Plouffe, Team USA take Cup Gold

Red Wings shortstop Trevor Plouffe and Team USA won the 2009 IBAF Baseball World Cup gold medal on Sept. 27, defeating Cuba 10-5 in Nettuno, Italy. Former Red Wing Terry Tiffee was also a part of the American team.

Plouffe was involved in a key moment in the six-run seventh inning that broke open a 4-4 game. Plouffe's broken bat infield single with two outs was later changed to an infield error, but Tug Hulett scored on the play. Tiffee finished the game with two hits, two runs scored and an RBI.

Other Red Wings connections in the World Cup win: Hulett, son of former big league infielder and 1989-90 Wings player Tim Hulett, hit a key home run in the fifth inning to put the US ahead 4-2. Pitcher Brian Duensing, who has pitched for both Rochester and Minnesota this season, was the starter in 2007 gold medal game when Team USA beat Cuba.

Other Minnesota Twins organization players in the competition include INF Luke Hughes for Australia; OF Rene Tosoni for Canada, and RHP Loek Van Mil for the Netherlands. Hughes began the 2009 season with Rochester before missing time on the disabled list, and finished the season at Double-A New Britain. Tosoni and Van Mil played at New Britain, and figure in the Red Wings' plans for the 2010 season.

Quick Links:
Replay the game by clicking on the game tracker symbol on the schedule page of BaseballEurope.com.

Official Tournament Website |
Team USA Website: USABaseball.com
Trevor Plouffe's player page | Rene Tosoni's player page
Luke Hughes' player page | Loek Van Mil's player page