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Arrieta leads Team USA to victory
Jake Arrieta has pitched lights out for Team USA this summer, going 4-0 with a 0.27 ERA. Arrieta has struck out 34 batters in 33.2 innings pitched. Photo Courtesy of TCU Athletics
By KEVIN HAGELAND Staff Writer
Lead Division I in wins? Check. Get named to the all-American team? Check. Earn a spot on the USA Baseball National Team? Check. Lead that squad to a World Championship in Cuba? Check, well almost.
For Plano East graduate Jake Arrieta, his sophomore season at TCU this spring may have been exciting, but the summer is turning into one of the most fulfilling of his life.
"My experience with Team USA thus far has been a very good one. It has been extremely beneficial to me in many different ways,” Arrieta said. “I have had the honor of being on such an elite team with 21 other exceptional players. Meeting new people and visiting new places are two things that I enjoy very much, and being able to do that with Team USA has been great."
After winning two more exhibition games before the tournament started, Team USA had an auspicious debut in the championships Aug. 8 by defeating the U.S. Virgin Islands 4-0. The squad followed that up the next day with a 15-0 thrashing of Puerto Rico.
Arrieta didn’t get to pitch in either of those contests, but took the mound Aug. 9 when the U.S. faced the Czech Republic in the third contest of the competition. For Team USA it was the second game of the day, but the offense certainly didn’t show any fatigue.
The U.S. scored three runs in the top of the third inning and followed that up with a four-spot in the next inning to give the club a 7-0 advantage. That would be more offense than Arrieta needed as he shutdown the Czechs for five innings.
In fact, with a 7-0 lead, Arrieta had yet to surrender a single hit heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. However, that inning Ondfej Navrkal got the lone Czech hit of the day.
Arrieta pitched five innings, giving up one hit, three walks and no runs, while striking out nine batters in the win. Team USA would tack on another nine runs in the subsequent innings, as the club was victorious 16-0.
With the win, the U.S. improved to 3-0 in the tournament, outscoring its opponents by a total of 35 runs. Arrieta had been equally impressive up to that point as well. In 29 summer innings, Arrieta was undefeated and had yet to allow an earned run.
“I think everyone out here is impressed by what Jake has done,” TCU Head Coach and Team USA Assistant Jim Schlossnagle said. “I know that Jake is proud to be representing TCU and our country.”
Although Arrieta would not return to the mound for several days, Team USA continued to roll through the tournament and its competition. The squad improved to 4-0 in the World Championships Aug. 10 after a 12-5 victory over Mexico. Despite it being the fourth game for the Americans, it was the first in which they gave up a run.
The U.S. took on Chinese Taipei one day later, and continued on its roll. Team USA won 12-1 to advance to the elimination rounds. After a day off, the Americans faced Nicaragua Aug. 13 in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Although level of competition increased, the U.S. still managed to win its sixth straight game of the World Championships, this time 7-0, to advance to the semifinals. And it was in that game, that Arrieta would take the mound for one last time this summer.
He would be the starter Aug. 14 as Team USA took on Japan at Hernandez Stadium in Havana, Cuba with a berth in the finals of the tournament on the line.
Arrieta followed a path similar to that of his previous start, not allowing a hit through the first four innings. During that time, the U.S. had built a 2-0 cushion an appeared ready to cruise into the finals, but that is where the trouble began.
Hidetoshi Tsuburaya walked to lead Japan’s half of the inning and then moved to second on a chopper to the catcher. With one out, Daisuke Tanaka broke up Arrieta’s no-hit bid with a single up the middle that advanced Tsuburaya to third. He then scored on a grounder to second by Noriharu Yamazaki that cut the Japanese deficit to 2-1.
Despite giving up his first run of the summer, Arrieta and Team USA escaped the frame without any further damage. That would be all the scoring Japan would do in the game as well, as the Americans went on to win 5-1.
With the victory, Team USA advanced to the finals of the World Championships, where they will take on Chinese Tapei, who the U.S. had previously beaten, 12-1, in the tournament.
The Americans are looking to defend the gold medal they won at the 2004 World Championships in Taiwan. Thus far this summer, the team is 32-3-2 during its exhibition and tournament schedule.
Arrieta will not be available to pitch in the championship game, but the former Panther has put up impressive numbers this summer. In six starts with Team USA, Arrieta is 4-0 with a microscopic 0.27 ERA. Arrieta gave up just one earned run and struck out 34 batters in 33.2 innings pitched.
"It's hard to put into words how much it means to me, and how honored I feel to be a part of this team,” Arrieta said. “Wearing the USA uniform makes me feel like I am out there to prove to the world that USA baseball is above and beyond the competition.”
Regardless of if Team USA can win the championship game, Arrieta will return for his junior season at TCU with plenty of successful international experience, a characteristic that will no doubt endear Arrieta to professional scouts.
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