U-15 Women's Softball World Cup - Super Round Final Day: USA and Puerto Rico advance to gold medal game; Japan and Chinese Taipei to play for bronze
Puerto Rico and USA ended the Super Round with victories on Saturday, advancing to the gold medal game on Sunday to vie for the inaugural WBSC U-15 Women's Softball World Cup title. The two losing sides, Japan and Puerto Rico will play in the bronze medal game.
World No. 1 USA and No. 3 Puerto Rico will contest the final of the inaugural WBSC U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup, following their impressive victories over Chinese Taipei and Japan respectively on the third and final day of the Super Round in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday.
Puerto Rico stunned world No. 2 Japan with a pulsating 3-2 win in extra innings. After seven scoreless innings, Puerto Rico and Japan traded two runs each in the eighth, until Logan Bester’s double provided the decisive score in the 10th inning.
USA secured their spot in the gold medal game after a 10-0 triumph over Chinese Taipei. The victory was highlighted by Kenya Lapuaho’s home run to deep centre field in the fourth inning.
USA, Puerto Rico and Japan finished tied in the Super Round with 4-1 win-loss records, however, USA and Puerto Rico came out on top due to the runs-against tie breaking rule in the tournament regulations.
Meanwhile, Mexico finally recorded a win in the Super Round to finish fifth in the tournament, outplaying the Philippines 12-3 with Analia Lopez leading the offence with four RBIs and an excellent hitting performance.
In the Placement Round, Czechia topped the standings, winning all their games, including a 7-0 triumph over Peru on Saturday. The Czechs finished seventh, while Italy placed eighth overall after their 3-0 victory over Brazil.
Peru and Brazil finished ninth and 10th, respectively, while New Zealand’s forfeit win over Uganda placed them in 11th position.
Mexico finished fifth in the tournament after beating the Philippines 12-3 in five innings, behind Analia Lopez's outstanding game with four RBIs and three-of-four hitting performance.
Mexico started to get their offence going in the top of the second, as Clarissa Mejia started with a single to left centre moved bases on a passed ball and a walk.
With only one out in the offensive sequence, Carla Montoya doubled to right field to pave the way for Mejia to score the first run. Liliana Acosta scored the next run on a ground out.
Mexico backed up their stint in the second stanza with well-crafted offence, pouring in eight runs highlighted by a pair of triples and singles to mount a 10-0 edge. The Philippines managed to get on the board in the bottom of the third on Erikca Gonzales' three-run triple, to reduce the deficit to seven runs at 10-3.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Mexico restarted their offence and added two more runs for a decisive 12-3 lead in the game.
Puerto Rico v Japan 3-2
Puerto Rico rallied in the 10th inning to beat undefeated hosts Japan 3-2 in the Super Round with a fantastic solo pitching effort from Taliah Murria and Logan Bester's game-winning double.
Murria controlled the circle and catcher Nylah Melendez worked well behind the plate, keeping the Japanese batters in check in the first two innings.
Nylah Melendez's play in the top of the second highlighted the top of the second inning as she made a brilliant diving catch of a bunt by Yuki Imamura, keeping the first two innings scoreless.
Japan started to threaten in the bottom of the third Riko Fujita and Risora Kajime advanced into scoring position with the latter's double to left field. However, the Puerto Rican defence found a way to get Fujita out, until Murria struck out Yumeka Kagen.
While Murria allowed three hits, she did well as she cleared five innings without any runs. On the other hand, Japan ran pitching changes on their side, allowing only one hit from Puerto Rico.
Japan went for defensive and pitching changes in the top of the seventh, where Yuri Kira took the circle earning two strikeouts and a fly out. In the bottom of the seventh and with two outs, Japan had two runners in second and third, but Kajime was out on a ground hit, forcing an extra inning.
Alejandra Perez earned a walk and later a run, as Yamilette Cordova hit a double scoring her and Ana Oquendo for Puerto Rico 2-0.
Japan responded with two runs in the bottom of the eighth, as Kagen's double scored Risora, and Lilia Lewis's single plated Kagen to tie at 2-2.
Puerto Rico got the lead back 3-2 in the top of the 10th inning with Bester's double to left field that scored Kariangelyx Rodriguez.
Murria retired the three batters in order on two fly outs and a ground out to hand Japan its first loss in the tournament.
Chinese Taipei v USA 0-10
USA beat Chinese Taipei in four innings with a 10-0 margin, closing the Super Round with a 4-1 win-loss card.
Aspen Boulware earned a walk and progressed to home plate with Samantha Alekman on two stolen bases, while Brooklyn Paratore singled to centre field for USA's first two runs. They scored another pair of runs on a double down the left field line by Aubrey Mclaughlin, who later scored her own run for a 5-0 lead.
USA showed no signs of slowing down and scored again in the second inning. Anabela Abdullah and Samantha Alekman both earned walks, before a two-run rally on Sofia Hernandez's double to centre field.
Chinese Taipei managed to control USA in the third inning, but USA staged another offensive, with Kenya Lapuaho in the centre of it, driving a two-run homer to extend the lead to 9-0.
USA sealed their four-inning win over Chinese Taipei on an earned walk by Teagan Lermann to score Hernandez at 10-0.
Placement Round
Peru v Czechia 0-7
Czechia won their third straight win in the Super Round for a seventh-place finish in the tournament after their 7-0 triumph over Peru.
Bara Jedelska, who was inserted as pinch hitter, reached second base on a throwing error and reachec home plate on Magdalena Klimova's single to give Czechia a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.
Ema Frybova singled to start Czechia's third inning offensive journey, then moved to second and third on a walk and a sacrifice bunt, before a ground out got her reaching home plate.
Katerina Holubcova complemented that with a second run in the inning off Eliska's Kotyzova's bat. Kotyzova later scored the third run in the inning as Anna Frydlova singled to centre field to stretch the Czech lead to 4-0.
Czechia continued to score in the next frame and squeezed in two more runs to have a 6-0 advantage. Natalie Sedlackova put the finishing touch of getting Anna Frydlova to reach home plate on a single to left field, closing the game at 7-0.
Brazil v Italy 0-3
Italy clinched eighth place with a 3-1 win over Brazil in the Placement Round. Giorgia Colino led the Italian offence with an RBI and two hits.
Brazil and Italy did not surrender any runs in their first three innings, after the former had two hits and the latter with one.
The pitching standoff lasted for three and a half innings, until Italy opened the scoring Martina De Agostini's sacrifice fly that scored Letizia Giunchi and advanced Rebecca Soldi to third base. Giada Cagni singled to second base to give way for Soldi to score the second run.
Italy sneaked in one more run in the sixth inning to increase their lead to 3-0. Brazil did not have a response in the top of the seventh, therefore conceding the game to the Europeans.
