Tien-Mou/Taipei City. It was a close game with opponents playing at the same level, but Brazil prevailed 3-0 in the end over the Czech Republic in the Saturday morning game at Tien-Mou Stadium. Three runs in the third inning were enough for the South American, which improved to 2-1 in the II 12U Baseball World Cup. It was the third loss for the reigning European Champion.
The outcome in the game was decided in the third inning. Lucas Massukado was hit by a pitch to open the frame, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout to first. With two outs he used a wild pitch to cross the plate, breaking the scoreless tie. A pair of errors helped Brazil to extend the lead to 3-0.
Except for the third inning, pitching wrote the story of the game. Brazil’s hurlers Gabriel Matsumura and Matheus Chimura issued just three hits and a walk in six scoreless innings. Matsumura struck out six in four to pick up the win.
For the Czech team Anezka Bartonova got her second starting nod of the tournament, but also got charged for her second loss. He surrendered three hits and three runs (1 ER) in three innings. Tomas Zachoval replaced her and kept Brazil scoreless for the rest of the game.
On Sunday the Czech Republic takes on the Philippines, hoping for their first win in the tournament. Brazil has Sunday off before a key matchup in the race for the quarterfinals against Japan on Monday.
