24/10/2023 5 Minute Read

U-15 Women's Softball World Cup Day 4: Japan and USA head to Super Round with undefeated records; Chinese Taipei, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Philippines also advance

Japan beat Mexico and New Zealand to confirm their place in Group A's top position, while USA also topped Group B with a win over Czechia. Both teams advance to the Super Round with perfect records. Chinese Taipei and Puerto Rico kept 4-1 records to secure second place in their respective groups in the Opening Round. Brazil escaped with a victory over the Philippines to close the Opening Round.

The race for the Super Round positions at the WBSC U-15 Women's Softball World Cup in Tokyo, Japan went down to the last game of the Opening Round with Brazil's 6-4 win over the Philippines in Setagaya not enough for the world No. 16 to claim a ticket to the Super Round.

Both Brazil and the Philippines finished tied with Czechia in Group B with a 2-3 win-loss record however according to the tie breaking rule the Philippines, ranked 21st in the world, advanced to the Super Round in third spot with Czechia finishing fourth, Brazil fifth.

World No. 1 USA, who claimed a 15-0 over Czechia and a forfeit win over Uganda on Tuesday, topped Group B unbeaten and also progress to the Super Round along with Puerto Rico, who beat Brazil 7-0 to finish with a 4-1 win-loss record.

In Group A, world No. 2 Japan, who beat Mexico 5-0 and New Zealand 7-0, finished in first place unbeaten followed by Chinese Taipei (4-1), who beat Italy in a crunch game 4-2, and Mexico (3-2). Italy, who beat Peru 7-4 earlier in the day, finished with a 2-3 win-loss record in fourth place and will contest the Placement Round along with Peru (1-4) and New Zealand (0-5).

Day 4 Results

Peru-Italy	4-7	BOX SCORE
Mexico-Japan	0-5	BOX SCORE
Italy-Chinese Taipei	2-4	BOX SCORE
New Zealand-Japan	0-7	BOX SCORE
Puerto Rico-Brazil	7-0	BOX SCORE
Czechia-USA	0-15	BOX SCORE
Philippines-Brazil	4-6	BOX SCORE

Peru v Italy 4-7

Italy recovered from their loss on Monday to hosts Japan, with a 7-4 triumph against Peru on Tuesday morning at Setagaya. Letizia Giunchi finished with 2-of-3 hitting and three RBIs and was accounted for a run.

Giulia Colino got into scoring position with Giulia Calzolari in tow, as they took advantage of the Peruvian errors. Peru made defensive changes but could not stop Giulia Colino from scoring the first run after Giunchi's single.

In the next play, Calzolari scored the next run on a wild pitch and Giunchi reached home plate on Giorgia Colino's sacrifice bunt to lead 3-0 in the bottom of the first.

Peru responded with two runs in the top of the second, as Valeria Casafranca singled to advance Emily Paiva and Luciana Chavez to cut the deficit to just one 3-2. They levelled the score 3-all by the top of the third inning with Mayumi Higa Endo scoring the run on a stolen base.

Alida Campioni accounted for the run in the bottom of the third, putting Italy up with lead 4-3. The Italians completed three more runs to expand the lead to 7-3.

Peru earned their fourth and final run to cut the gap to three 7-4, but could not produce any more offence in the next two frames, allowing Italy to take the win.

Mexico v Japan 0-5

Japan earned their fourth win in the tournament, following their 5-0 victory over Mexico. The hosts are undefeated so far and will have their fifth and final game in the Opening Round against New Zealand at 12:30.

Japan did not waste time in the top of the first and retired the first three Mexican batters in order. They did not waste time either to spark their offence.

With one out, Rachika Sakuragi earned a walk, advanced to second base on a wild pitch and scoring the first run on a Yumeka Kagen single.

Two consecutive earned walks advanced Kagen to third until Yuki Imamura's single plated her and Mao Hashimoto to give Japan a 3-0 edge.

After four scoreless innings, Japan got two more runs on the board from Sari Nagatomo and Hana Nakanishi off Riko Fujita's single to lead 5-0 in the bottom of the sixth.

Mexico conceded the game on a runless top of the seventh inning.

Italy v Chinese Taipei 2-4

Chinese Taipei had an explosive finish to win their game against Italy. The Asian side walked away with a 4-2 victory on a two-run home run in the sixth inning.

Italy carried their momentum from their victory on their first game of the day to their encounter with Chinese Taipei. The Italians were aggressive on offence and got two runs on the board in the opening inning.

Giulia Calzolari reached home plate on an error, and Alida Campioni moved to scoring position on a Letizia Giunchi single. This sequence force Chinese Taipei to make a pitching change, but that did not affect the Italian offence as Campioni rushed home on a ground out to have a 2-0 lead.

Chinese Taipei quickly responded with two runs in the bottom of the first. Ruo Xin Xu sacrifice fly freed Yu-ling Wu to score their first run, and a Kai-Hua Zeng triple to right centre plated Pei-Wun Wu to tie the score at 2-all.

Chinese Taipei found an opportunity to add break away in the game after being held runless for four innings. Kai Hua Zeng's two-run homer to deep left field in the sixth inning proved the difference as Italy could not respond in the seventh inning, closing the game in Chinese Taipei's favour.

New Zealand v Japan 0-7

Japan defeated New Zealand to finish the Opening Round with a five-game winning streak in and will now head to the Super Round as the top team in Group A.

New Zealand starter Bella Coxon stood her ground in the first two innings but gave in when Japan implemented a flawless offensive start in the bottom of the third that was closed with five runs.

After earning a walk, Lilia Lewis was first to cross the home plate with Rachika Sakuragi in tow, when Mao Hashimoto lined a triple to right field. Hashimoto reached home, followed by Saki Anraku after a triple by Sari Nagamoto.

Coxon was relieved but the offence of Japan continued with one more run by Nagatomo to lead 5-0. Lewis stretched the lead 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth with her second run off a ground out.

Japan closed the game in the seventh inning, highlighted by Lewis' third run off Risora Kajime's single.

Puerto Rico v Brazil 7-0

Puerto Rico logged their fourth win in five games, securing second place in Group B, following their 7-0 victory over Brazil.

Nia Melendez mixed things up to run Puerto Rico's offence early in the opening inning. She first tripled to right field to set up Alejandra Perez Sanchez to get the first run, then later manufactured her own run on a wild pitch.

Katherine Sanchez starred in the forced three ground outs to make for an easy bottom of the first inning for Puerto Rico. They made the inning theirs as they extended the lead to 5-0 from runs completed by Liana Quinones, Nylah Melendez and Alejandra Perez Sanchez.

The Brazilians kept the Puerto Rican offence in check in the third and fourth innings, but a successive triple and a double to centre field opened an opportunity for Liznelle Pacheco and Perez to nail the final two runs in the fifth inning.

Czechia v USA 0-15

USA are on their way to the Super Round after finishing the second round with an unbeaten record. The Americans defeated Czechia 15-0 in three innings.

After Czechia's turn to bat in the opening inning, USA started their offence quickly. With two outs, Jordyn Johnsen earned a walk that was later converted into a run, as Anabela Abdullah singled.

Abdullah crossed the home plate off Brooklyn Paratore's double, and the next two hitters also scored the runs that gave USA a 4-0 advantage.

Eliska Kotyzova singled to second base, advancing Kristyna Sritrova to scoring position, but could not convert a run in the next play, remaining scoreless in the game.

USA made better use of their stint in the next half inning as they made a 10-run haul to mount a 14-0 advantage. USA scored one more run and closed the game in the third inning 15-0.

Philippines v Brazil 4-6

Brazil made a 6-4 win over the Philippines, initiated by Maya Mune's solo homer in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Erica Arnaiz's efforts of hitting a double down the left field line did not come to pass, as she was tagged out on her way to third. The opening inning went scoreless for both sides, but the Philippines made up for their earlier mistake with a run that flowed off Francine Ragas' bat.

They doubled the lead in the top of the second with a run by Erikca Gonzales off an error by their opponents.

Brazil responded in the bottom of the third, with Carolina Tamai in the centre of the action. The Brazilian infielder progressed to first base after getting hit by a pitch, and stole the next two bases. Talita Yamaji opened up the opportunity to complete the run with a single. Yamaji followed it up with a run from a triple by Mariana Sonoda.

The Philippines grabbed the lead back in the top of the sixth, as Gonzales converted Sheena Panteria's double into a run, but Brazil tied the game back in the bottom of the same inning on Yamaji's single, plating Aline Teshima.

The sixth inning saw each team make runs that resulted in another tied score at 4-all. Ragas accounted for one run for the Philippines as she reached home plate on a dropped fly error, while Maya Mune drove a homer to deep left field for the game-equaliser in the bottom of the sixth.

Brazil snatched a two-run lead after that with Yumi Caroline and Angelina Munhoz reaching home for the 6-4 edge, and the three outs in the top of the seventh formalised their game victory.