Nick came in to pitch the bottom of the 6th inning to halt any further damage. It was a 3 up 3 down inning but the damage had been done. Puerto Rico was just way to powerful on this night.
Gurabo, Puerto Rico, pitcher Daniel Concepcion is glad he got to watch the Lafayette All-Stars defeat Pharr, Texas, on Saturday in Colt World Series opening-night action.
Impressed with coach Dave Alexander's team, Concepcion pitched a a complete-game four-hitter Sunday night in an 8-1 pool-play victory in which he struck out nine and walked none.
Lafayette's Austin Kiracofe was safe on a two-base error to begin the top of the first inning and scored seconds later on Zion Bell's sharp single to center.
Thereafter, Lafayette had only one runner reach second base, and Puerto Rico pulled away with a five-run fourth and a three-run fifth.
Puerto Rico is 2-0 in the Red Division and has outscored the Czech Republic and Lafayette by a combined 26-2.
Puerto Rico will clinch the Red Division's No. 1 seed if it defeats Pharr, Texas, on Tuesday night.
"The start doesn't matter," Concepcion said of trailing 1-0 into the bottom of the fourth. "No matter how the game starts, I will keep doing my job. I always pitch like the game is 0-0. I bring all my stuff, no matter what.
"I know that every day is not going to be my best, but I know that I need to stay in the game. That's what I did tonight. No walks also is very important. That's the name of the game. If I throw strikes, I know I will get outs."
Lafayette starter Nick Moody walked none and allowed only three hits before being chased in Puerto Rico's five-run fourth, which included a two-run double from Jean Rodriguez and a two-run triple from Christian Rivera.
Moody walked two of the first three he faced in the pivotal fourth inning, when he couldn't find the plate.
"They're not intimidating, but they are very good," Moody said. "You have to hit your spots against them, and if you don't, they're going to hit it.
"They did that. They are a good hitting team, and I didn't hit my spots in the fourth inning. They took advantage of it, which is the sign of a good club. Early, I was real confident, but that (fourth) inning got to me."
Moody is encouraged by the fact that if Lafayette defeats the Czech Republic on Tuesday night, it has an excellent opportunity to advance to the medal round for a second consecutive year."We're not out of this," Moody said. "We can come out strong and beat the Czech Republic. Then, if we win another game, we're in the championship. I think we can do it."
Lafayette manager Dave Alexander liked what he saw for three innings.
"Nick really threw very well," Alexander said. "I thought he got tentative when a guy got on base instead of pitching the way he was. And then we don't turn a double play in that fourth inning.
"We're out of the inning if we turn the double play. Then, things just went to heck. Their hitters are good."
Alexander didn't like his team's approach against Concepcion.
"We looked at way too many strikes," Alexander said. "It happens. We just didn't play well tonight. But we've got a chance to get back to the medal round."
Puerto Rico manager Julio Campos was confident his team eventually would get to Moody.
"It was like how we have been doing it every day," Campos said. "If we get (behind), our kids know how to make adjustments in each inning and on each pitch. They do those adjustments when we need it.
"Lafayette has a pretty good club. I admire them a lot. Their pitchers do their jobs. (Moody) held us for a long time, but we started hitting after while."
Concepcion was excited to pitch in front of a Loeb Stadium crowd of 2,137.
"I respect Lafayette a lot," Concepcion said. "I saw their game Saturday night against Texas, and they played a really nice game.
"I know that Texas always brings good teams to these tournaments. For me, this was pretty special. I respect the Lafayette crowd. They were pretty good, too."
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