22/02/2020 - 01/03/2020

#U18SoftballMWC  

Hosted by:   NZL

U-18 Men's Softball World Cup 2020 - Official Payoff

Singapore 8-3 Argentina: Singapore start tournament with shock win

Singapore 8-3 Argentina: Singapore start tournament with shock win
22/02/2020
World No. 17 Singapore stunned No. 2 Argentina in Palmerston North, New Zealand for a historic opening match win to start their U-18 Softball Men’s World Cup campaign.

World No. 17 Singapore pulled off on one of the biggest upsets in international junior softball by beating Argentina, ranked second in the world, 8-3 on the opening day's play.

Singapore had only won once in their previous two appearances (in 2012 and 2014) in this age group, heading into the game with a 1:15 win:loss record. While Argentina are two-time champions in 2012 and 2014.

In 2012 Singapore finished the WBSC Jr. Men's Softball World Championship with a 1:5 win:loss record after beating Denmark 3-1 while in 2014, they ended with a 0:10 record.

Despite the best efforts from the grey shirts, Singapore’s lead proved to be too much for a comeback to happen.

It wasn’t until the third innings when Ean Eu hit a single RBI through the middle to finally put Singapore on the scoreboard with Max Ko getting home, before Naim Brahin answered back with his own to left field for Lautaro Garcia to score for Argentina and tie the game at 1-1.

Zu Ray Low scores off an error on the top of the 5th to start a scoring run. Eu and Rishon Toh hit triples to spark a 7-run barrage for Singapore.

Mohammad Huzaifie Bin Mohammad Noorham got home on a fielding error in the top of the fifth to start a Singaporean scoring spree. Zu Ray Low, Ignatius Ong, Eu, Audric Chia, Nathanael Wee and Rishon Toh all scored with Eu and Toh both hitting triples to put Singapore up 8-1 after a seven-run barrage.

Argentina answered with Garcia and Luciano Biondi scoring in the bottom of the fifth to pull within five at 8-3, but Singapore pitcher Mathew Tan got his mojo back and gave up only one more hit in the bottom of the seventh to seal an historic win.

Tan pitched all 7 innings for Singapore, tallying 3 hits and 3 runs with 9 strikeouts, while Franco Saenz led the way for Argentina in 4 innings (5 H, 5 R, 8 SO).

Singapore best finish from two previous Junior’s Men’s Softball World Championship appearances was 10th in 2014. All eyes will now be on them to see if they can better that.

Singapore will open Day 2 at the Colquhoun Park on Sunday against Canada at 12:00 local time, while Argentina will try to get a tick in the winning column against Australia at 17:00.