WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup - Day 4: Japan, USA, Canada, Mexico win, punch tickets to Super Round along with Australia
Five national teams - Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and USA - have qualified for the WBSC U-18 Men's Softball World Cup Super Round after the fourth and penultimate day of the Opening Round in Hermosillo, Mexico on Tuesday.
Wednesday's game between Argentina and Venezuela on the final day of the Opening Round will decide the sixth and final team in the Super Round.
In Group A, world No. 10 Mexico clinched first place with their win against Australia and will open the Super Round with 2-0 win-loss record. The world No. 2 and Canada, ranked fourth in the world, are also qualified and will join Mexico in the next stage of the tournament. Wednesday's game between Australia and Canada will decide the second placed team in the group, as well as their win-loss record (teams take the results of Opening Round games against other Super Round teams with them to the Super Round) at the beginning of the Super Round.
In Group B, USA defeated Argentina to remain undefeated in the competition and secure first place in the group. They will move to the Super Round with a 2-0 record. On the other hand, Japan clinched second place with a 10-3 victory over Venezuela and will move to the Super Round at 1-1.
Argentina and Venezuela will meet on Wednesday with the last Super Round spot at stake. Both teams are tied with a 1-2 record, and the winner will remain in contention for a medal. The losing team will finish fourth and move to the Placement Round.
| Venezuela vs Japan | 3 - 10 | Box score |
| Argentina vs USA | 0 - 2 | Box score |
| Czechia vs Singapore | 13 - 3 | Box score |
| Colombia vs Canada | 0 - 10 | Box score |
| Mexico vs Australia | 6 - 1 | Box score |
Fans around the world can watch all the action on GameTime. The WBSC OTT platform offers Tournament and Daily Passes to watch the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup.
Mexico vs Australia
Christian Del Valle and Jorge Rivera homered, and Jose Contreras pitched a gem to lead Mexico to a key 6-1 win against Australia. With the win, Mexico clinched first place in Group A and will open the Super Round with 2-0 record.
Contreras pitched the complete game, giving up six hits, one run and one walk, while striking out eight. It was his first appearance in the tournament.
Bottom 7th - Coby White hits an RBI single to right field and Australia get on the board. Then Mexican pitcher Jose Contreras strikes out Evan Wulff for the 21st out of the game. The crowd goes wild as Mexico clinch their fourth win in a row.
Bottom 5th - The Mexican defence has been outstanding today. They have completed three double plays in the game.
Top 5th - The home crowd goes crazy at a fully-packed Fernando Ortiz stadium. Emiliano Soloria hit an RBI single to the left field, and immediately after Jorge Rivera hit a mammoth homer to right field. Mexico extend their lead, 6-0.
Top 4th - With runners on first and second, Australia's pitcher Joel Byrne strikes out Brayan Lopez to end the inning. Mexico have left on base seven runners in the first four innings.
Bottom 3rd - Mexican second baseman Jose Garza is displaying his defensive skills. He completed a nice double play in the bottom of the second, and one inning later he made an outstanding diving play to retire Oliver Stewart.
Top 2nd - Joel Byrne struck out the first two batters of the inning, but then loaded the bases on three walks. However, he escaped the jam with a five-pitch strikeout. Mexico still in front, 2-0.
Top 1st - Christian Del Valle crushes a rise ball over centre field and gives Mexico an early 2-0 lead. It's his first homer of the tournament, and RBIs three and four.
Colombia vs Canada
Canada defeated Colombia 10-0 in four innings and secured a spot in the Super Round. Their win also qualified Australia and Mexico, rivals in the last game of the day, for the next stage.
Cohen Christner and Nicholas Neid combined for a no-hitter. Christner pitched three innings with four strikeouts and one walk, while Neid pitched the fourth inning, walking one opponent and striking out two.
Canada scored eight runs in the bottom of the first, with two home runs from Camden Weatherbee and Nolan Bultena.
Bottom 2nd - Canada scored twice in their second at bat. Riley Good and Owen Bilinsky collected one RBI each on a pair of singles.
Bottom 1st - With a pair of long balls, Canada grabbed an early 8-0 lead against Canada. Camden Weatherbee hit a two-run homer and Nolan Bultena smashed a grand slam over the centre field fence.
Czechia vs Singapore
Top 5th - Andrej Sokol and David Jaluska hit RBI singles, and David Pokorny hit a three-run homer to put Czechia in front 13-2.
Bottom 3rd - Two triples and a single gave Singapore two runs. Ean Eu and Taiki Kang tripled, while Zhenglong Chan singled Kang in. The score is 8-2.
Top 3rd - Another three-run rally for Czechia. Ondrej Seda and Ondrej Zborovsky with the RBIs.
Top 2nd - Czechia add two more. Ondrej Seda hit a triple and scored on a sac fly. David Pokorny with the RBI single. 5-0 for the European champions.
Top 1st - Czechia strike first, scoring three runs on three hits and a walk. Filipo Kucirek and David Pokorny had RBI singles. Czechia 3-0.
Argentina vs USA
Cody Gibbons pitched a complete-game shutout against Argentina, with 11 strikeouts, four hits and two walks, to give USA their third win of the tournament. With this win, USA secured the top spot in Group B and booked their ticket to the Super Round.
USA's two runs came in the top of the first, taking advantage of two passed balls from Facundo Gonzalez. Argentina outhit USA, 4-2, but couldn't score against Gibbons.
Valentin Mata was charged with the loss for Argentina, after giving up three walks and one hit in 0.2 innings. Julian Reitober came in relief and tossed 4.2 quality innings, striking out 10 while allowing 1 hit.
Argentina will face Venezuela tomorrow. The winner of this game will advance to the Super Round as Group B's third placed team, while the loser will play the Placement Round.
Top 6th - USA dodged a bullet. With two runners on, Logan Boom made a run-saving leaping catch on the warning track to keep Argentina scoreless.
Five complete innings - After a shaky first inning from Valentin Mata, surrendering two runs on one hit, three walks (one intentional) and two passed balls, it has been a strong pitching duel between Cody Gibbons and Julian Reitober (Argentina's reliever). The US ace has struck out seven, giving up one hit and two walks, while the Argentine hurler collected 10 strikeouts with no hits or walks allowed. The game is still 2-0 for USA.
Bottom 1st - USA take advantage of a pair of passed balls to score the first two runs of the game. Braden Ducharme hit a double to the left field line to fuel the rally.
Venezuela vs Japan
Japan recovered from yesterday's loss against USA with a six-inning, 10-3 victory against Venezuela, in Game 16 of the competition. Kazuya Kihara walked it off with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.
With today's scores, Japan will finish in second place in Group B and clinched a spot in the Super Round.
Kanta Aso was the winning pitcher going the distance, giving up six hits, three runs and a pair of walks, while striking out eight. It was his first win of the tournament in four starts.
Bottom 6th - Kazuya Kihara ends the game with a two-run shot to centre field. Japan win, 10-3.
Bottom 5th - Ichigo Tabe hit a clutch two-out, two-RBI single to extend Japan's lead. The score is 8-3 now.
Top 4th - Pinch hitter Dainier Donquis stepped into the batter's box with two runners on, and brought them in with a single up the middle. The score is now 6-3.
Bottom 3rd - Japan add two more for a 6-1 edge. Rikuto Yamamoto scored on a grounder, and then Yuki Ueno plated Eito Yodogawa with a single to the left field.
Bottom 1st - Japan answer back with a four-run rally. Three RBI singles in a row from Yuito Matsuo, Rikuto Yamamoto and Eito Yodogawa. Japan take the lead 4-1.
Top 1 - Venezuela's lineup starts early with three hits from Juan Carlos Pereira, Sebastian Hassell and Jose Morales, the last one to plate the first run of the game. Venezuela is in front, 1-0.
