Dripping Springs’ Cooper Rummel, who has been a starting pitcher for the Dripping Springs High Shool Tigers, came from the bullpen to pitch for Team USA and retired three Panama batters on just seven pitches in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Under 18, Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier on Aug. 11.
It was the seventh consecutive World Cup Qualifier title for the United States. With the bases loaded, Team USA ended a 2-2 tie in the top of the sixth inning in the gold medal game against Panama by scoring two runs. Panama was kept scoreless in the bottom of the sixth and the score remained 4-2 in favor of the U.S. going into the bottom of the seventh.
Rummel started with a strike on the first batter, fielded a grounder back to the mound on his second pitch and made an easy toss to first base for the first out. The second out was made with a pop up to second base on his third pitch. His fourth pitch, a fastball was in there for a strike on Panama’s third batter and possibly their last hope. The count went to one and one with his fifth pitch just out of the zone. The count went to 2-1 and Rummel’s seventh pitch of the inning ended the game with a pop up to the shortstop earning him the save and Team USA the gold medal.
“I’m usually a starter who will go five or six innings, but I think USA needed me to be a guy who comes in, throws strikes and gets outs as a closer type,” Rummel said.
When asked about how he calmed the butterflies coming in relief in such a big game, “Well, I’m a pretty calm dude, but if my butterflies get rambunctious, I calm those down during my preparation. I’m very intent and deliberate in my warmups,” Rummel said. “I worked really hard to get to that point and had a solid routine, so when the time came to actually perform, I wasn’t too worried. I knew I had it under control.”
Rummel got the win against Venezuela and earned two saves in the series with an 0.00 ERA. In four innings on the mound for Team USA he gave up one hit, walked one, had five strikeouts and induced seven groundouts. Team USA went 8-0 in the tournament from Aug. 2-11 in Panama City, with wins over Costa Rica (18-0), Puerto Rico (7-3 and 6-3 in the semifinal), Venezuela (6-0), Brazil (11-1), Panama (5-0) and Mexico (1-0) before the 4-2 win over Panama.
“The most important thing was from the coaches and not the other pitchers – it was in my approach and how to be effective on the mound – get to two strikes as quickly as you can, don’t flirt with the corners, be nasty in the zone and attack hitters,” Rummel said.
With the win, Team USA secures a spot in the WBSC U18 Baseball World Cup in 2025 along with Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico.
Rummel finished the season for the Tigers with a .865 ERA, a 9-1 record, pitched 56.2 innings with 88 strikeouts and only gave up 24 hits, and was named the 6A District 26 Pitcher of the Year.
Dripping Springs head baseball coach Chris Payne said the hard work Rummel has put in is evident in making the Team USA roster and he expects him to step into a leadership role as a senior and be the Tigers' number one this year. He has verbally committed to attend The University of Texas at Austin and said he’ll sign a letter of intent this fall to play baseball for the Longhorns: “It’s almost like a tradition, my mom, my sisters and aunt and uncle went to UT, so I’ve had a lot of family members go there,” Rummel said.
When asked about any pre-game rituals, Rummel said, “I can’t say I’m super superstitious, but I will say as far as preparation goes, I always make sure I’m wearing underwear that fits.”
