Guatemala earns historic first ever win, Mexico and Japan remain undefeated

Guatemala (1-1) earned its first ever win in the WBSC Junior Men’s Softball, defeating Hong Kong (0-2), 5-1, with a fantastic pitching performance by Juan Morales. The right handed threw a 1-hit, 1-run gem to guide his team to the victory.

Luis Xuya scored the first run in history for Guatemala. In the bottom of the second inning he singled and stole second base, with one out. Then he advanced with an error, and finally crossed home plate on a fielders choice.

Guatemala opened the gap in the fourth frame with two more runs. Edgar Tecu found Xuya on the basepaths, and hit a log home run to center field to make the score 3-0.

In the bottom of the sixth the Central American team added two more runs, thanks to an error and an RBI triple off the bat of Xuya.

Morales arrived to the top of the seventh with a no-hitter in progress, but he couldn’t complete the task. Wang Lui walked, and Yin Mak reached on an error. Two batters later, Yuet Lo hit a single to left field that not only broke the no hitter, but also produced the first ever run for Hong Kong in the WBSC Junior Men’s Softball World Championship.

Finally, Morales retired the last two outs of the game to earn the win. He struck out 14 opponents, and allowed only 1 hit and 1 walk.

Juan Morales pitcher Guatemala to their first ever victory at the Junior Men’s softball World Stage

Mexico (2-0) had to play hard to earn their second victory of the tournament. Today they beat India (0-2) by a score of 1-0, in a very good game. The only run of the contest came in the sixth inning with an RBI double off the bat of Jose Valenzuela to center field.

Indian pitcher Gaurav Chaudari had an impressive performance this morning, allowing 1 run on 4 hits, with 10 strikeouts. However, his offensive couldn’t manage to score a run and was charged with the loss.

India collected seven hits in the first three frames, but couldn’t take the lead. The Asian team loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom in the third, but Mexican pitcher Salvador Lopez escaped the jam with a strikeout and two ground outs.

After that, Lopez settled down and had three quiet innings. But in the bottom of the seventh India was about to tie the game. With a runner on second and two outs, Chaudari stepped to the plate trying to help his own cause and he hit hard to short stop. But Mexican Jorge Lopez made a fantastic play with a diving catch, to retire on first base the out 21 of the game and clinch the victory.

Tomorrow, Mexico will play against Japan at 17:00 p.m. local time, while India will try to get their first win of the event against South Africa at 12:30.

Defending World Champions Japan (2-0) took their second victory of the tournament over Denmark (0-2), 16-0, in four innings. The Japanese team scored multiple runs in its four attacks, while three pitchers combined for a no hit no run.

Seiya Shimomoto homered in the third and Shoki Matsuo tripled twice with 4 RBIs, to lead a very strong offensive performance for Japan. Taiga Onishi eraned the win in 2.1 innings of work, with 5 strikeouts and 1 walk.

Tomorrow Japan will face Mexico at 17:00 p.m. local time. Denmark will play its fourth game of the tournament against Australia at 14:30.