Kosuke Hotta and Hikaru Takahashi combined to pitch a three-hit game in Japan's 9-1 win over Puerto Rico, in their last match of the WBSC U-15 World Cup Super Round. This win secures for Japan a place in Sunday’s medal games.
Isshin Kikuchi (2-for-3 with 3 RBI) led a nine-hit offense for Japan, joined by Kanta Kanemoto and Kenta Hatakenaka who got two hits and scored two runs each.
Japan had multi-run innings in the second, third and fifth frames. The lone Puerto Rican run in the game was scored in the third, when Will Soto scored on a wild pitch.
Japan now must await until the last game of the day between Cuba and USA to know their fate in the tournament. A Cuba win puts Japan in the World Championship Game against the same Cuban squad, while a USA win leave the top-ranked nation in the world playing the Bronze Medal Game against Chinese Taipei.
In their first participation in the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup, Puerto Rico finishes in fifth place.
