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A couple of months to remember for WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup alum Rori Sasaki

A couple of months to remember for WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup alum Rori Sasaki
13/05/2022
The 20-year-old Chiba Lotte Marines right-hander earned the NPB pitcher of the month award.

It's been a couple of months to remember for WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup alumnus Rori Sasaki, to say the least.

On 10 April, the 20-year-old right-hander, the number one overall pick in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) draft 2019, pitched the 16th perfect game in NPB history and tied the NPB record for total strikeouts in one game (19). He also set a new record for consecutive strikeouts (13), beating the standing Major League Baseball (MLB) record (11) as well.

On 17 April, Sasaki pitched eight perfect innings before the Chiba Lotte Marines manager Tadahito Iguchi took him out of the game. Sasaki established the new NPB record, having retired 52 consecutive batters.

He allowed a hit on the first pitch he threw in his next game, on 24 April.

Sasaki has a 6-3 record in the 2022 season. He struck out 71 in 42 innings, allowing only seven earned runs for a 1.50 earned run average.

In the 2019 U-18 Baseball World Cup, Sakaki made one appearance, starting against rival Korea, and only pitched one inning.

The WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup has consistently featured players who have gone on to become superstars. The next time the elite international tournament is to be played is 9-18 September in Sarasota and Bradenton, Florida, USA.