Puerto Rico poised for USSSA sweep

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CRYSTAL LAKE – Five runs in the second inning put Puerto Rico in control.

Five more in the second proved more than the Upper Deck Cougars could overcome.

The team from Toa Baja ripped14 hits and rolled to a 13-5 win Friday night at Lippold Park in the winners’ bracket final at the USSSA Open Summer National Championships 15-year-olds championship tournament.

Puerto Rico now can sweep all three tournaments – 9-, 11- and 15-year-olds – organized by the McHenry County Youth Sports Association, this weekend at Lippold.

Puerto Rico’s 9-year-old team faces the Plainfield Force, which it beat,14-10, on Friday, in today’s 4:30 p.m. title game. The Force must beat the Cardenales twice.

In the 11-year-olds tournament, the Puerto Rico Apaches will play the winner between the Plainfield Warriors and Olympic Blazers in a 7 p.m. game. The Warriors-Blazers winner also must beat the Apaches twice.

The Puerto Rico 15-year-olds earned a day off and will face the winner from the losers’ bracket at noon Sunday in the championship. Five teams will fight through today for that honor, three of which (Upper Deck (Gunkel), Japan and Top Tier) lost to Puerto Rico in the championship bracket.

Puerto Rico’s 15-year-old team has played together this entire season, assistant coach Omar Rosado said.

“We got more confident with our approach on the ball and continued hitting,” second baseman Michael Mulero said. “We’re waiting for [a Puerto Rico sweep], and thank God for where we’re at.”