25/07/2024 6 Minute Read

WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup Group A - Day 3: Chinese Taipei secure spot in final; Great Britain, Czechia, Brazil, New Zealand vie for Play-Off spots

The competition for the remaining three spots in the Play-Offs on Friday is between Czechia (2-1), Brazil (2-2), Great Britain (2-2) and New Zealand (1-2), who all remain in contention.

With one day remaining in the Opening Round of the WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup, Chinese Taipei secured their spot in the final with a decisive 10-0 victory over Great Britain on Thursday at Estadio Municipal de Beisebol Mie Nishi in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Chinese Taipei's win guarantees at least second place in the Opening Round standings and a significant double chance advantage in Saturday's Play-Offs where two tickets to next year's Finals are on offer.

The competition for the remaining three spots in the Play-Offs on Friday is between Czechia (2-1), Brazil (2-2), Great Britain (2-2) and New Zealand (1-2), who all remain in contention. Colombia no longer have a chance of making it to the Play-Offs with a 0-4 record.

Great Britain bounced back from their loss to Chinese Taipei by defeating Colombia 8-1, bringing their record to 2-2. Czechia also triumphed over Colombia 11-4 in the third game, while the final game saw Brazil outlasting New Zealand 8-6 in front of a crowd of 2,300, improving their record to 2-2.

Before the game between Brazil and New Zealand, WBSC Executive Vice President Softball, Craig Cress, presented WBSC Softball Hall of Fame members Milton Konno and Taketomi Higashi with their Hall of Fame rings and plaques in front of the proud Brazilian crowd.

On Friday, the action continues as Czechia take on Chinese Taipei at 10:00, followed by a key matchup between the Europeans and hosts Brazil at 13:00. Later, New Zealand and Great Britain will meet at 16:00 in another crucial game for both teams. The day will conclude with the Junior White Sox facing Colombia at 19:00, closing out the Opening Round.

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Chinese Taipei earned their fourth win of the tournament by defeating Great Britain 10-0 in four innings, securing their spot in Saturday's Play-Offs. It was their third consecutive win by the go-ahead rule, bringing them one step closer to clinching one of the top two spots in the Opening Round.

Wei-Chi Lin went 3-for-3 with two runs scored, while Yu-Ling Wu finished 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBIs, leading the Asian line-up. Clean-up hitter Jia-Jhen Cheng collected two RBIs and now leads the tournament with nine in four games.

Yi-Ting Chou earned the win after pitching 1.1 innings, giving up one hit while striking out one, and lowered her ERA to 0.84 in the tournament, ranking second in this department.

Chinese Taipei remain the leaders of the competition with a perfect 4-0 record. They have outscored their opponents 44-7 in their first four games.

Kailyn Haig pitched a complete game in Great Britain's 8-1, five-inning win over Colombia in the second game of the day at the U-18 Women's Softball World Cup. The British side split their doubleheader and will enter the last day of competition with an even 2-2 record.

After a scoreless first inning, Great Britain scored in each of the next four innings, including the walk-off run in the bottom of the fifth to reach the seven-run lead.

Seven of the nine British players in the lineup hit safely in Thursday’s game, tallying 10 total hits. Leadoff hitter Jessica Chan and designated player Sydney Teague each connected for a pair of hits, with Cara Edwards collecting two RBIs.

With a balanced offence of 12 hits, Czechia defeated Colombia 11-4 in six innings, securing their second win in the Opening Round. Eight of the nine European batters hit safely, with Iva Strakova and Lucie Cervenkova collecting three and two RBIs each.

Lucie Vecerova earned her first win of the tournament, pitching four innings and allowing three hits and four runs (one earned) with three strikeouts.

For Colombia, Jaylin Pinedo had two of the four Colombian hits in the game. She is 4-for-8 in the tournament.

With this result, Czechia will finish the day in second place with a 2-1 record, while Colombia (0-4) are eliminated from the Play-Offs and will play on Saturday for fifth place.

Brazil outlasted New Zealand 8-6 in Game 11 of the tournament to claim their second win. With the score at 8-3 for the hosts, New Zealand scored three in the bottom of the seventh, but their late comeback attempt fell short.

Ana Luiza Saito went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored, earning her the Player of the Day title. Amanda Handa also had a multi-hit game from the leadoff spot, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored. Handa also pitched the complete game for Brazil, allowing eight hits, six runs, and four walks, with six strikeouts.

For New Zealand, Siobahn Bolger was the standout hitter, with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate, two RBIs, and two runs.

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Brazil 8 - 6 New Zealand - Boxscore

Top 6th - Maya Mune draws a walk, and later scores on a Bruna Notoya double down the left field line. Notoya scored immediately after with a run-scoring single by Amanda Handa. Brazil lead now, 8-3.

Top 4th - With a runner on third, Ana Luiza Saito produces again. She drove in Bruna Notoya with a grounder to shortstop to extend Brazil's lead to 6-3.

Bottom 2nd - New Zealand answer back with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Siobhan Bolger hit a two-out, two-RBI triple, and then scored on a Kaiyah Ratu double to center field. The score is now 5-3 for Brazil.

Top 2nd - A pair of RBI singles by Ana Luiza Saito and Amanda Handa, and two defensive errors allowed the host team to score three more and get a comfortable 5-0 lead.

Top 1st - The Mie Nishi Stadium goes crazy. Ana Luiza Saito and Maria Julia Pedroso singled with one out, moved to second on a sac bunt and then scored easily with a long two-run single by Beatriz Nakamura. Brazil take the lead, 2-0.

Starting pitchers - McKenzie Bailey-McDowell (NZL) - Amanda Handa (BRA)

Preview - Brazil and New Zealand will close the day at 19:00 in a highly anticipated match, with both teams in need of a victory. The Junior Black Sox had a solid offensive performance yesterday against Czechia, but with a total of nine errors in two games, they need to improve their defence. Brazil lost their two games on Wednesday and need to bounce back. The two teams last played each other on 13 August 2019 in Irvine, USA, with New Zealand claiming a 3-2 victory over Brazil.

2024 U-18 Women's Softball World Cup Group A - Game 11 BRA vs NZL

Colombia 11 - 4 Czechia - Boxscore

Bottom 6th - Czechia used four consecutive hits, including a walk-off single by Tereza Koubova. The game finished 11-4 in six innings.

Bottom 5th - Tereza Koubova scored on a wild pitch, extending Czechia's lead to 9-4.

Bottom 4th - Czechia took advantage of two hits and two errors to mount a five-run rally and retake the lead on the scoreboard. The game was now 8-4 in favour of the Europeans.

Top 4th - With two runners on, Audrey Lum singled to right field. The Czech right fielder misplayed the grounder, allowing the two runners to score. Makenzie Degan walked, and then both scored on a throwing error by shortstop Iva Strakova. Colombia took a one-run lead.

Bottom 3rd - With runners on first and second and two outs, Iva Strakova hit a clutch two-run triple into the left-centre field gap to give the European champions the lead. On the next pitch, Sara Von Tsurikov plated her with a single. Czechia led 3-0.

Bottom 1st - Czechia's third batter, Denisa Sustrova, hit a two-out triple into the right-centre field gap, but Iva Strakova grounded to second base to end the inning.

Starting pitchers - Lucie Vercerova (CZE) - Kayla Leyland (COL)

Preview - At 16:00, Colombia will take the field again to play Czechia, who suffered their first loss of the tournament yesterday. A win for the European champions would keep them in the race for one of the top two spots in the Opening Round standings. The two teams last played in 2021 in Lima, when Czechia defeated Colombia 10-5.

Colombia 1 - 8 Great Britain - Boxscore

Bottom 5th - Lily Bell singled through the middle to open the inning. She advanced from first to third on a single by Jessica Chan and finally scored on a throwing error by centre fielder Brooke Zuluaga.

Top 5th - Colombia kept the game alive by scoring one run to avoid a run-ahead loss. Jazmin Mejia hit a clutch two-out double to drive in Francela Verdura. The game was 7-1.

Bottom 4th - A two-run double by Cara Edwards and a run-scoring double from Mia Krueger gave Great Britain three more runs in the bottom of the fourth. The game was now 7-0 in favour of the Europeans.

Bottom 3rd - Great Britain doubled their lead with back-to-back RBI singles by Sydney Teague and Kaitlyn Parisi, with two outs on the scoreboard. The British team led 4-0.

Bottom 2nd - Sydney Teague hit a triple to the left field corner and scored the first run of the game on a stolen base play. Kaitlyn Parisi scored the second run on a defensive error. The European team led 2-0.

Starting pitchers - Kailyn Haig (GBR) - Brooke Zuluaga (COL)

Preview - The second game of the day, starting at 13:00, will see Great Britain going head-to-head against Colombia. It might be the last opportunity for the South Americans to remain in contention for a spot in the Play-Offs. They have played only once in the history of the tournament, in Oklahoma City in 2015, where Great Britain beat Colombia 8-1 in five innings.

2024 U-18 Women's Softball World Cup Group A - Game 9 COL vs GBR

Great Britain 0 - 10 Chinese Taipei - Boxscore

Bottom 4th - With a runner on first, Wei-Chi Lin hit a walk-off triple to the left field corner, ending the game. Chinese Taipei won 10-0 in four innings.

Bottom 3rd - Chinese Taipei added two more runs in the third inning, on a passed ball and a sac bunt. They now led 9-0.

Bottom 2nd - Another big inning for Chinese Taipei. A bases-loaded two-run single by Yu-Ling Wu and a two-RBI single by Jia-Jhen Cheng allowed their team to score four more runs and take a 7-0 lead.

Bottom 1st - Chinese Taipei took a three-run lead, highlighted by a two-run inside-the-park home run by right fielder Yu-Hsin Chiu. The Asians took an early 3-0 lead.

Starting pitchers - Elena Clark-Wilson (GBR) - Yi-Ting Chou (TPE)

Preview - Chinese Taipei will try to keep their winning streak alive when they face Great Britain at 10:00 local time. Both teams had a triumphant day yesterday, with the Asians sweeping their doubleheader and the British walking off Brazil. This is the first time both teams will play in a U-18 Women's Softball World Cup.