Japan recouped
and came up with a 3-0 win over Denmark on Monday, following their cardiac 6-5
extra-innings loss to Australia the other day in the XVII WBSC Men’s Softball
World Cup at Rosedale Park.
Yusuke
Morita was attributed with two RBIs at the bottom of the opening inning to jumpstart
their campaign in the tournament. The World No. 2 improved their record to 2-1.
The first
inning salvo was highlighted by Ryoyu Une’s single through the right side, moving
from the next two bases after a sacrifice bunt and a fielding error,
respectively, with Keisuke Kitakzawa also progressing to a scoring position.
With Morita
next at bat after Hikaru Matsuda and two strikeouts, the left fielder collected
two strikeouts and a ball before Kitazawa reached second base on fielder’s
choice. Morita’s next hit was a foul, before he finally got it right with a
single to the right field, opening the path for Une and Kitazawa to complete
two runs.
Danish pitcher Kim Hansen did an excellent job on the mound to keep the Japanese batters in check for the next three innings, while his teammates tried to break free from Yuya Yamawaki’s pitching. The efforts, however, were unsuccessful for the Danes as they remained scoreless.
At the bottom
of the fifth inning, Yusuke Sakuraba hit a triple to left centre, putting the
Danish defence on alert. But Ryoyu played it tactically with a sacrifice fly
that sent Sakuraba sliding to the home plate just in time to complete Japan’s third
run.
Reo Koyama
relieved Yamawaki in the last two innings and kept their rivals at bay to
secure the game victory.
