Jesus Valdez and Jose Reyes tossed five combined innings of no-hit ball in Mexico’s 7-0 win on Wednesday against South Africa in the WBSC U-23 Men's Softball World Cup. Mexico exploded with six runs in the fourth to secure the run-difference win in five innings.
Valdez pitched four innings recording seven strikeouts and a walk, while Reyes took care of the fifth inning, striking out two of the three batters faced. Both pitchers faced a total of 17 batters.
Iran Torres put Mexico in the scoreboard with a single to second base in the bottom of the second inning.
In the bottom sixth, Torres once again started the offence with an RBI single up the middle to score Martinez. In the same play, Junior Flores and Torres himself scored on an error by centre fielder Rian Hattingh. Jesus Romero scored a run with an RBI single, followed by Luis Rodriguez and Alejandro Villalobos' runs off a pair of grounders to cap the five-run surge.
Mexico finished the Opening Round with a 4-1 record and will move to the Super Round with a win and a loss. The result also qualified hosts Argentina to the Super Round as Group A's third-placer.
