U-15 Women's Softball World Cup - Super Round Day 2: Japan beat USA to lead Super Round; Puerto Rico in joint-second with USA after Mexico win
Japan, USA, Puerto Rico and Chinese Taipei remain in contention for Sunday's medal games with one day left to play in the Super Round and Placement Round on Saturday.
World No. 2 and hosts Japan remain as the only unbeaten side in the WBSC U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup Super Round, following a superb 2-1 win over World No. 1 USA on Friday.
Japan and USA were the only undefeated teams prior to the game with Saki Anraku and Yuri Kira's runs in the top of the second inning enough to give Japan the win. An Aspen Boulware inside-the-park homer and Madelyn Armedariz in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh put the fans on the edge of their seats however Kira closed out the game from the pitching mound to seal victory.
The win, Japan's seventh of the tournament, puts the hosts on top of the Super Round standings at 4:0 while USA dropped to second, tied with Puerto Rico (3:1) who beat Mexico 1-0.
After their loss to Puerto Rico on Thursday, Chinese Taipei bounced back to record their first victory in the Super Round at the expense of the Philippines 9-2 to book their spot in the bronze medal game regardless of the results of the last day of the Super Round on Saturday. Mexico and the Philippines (0:4) are out of contention for the medal games and will meet on Saturday in a playoff for fifth place.
Meanwhile, in the Placement Round, Czechia remain as the leading team with a 4:0 win:loss record after beating New Zealand 5-3, while Italy’s forfeit win against Uganda and Peru’s down-to-the-wire 7-5 win over Brazil put them in joint second place (at 3:1) with one day to play. Brazil (2:2) slipped to fourth place, followed by New Zealand at 0:4.
Puerto Rico escaped the thrilling encounter with Mexico, earning a 1-0 win off a run in the sixth inning.
Katherine Sanchez had a great stint in the circle, as she held the opponents' batters to a .244 average. Her reliever Talia Murria held the opponents scoreless in the seventh for Puerto Rico to walk escape with a win.
It's a pitching duel between Mexico's Analia Lopez and Puerto Rico's Sanchez, as they have kept the first five innings without runs.
Nia Melendez finally broke the standoff in the bottom of the sixth with a sacrifice to allow Alejandra Perez to complete the run for Puerto Rico.
After a defensive change, Puerto Rico got three quick outs to secure the game victory in the seventh.
Japan v USA 2-1
Japan took the top spot in the Super Round, following their 2-1 victory over the USA. The hosts scored all the runs they needed in the second inning for the game win.
The first inning went scoreless, and Japan pounced in the second inning with two runs to go 2-0 up in the second inning.
Saki Anraku and Yuri Kira both hit singles to get on base before Shion Yamamoto was hit by a pitch, moving the two Japanese runners moved into scoring position. Then Rika Fujita singled and scored Anraku at the home plate. Risora Kajime also singled to get Kira to score the second run.
After four and a half scoreless innings, Japan went defensive with pitching changes in the bottom of the seventh.
While Kira retired Stevie South, Aspen Boulware made the game more interesting with her inside-the-park homer to deep centre field to get USA on the board, cutting the lead of Japan to just one run.
Madelyn Armedariz advanced to second base on a throwing error, threatening the Japanese defence. However, Kira found her rhythm and struck out Anabela Abdullah and Addison Otto to secure the victory for the home team.
Philippines v Chinese Taipei 2-9
After losing to Puerto Rico in their Super Round encounter on Thursday, Chinese Taipei closed Friday's schedule with a solid 9-2 win over the Philippines.
The Philippines found its offensive form early in the first inning, opening the game with a single from Leian Baylen. Erica Arnaiz advanced Baylen with a single to left field, while Cristine Calaguas' triple gave the Filipinos a two-run score.
The Philippines were hounded by multiple errors in the bottom of the second, giving Chinese Taipei an easier way to level the score 2-2.
After a scoreless third inning, Chinese Taipei's offence blew up as they put six runs on the board to lead 8-2.
XU Ruo-Xin ripped through the middle, scoring Yi-Hsuan Tien and then an error allowed Yu-ling Wu and herself scoring two more runs. In the next offensive sequence, Yi-Zhen Zhuang doubled to score Pei-Wun Wu, then an error advanced two more runners to home plate.
They added more in the fifth inning to seal the game victory at 9-2.
Placement Round
New Zealand v Czechia 3-5
Czechia and New Zealand traded runs in the game, but the European side gained edge by scoring more runs that helped them secure their second straight win 5-3 in the Placement Round.
Jindriska Materankova started Czechia's offence reaching on a fielding error, before Eliska Kotyzova triple set her up to score the run. Kotyzova later scored her own run on a ground out, giving Czechia a 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the second.
New Zealand responded with one run in the top of the third, as Ava Prescott's sacrifice bunt gave way to runner Yvanni Gibson to reach home plate to reduce the deficit to just one run.
Czechia stretched their lead to 4-1 after another Kotyzova triple that advanced runners Viktorie Pemova and Materankova to complete two runs.
Safira Schultz managed to get another one on the board off Cori Batts single to cut the lead to 4-2, but Czechia moved one run ahead in the bottom of the fifth 5-2.
New Zealand made its final effort in the top of the seventh, conceding the game to Czechia 5-3.
Peru v Brazil 7-5
Peru escaped Brazil's late surge in the seventh inning to win 7-5, moving to joint-second with Italy in the Placement Round.
The encounter was a showdown between Peru's Brianna Vick and Brazil's Esther Da Rosa, who both allowed hits but never surrendered runs in the first four innings.
Peru finally broke the game open in the fifth inning, when Mayumi Higa Endo ripped a single to right field that drove Andrea Coro and Valeria Cornejo Soto for the runs to lead 2-0.
Brazil also ended their scoreless spell in the bottom of the fifth that started with a triple by Lais Ishikawa, pushing Angelina Munhoz to make the first run, then scoring her own run on a wild pitch to level the score at 2-2.
Peru's offence exploded in the top of the sixth inning with five runs, leading the game 7-2.
They got the bottom of the sixth under control as they kept their opponents scoreless, but the Brazilians staged a comeback to reduce the lead of the Peruvians to only two in the bottom of the seventh.
Vick finally got out of the bases-loaded jam in the seventh, with the left fielder complimenting it with a brilliant catch to close the game.
