauricio, 2b 0 0 0

d-Groover 1 0 0 0 Jansen, c 1 2 1

a-Mariano 1 0 0 0

Cijntje, lf 2 0 0 0

S. Martis, p 3 2 3 1

Totals 21 0 5 0 Totals 26 10 9 8

a-ran for Jansen in 3rd, reached on an error for Carolus in fourth; b-walked for Dos Passos in 5th; c-struck out for Carolus in 5th; d-struck out for Steele in 6th

Texas East 000 000 ? 0

Curacao 003 313 ? 10

One out when winning run scored

E?Kankel, Price, Mangan; LOB?Texas East 3, Curacao 5; 2B?Kankel, Kramer; Paulina, Schoop, S. Martis; DP?Schoop-Carolus-Bonevacia; S?Cijntje; SB?Smith

Texas East IP H R ER BB SO

B. Schwarze (L, 0-1) 4 1/3 7 7 6 2 3

Kankel 1 2 3 3 1 2

Curacao IP H R ER BB SO

S. Martis (W, 1-0) 6 5 0 0 0 7

HBP?Paulina by Kankel; WP?B. Schwarze; T?1:33; ATT?240