Ryusa Tsuji led Japan to their third Super Round win at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup pitching a 3-0 complete-game shut out against Cuba at Hector Espino Stadium. With the result, Cuba, Japan and USA will enter the final day of Super Round action tied atop the Super Round standings at 3-1.
Tsuji showcased the best pitching performance of the tournament so far. The side-arm pitcher tossed a complete game shut out, striking out four and giving up four hits and three walks.
For Cuba, Yunior Villavicencio pitched very well for the first four innings, striking out five while giving up two hits. However, in the bottom of the six he issued two consecutive walks to start the inning and was pulled.
Daniel Reyes then took mound in the sixth, but Japan managed to score three times, on a pair of RBI singles by Kazuha Fukita and Yamato Hanashima, and a double-steal play. Hanashima had two of the four Japanese hits in the game.
After the game, Cuba won the contest against Japan by forfeit, due to an infraction of the pitching count rule. Japan’s starter Ryusa Tsuji exceeded the maximum number of pitches allowed per game, resulting in an automatic forfeit.
