Cuba and Japan played sensational Baseball5 on a riveting opening day of Super Round action on Friday to book their spots in Saturday’s WBSC Baseball5 World Cup final.
After a superb morning session where Cuba beat Tunisia 2-0 (10-1, 11-1), the tournament favourites beat Venezuela in the afternoon 2-0 (8-0, 11-0) to stay unbeaten in the tournament.
Japan, meanwhile,
moved into second place after beating Chinese Taipei 2-1 (4-2, 4-6*, 5-4) in a
three-match *extra inning thriller following a 2-0 (1-0, 6-1) win over Venezuela
in the morning.
Cuba lead the Super Round Standings with a 4-0 win-loss record followed by Japan (3-1), Venezuela (2-2), Chinese Taipei (2-2), Mexico (1-3), Tunisia (0-4).
In the Placement Round, Korea beat Lithuania 2-1 (5-0, 0-2, 6-5), Kenya defeated Hong Kong 2-1 (3-2, 3-5, 7-6) after an extra inning and South Africa beat France 2-0 (2-0, 6-1).
Current Placement Round Standings are: South Africa (4-0), Kenya (3-1), France (2-2), Korea (2-2), Lithuania (1-3), Hong Kong (0-4).
Saturday is the final day of the WBSC Baseball5 World Cup with the last Super Round games in the morning session followed by the bronze medal game and the World Championship final at 5pm and 7pm respectively.
Cuba v Venezuela 2-0 (8-0, 11-0)
In the
first game of the afternoon session and what many thought was going to be a
preview of the final, Cuba proved too good for Venezuela opening a blistering
6-0 lead after the first inning –Briandy Molina (both twice), Orlando Amador, Chaquira
Azpiazu, Eliani Castellanos and Roivelis Nunez all scoring.
Briandy made
it home after a misthrow to increase the lead to 7-0 after two innings before
things went from bad to worse for Venezuela in the bottom of the fourth when
they tried a triple play, missed all three while Pither Giménez suffered an
injury and had to be subbed when trying to tag Amador out at home plate.
The 8-0 score
line stayed the same until the end of the first match.
In the second game, with Giménez back in the game, it was similar music from Cuba, racing to a 6-0 lead thanks to Amador and Briandy scoring twice in the first inning. Amador and Briandy scored again in the second along with Nuez to make it 9-0 before it was another Amador and Briandy show in the third, making it 11-0 and game over.
Japan v Chinese Taipei 2-1 (4-2, 4-6*, 5-4)
In a repeat
of the Asia Cup final - which Chinese Taipei won - this match up was effectively
a semi-final with both teams boasting a 2-1 win-loss record, the winner booking
a spot in the final.
Yu-Hao Tu
opened the scoring for Chinse Taipei in the first inning before Japan
immediately replied with Takuya Shima, Shun Mikami and Ayako Rokkaku all
scoring for Japan to lead 3-1 after the first. Rokkaku scored again in the
second before Chun Chiu replied at the top of the fifth to make it 4-2 but a
great catch from Miwa Tanaka closed the innings and the first match at 4-2.
The second
match started the same as the first. Tu scoring first for Chinese Taipei before
Mikami scored and Rokkaku was played in Ayano Kazuta to give Japan the lead 2-1
at the end of the first. Takeru Miyanohara scored for Japan in the second to
make it 3-1 before Chi-Ting-Hua Shih brought home Chi Lin and Tu to tie the
game up at 3-3 in the top of the fourth. It remained that way until the top of
the seventh. Shima went very close to winning the game for Japan in the bottom
of the sixth but was tagged out at home and with Rokkaku playing like a demon
in centre field, it required two stunning plays from Chiu, Shih and Tu to give Chinese
Taipei the lead 6-3. Rokkaku scored in the seventh but it wasn’t enough, Chinese
Taipei claiming the second match 6-4.
Chinese Taipei made another good start in the tiebreaker to lead 2-0 before Japan powered past in the second with Kazuta (twice), Shima, Mikami and Rokkaku all crossing to give Japan a 5-2 lead. With Japan sensing a win, Chiu and Shih scored for Chinese Taipei in the fifth to close the game to 5-4 to make it interesting but in the end, Japan managed to hold on and claim the important win.
Mexico v Tunisia 2-0 (4-1*, 2-0)
In the last Super Round game of the day, Mexico gave their fans plenty to cheer about by claiming a crucial win against Tunisia to keep their campaign alive. The two teams couldn’t be separated going seven innings tied at 1-1 before Marian Castro, Nelson Rodriquez, Vivian Banuelos scored with Eloy Flores tagged out at home to close the inning Mexico ahead 4-1. Some great fielding, including a brilliant throw from Flores to Guadalupe Ayon to tag Helmi Ben Moumen out at home plate, kept the score line intact and gave Mexico the match 4-1.
The two teams couldn’t be separated again in the second match until Castro and Rodriguez scored to give Mexico the lead 2-0 in the top of the fourth. A lead which Mexico managed to defend to claim the match 2-0 and the game much to the joy of their jubilant fans.
