VII WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup-Day 8: Chinese Taipei advance to final, other medal round spots up for grabs

Day 2 of the VII WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup Super Round expressed the first verdicts. Chinese Taipei advanced to the World Championship game with a win over Korea.

The other three medal-round spots are up for grabs. The final day may lead to various combinations, including a five-way tie behind Chinese Taipei. In that case, the team advancing to the World Championship final and the bronze medal game will be determined by the Team Quality Balance (TQB)

Mexico won the Placement Round and will finish in seventh place. Proceed to the bottom for the Placement Round's results and box scores.

Super Round-Day 2 Results

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Chinese Taipei-Korea 1-0

Yu-Hsiang Wang went the distance, allowing only one hit and a walk to outduel Jinwoong Lee, who allowed the game's only run on a squeeze play. Chinese Taipei qualified for the World Championship game.

Chinese Taipei took the lead in the bottom of the second as second baseman Sheng-Rang Wang perfectly executed a safety-squeeze play, scoring first baseman Ya-En Chiu from third.

Korea's starter Jinwoong Lee limited Chinese Taipei to two hits over four innings also thanks tp his defence-

Chinese Taipei starter Yu-Hsiang Wang allowed only two hitters. He used 73 pitches, showcasing an 80-mile-per-hour fastball and a sweeping slider.

Venezuela-Dominican Republic 8-2

The pitchers dominated for five innings, and then the lineups took control. The Dominican Republic came back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth and was just inches away from walking it off. A three-run homer by catcher Jorge Castillo proved the game-changer in the top of the seventh.

Venezuela's starter Alexandro Ladera got some help from his second baseman Angel Rondon in the bottom of the first.

Dominican starter Enmanuel Reyes relied on his center fielder Kelvin Reyes to end the second.

Shortstop Ezequiel Zamora homered off reliever Jefferson Guzman to put Venezuela ahead in the top of the sixth.

Venezuela took the lead to 2-0 on a two-out single by second baseman Angel Rondon.

The Dominican Republic got to Ladera in the bottom of the sixth. Keimel Paula doubled, and Kelvin Reyes tripled to make it 2-2. Angel Rondon stepped to the mound to end the inning and bring the game to extras.

Venezuela took the lead back in the top of the seventh. Ladera hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2 and catcher Jorge Castillo followed with a homer over the left fild fence to make it 6-2.

Venezuela took advantage of two defensive errors and extended the lead to 8-2.

Japan-USA 7-0

Osuke Minakawa pitched a gem, limiting the United States' powerful offence to a couple of hits over 5.1 innings, striking out eight, and Ren Mitsui took care of the final two outs. Daito Funayama and Renji Tachibana homered. Japan is back in the medal round race.

Daito Funayama needed only five pitches to get to starter Bowen Landry. He worked a 3-1 count and homered on a towering fly to the right.

Landry's rest of the inning was mixed. He walked three batters but struck out the side to end the first Japan's at-bat.

Funayama stuck to his MVP-line performance in the top of the second, hitting an RBI double in the top of the second and forcing the US to relieve Landry with Julian Knudsen.

The newcomer couldn't stop the bleeding. He hit Kanade Abe to load the bases and allowed a two-RBI single to right fielder Masaya Yabuuchi.

Japan loaded the bases again for third baseman Ren Mitsui, who batted in the fifth run on a sacrifice fly to left field.

Japan made it 7-0 in the top of the fifth when first baseman Renhi Tachibana homered on a deep fly over the left-field fence.

Placement Round-Day 2 Results

• On Day 7: Chinese Taipei stay undefeated, huge wins for USA and Japan.
• The Super Round schedule.
• Look at the statistical analysis after the Opening Round.
• On Day 6: Dominican Republic, Japan, USA and Korea join Chinese Taipei and Venezuela in Super Round.
• On Day 5: Chinese Taipei remains the only undefeated team
• On Day 4: Venezuela dominated Japan, and the Dominican Republic outslug the United States.
• The WBSC had a chance to interview Francys Sandoval, the Venezuelan Princess of Baseball.
• On Day 3: Chinese Taipei, Venezuela, USA and Korea stay undefeated.
• On Day 2: Chinese Taipei walked off Japan, and Venezuela's Willy Hernandez threw a no-hitter.
• All Day 1 games were postponed because of bad weather.