U-15 Women's Softball World Cup Super Round Day 1: Japan and USA stay perfect; Puerto Rico clinch key win over Chinese Taipei
Day 5 of the WBSC U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup saw the start of the Super Round, where Japan and USA kept their unbeaten records. The hosts triumphed over the Philippines, while USA beat Mexico courtesy of two homers from Aspen Boulware. Puerto Rico pulled off a crucial 2-1 win over Chinese Taipei in the first game of the day. In the Placement Round, Brazil beat New Zealand in six innings, and Czechia claimed a superb come-from-behind-win over Italy in a thriller.
The hosts defeated the Philippines 7-0 while USA pulled off a 5-1 win over Mexico to record their sixth victories of the tournament. In the other Super Round matchup, Puerto Rico edged Chinese Taipei 2-1 to move into outright third place.
With two more days of Super Round play to go, the race for the top four, and a spot in the medal games, is heating up.
In the Placement Round, Czechia claimed a magnificent 10-9 comeback win against Italy, nailing the game-winner in the seventh inning with the scores tied at 9-9. Earlier, Brazil topped New Zealand 7-4 while Peru earned a forfeit win over Uganda.
Talia Murria took control of the circle allowing five hits and one run to help Puerto Rico earn a 2-1 win over Chinese Taipei in the opening game of the Super Round at Ota Stadium.
Puerto Rico managed to get one hit off Sabrina Boyer's bat, but Chinese Taipei escaped without any damage done. Nia Melendez's strong swing flew to centre and was caught by Chinese Taipei outfielder, leaving a runless opening inning.
Puerto Rico finally got their offence working in the bottom of the third, when Nylah Melendez's single landed runners Yamilette Cordova to second and Liana Quinones to third, then Boyer's sacrifice fly got Quinones on the home plate for the first run. Cordova scored the second run off Nia Melendez's single.
Chinese Taipei only got things going on the seventh inning, as Yi-Hsuan Tien got one run on a ground out. However, the next two batters were retired to end the game in favour of Puerto Rico 2-1.
Philippines v Japan 0-7
Japan kept their winning streak going with a 7-0 win over the Philippines. The hosts had a total of seven runs against the Philippines' three.
In the first inning, the Philippines hit a single but did not progress to score a run, while Japan started with a single that rallied into three runs by Risora Kajime, Yuki Imamura and Yumeka Kagen without any outs.
Sari Nagatomo and Yuri Kira gave Japan two more runs as they reached the home plate on a fielding error to stretch the lead to 5-0. Mao Hashimoto completed Japan's final run of the inning to lead 6-0.
The Philippines held Japan runless in the next two innings, but the hosts sneaked in their final run of the game from Uran Mutsutani's double that set up Kagen to increase the lead to 7-0.
The Philippines conceded the game to Japan in the top of the fifth.
Mexico v USA 1-5
Aspen Boulware drove two home runs for the USA in their 5-1 victory over Mexico to keep their undefeated run.
USA made only one run in the first inning, as Anabela Abdullah scored the run on a walk drawn by Teagan Lermann.
At the top of the second, Macie Bryant struck out three batters, giving Mexico another runless inning. On their side of the offence, Boulware contributed a run on her inside-the-park homer to increase the lead to 2-0.
Mexico finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning, with Sophia Hernandez Dominguez advancing on a bunt, stealing second base, and scoring the run in a rare error from the USA, reducing the deficit to one run.
USA put the lead back up 3-1 when Aubrey Mclaughlin singled to score Madelyn Armendariz.
In the bottom of the sixth, Boulware clobbered a homer, this time over the fence for her second of the night, then Abdullah drove a sacrifice fly to centre field, scoring Mclaughlin to update the score to 5-1.
Bryant secured the victory for USA, controlling the Mexican batters in the seventh inning.
Placement Round
New Zealand v Brazil 0-7
Brazil scored runs in the first three innings and maintained their lead until they capped their Opening Round game with another run to win 7-0 against New Zealand in the sixth inning.
Brazil's offence started early with Caroline Tamai getting things started on a single to shortstop and progressing to third on a ground out. Mariana Sonoda singled to left for the first RBI of the game, advancing Tamai.
The next two batters hit a triple and a ground out, respectively, advancing runners Sonoda and Maya Mune to home plate for a 3-0 edge in the bottom of the first inning.
Sofia Cabral reached home plate on a throwing error, putting Brazil again on the board in the second stanza with Tamai in tow. Talita Yamaji's single got Tamai getting the second run completed to extend the lead 5-0. Their sixth run came in the third inning, with Muna advancing to home base on a fielding error.
For their final run in the game, Brazil's offence was initiated by Lais Ishikawa's double, which she later converted into a run off Ito Yoshi's single.
Czechia v Italy 10-9
Czechia rallied from a 9-4 deficit to win 10-9 against Italy in the all-European encounter in the Placement Round.
Both Czech and Italian pitchers cleared the first inning, but the Giulia Squalizza surrendered two runs and three hits in the next frame, giving Czech Republic the lead 2-0. Italy regrouped and responded with a three-run bottom of the third, snatching a 3-2 advantage.
Czechia swung the momentum back to their side with two runs with a single and a ground out, scoring Tereza Skoloudikova and Johana Kasova in consecutive plays for a 4-3 margin. Italy easily clawed back up in the same inning as Giulia Colino and Giulia Calzolari rushed to home base on fielding error and single hit to get a 5-4 lead and extended it with an additional run.
The Italians made runs for the third consecutive inning for a 9-4 lead in the bottom of the fifth. This time, Martina De Agostini initiated the offence on a single. The designated player got her run on a ground out, then teammates Martina Fantinati and Calzolari closed the inning with two runs on a throwing error.
Czechia’s five-run sixth inning performance showed their determination in the game, tying the ballgame. They managed to get the game-winning run at the start of the seventh inning, as Kristyna Bohacova rushed to home plate after a throwing error to teammate Katerina Holubkova by Italian pitcher Federica Forlani.
