16/08/2024 4 Minute Read

WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup Group B Day 3: Japan, China remain unbeaten, Italy and Puerto Rico also on the winners' board

On Day Three of the WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup Group B, China defeated Peru and the Netherlands to collect two wins, Italy beat Peru to get their first tournament win while Japan defeated the Netherlands to become the first team to win three games. In the evening game, Puerto Rico edged Italy in a thriller.

World No. 2 Japan and hosts China are the only undefeated teams after another rain-affected day at the WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup Group B tournament in Pingtan on Friday.

Five-time champions, Japan have won their first three games with a 10-0 win over the Netherlands on Friday following Thursday's victories over Italy and Puerto Rico.

China, meanwhile, recorded their two wins on Friday, starting with a 8-0 over Peru in a game, which carried over from Thursday after it was paused at 3-0 to China in the first inning due to rain.

Last edition's bronze medallists Puerto Rico (2-1) and Italy (1-2) round out the top four while the Netherlands and Peru are still searching for their first wins.

Friday's play started with a two hour rain delay before the China-Peru resumed their suspended game, allowing the world No 11 to wrap up their first win of the tournament.

China soon after defeated the Netherlands 3-0 to win in back-to-back fashion.

In the third game of the day, Italy scored 13 runs over Peru to claim their first win of the tournament before Japan proved too good for the Netherlands.

The last game of the day between Italy and Puerto Rico was a much tighter affair with Puerto Rico managing to break the 0-0 deadlock in the third with one run, and that was all Puerto Rico needed to collect their second win of the tournament.

The game scheduled between China and Puerto Rico was moved to 10:00 on 17 August.

Due to the rescheduling of games due to the weather, all games since Game #6 are being played over five innings.

A total of 19 games will be played during the WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup Group B tournament taking place from 14-18 August. The top two teams from this tournament will join Chinese Taipei and Czechia, who have already punched the tickets to the 2025 Finals.

All games are available on GameTime, the official online streaming platform of the WBSC. Fans in China can watch the games via the Chinese Softball Association WeChat account, local sports streaming programming provider hupu.com, and miguvideo.com.

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Game #13: Italy vs. Puerto Rico Boxscore

Italy and Puerto Rico came to this game with an identical record of 1-1. Italy's Emma Silva was on the mound again, and Yessenia Lopez got the ball for Puerto Rico.

Both teams played solid defence in the first two innings, and no runner was able to score from the scoring position. In the bottom of the third, Italy starter Silva hit the batter twice and walked one to load the bases for Puerto Rico. Taliah Grace Murria singled to drive in one run to take the lead, 1-0.

Puerto Rico would go on and win the game with the same score, and collect the second win of the tournament.

Game #10: Japan vs. Netherlands Boxscore

Japan and the Netherlands meet for the fourth game of the day. Japan come to this game with a record of 2-0, and the Netherlands aiming to claim their first win in the tournament. Momoki Chinomi will pitch for Japan, and Megan Telleman is the starter for the Netherlands.

Japan score four runs in the first inning on four hits and one walk to take the lead. By the end of the second inning, Japan lead 9-0 over the Netherlands.

Japan's three pitchers combined to allow one hit against the Netherlands, while their bats provided plenty of offence by scoring 10 times with 11 hits. Japan are now 3-0 and are on the top of the standings alone.

Game #8: Peru vs. Italy Boxscore

Peru and Italy came to this game to win the first game in the tournament. Peru sent Brianna Vick to the mound to face Emma Silva from Italy in the day's third game.

Italy's offense started with two outs in the second inning. With five hits, one walk, and wild pitches from Peru's pitcher, Italy scored five runs in the second to take a comfortable lead.

In the third inning, Italy sent 12 players to the plate, and eight of them returned to score to increase their lead to 13 runs. Italy sent their reliever Federica Forlani to the mound to get the final two outs in the fourth, as Italy secured their first win in the tournament.

Italy's head coach, Andrea Longagnani, said after the game, "We were nervous (in the game against Japan) and may have been too nervous, but we had a better start in the game against Peru. I had one of my best pitchers on the mound, and I pushed and pushed them to run and try to score."

"Once the first run was in, the girls started to get the rhythm of it," said Longagnani.

Game #7: China vs. Netherlands Boxscore

After winning the first game in the tournament, China met Netherlands in the second game of the day. YuYan Duan was penciled to start again, while the Netherlands sent Daniek Van De Wiel to the mound.

China's offence again seized the opportunity quickly and scored a run on Jiayi Chen's RBI single to take the lead. In the second inning China added another run on a passed ball before Xintian Li drives in the third run for China.

Although Netherlands reliever Lizzy Kwakernaak was able to shut down Japan's offence, China's starter Duan pitched a superb one-hit complete game (5-inning) to almost completely shut down the Netherlands' offence. Along with several solid defensive plays, China secured the second win in the tournament in a convincing fashion.

Head coach Weigang Hwang credited their starting pitcher Duan with the win: " She is only 15 and full of potential. Our defense played well, which can also be attributed to her solid performance on the mound."

Game #6: China vs. Peru Boxscore

China and Peru resumed their game, which had started on Thursday, with China leading 3-0 in the bottom of the first inning. Yu Yan Duan had the ball for China, and Brianna Vick was on the mound for Peru.

China wasted no time to start their offence in the top of the first inning by scoring three runs on four hits to take the early lead. Peru was forced to send their reliever Mayumi Higa Endo to the mound to close out the inning.

China scored one run each in the second and the third inning before knocking in another three runs in the top of the fifth to expand their lead to 8-0. China's reliever Menghuan Zhou worked a clean one-two-three inning to close the game for China to win the first game in the tournament.

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