WBSC U-23 Men’s Softball World Cup Day 6: Japan jump to top spot in Super Round; New Zealand down Australia; four teams tied in third place
Japan led the WBSC U-23 Men’s Softball World Cup Super Round standings with a 3-0 record, followed by Australia with a 2-1 record after their defeat against New Zealand on Thursday at Parana, Argentina. Argentina, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand are tied in third place with 1-2 records.
Kazuya Umibe pitched a gem against Mexico in Japan’s first Super Round game to lead his team to a key 1-0 win. The Japanese pitcher tossed a one-hit complete game with 12 strikeouts and one walk.
New Zealand succeeded in their first Super Round game against Oceania rivals Australia with an important 4-1 win that improved their record and snapped the latter's winning streak in the WBSC U-23 Men's Softball World Cup. New Zealand starter Liam Potts tossed 6+ innings allowing seven hits, two walks and a run, while striking out 13, to earn the win.
Nahuel Saenz and Juan Jose Pepe had a strong outing for Argentina on Thursday night in the Super Round, as both pitchers combined for a one-hitter, with 17 strikeouts to lead the host team to a 3-1 victory over Canada.
Full information are available at the tournament website.
Softball fans around the world can watch all the action on GameTime. A tournament pass for $9.99 (US dollars) will give subscribers access to all 50 games of the tournament, while six-game daily passes will be available for $5.99 each day.
Day 6 games
- Israel 0-5 Czechia - Boxscore
- Singapore 2-5 Venezuela - Boxscore
- New Zealand 4-1 Australia - Boxscore
- Team WBSC 3-0 South Africa - Boxscore
- Mexico 0-1 Japan - Boxscore
- Argentina 3-1 Canada - Boxscore
Argentina vs Canada
In the top of the sixth, Argentina’s Alan Peker hit a hard single to right field, and took second on a defensive mistake by Canada’s right fielder Dallas Kipfer. One pitch later, Juan Cruz Garolini scored Peker with a double into the left-center gap. The hosts lead 3-1.
Canada scored in the bottom of the fourth. Dallas Kipfer connected his team’s first hit of the game, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored from there with another wild pitch, stealing third and home plate in the same play.
In the top of the second, Argentina took the lead. Juan Platner hit a clutch two-out single to centre field to bring in the first two runs of the game. Conrado Zanuttini reached on an error, and Alejo Muñoz sent him from first to third with a single to right field. Muñoz put himself in scoring position stealing second base, before Platner’s hit.
Mexico vs Japan
Kazuya Umibe pitched a gem against Mexico in Japan’s first Super Round game to lead his team to a key 1-0 win. The Japanese pitcher tossed a one-hit complete game with 12 strikeouts and one walk.
The first run for Japan was scored by Yoshinari Matsumoto in the bottom of the first. He launched a line-drive triple to the left field and scored after a few pitches later on a wild pitch by Mexico's Jesus Valdez.
New Zealand 4-1 Australia
Australia pitcher Jack Besgrove lost control in the sixth and gave up his fourth run of the game. He hit Brock Attewell with a pitch, and then rounded the bases with three consecutive wild pitches to put the score 4-1
A two-out RBI single by Brock Evans scored Damon Creasy from third base to extend New Zealand’s lead to 3-1. Creasy reached base on a hit by pitch.
New Zealand took a one-run lead again in the third frame. Max Early singled and moved to second on a bunt. He scored from there with an RBI single by Huw Davies to the left field. New Zealand lead 2-1
Australia answered immediately in the bottom half of the same inning with a no-doubter by Ryan King to tie the game 1-1.
New Zealand were in front in the top of the second inning. Brock Attewell hit a ground-rule double to left field, and two outs later scored on a line-drive single off the bat of Tobias Makisi.
Team WBSC vs South Africa
Henry Castillo led off the fourth inning with a double, and later scored on a wild pitch. Team WBSC led 3-0.
In the first inning, Team WBSC pitcher Juan Diego Morales hit an RBI single to plate Nery Natareno. Morales himself scored later on a wild pitch to give Team WBSC a 2-0 lead.
Singapore 2-5 Venezuela
In the top of the sixth, Audric Chia scored Singapore’s third run on a grounder.
Angel Adames scored one more for Venezuela in the bottom of the fifth. He reached on a single, and later scored on a passed ball to make it 5-2 fot the South Americans.
Singapore answered in the top of the fourth with two runs. Zu Ray Low knocked in the first run with a single, while Matthew Lin scored Jeron Tan with a grounder.
In the third, Jesus Gimenez (single), Jose Lopez (triple) and Yeison Diaz (single) connected consecutive hits to drive in three runs for Venezuela.
In the first inning, Yeison Diaz hit an RBI single to left center to plat Angel Adames, who also reached with a leadoff single, to give Venezuela a 1-0 lead.
Israel 0-5 Czechia
A two-run triple by George Harris highlighted a four-run rally for Czechia in the fourth inning to get a 9-0 lead.
One inning later, George Harris knocked in Martin Magula from second base with a single. Later, Czechia loaded the bases and Jakub Vasicek hit a single to right field to score George Harris and Jakub Hajny. The European champions led 5-0.
In the second inning, Adam Buchner gave Czechia the lead with an RBI single to center field. Later, Jakub Vasicek crossed the plate on a wild pitch.
