South Africa, Netherlands and Chinese Taipei win in Placement Round Day 1

World No. 31 South Africa, No. 7 Netherlands and No. 3 Chinese Taipei started the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup Placement Round (places 7-12) on Thursday with wins at the Baseball Softball Conference Center in Shaoxing, China.

A six-run fifth at-bat against relievers Cameron Wright and Edward Taylor gave No. 31 South Africa a historic 8-6 win over No. 18 Great Britain.

Great Britain was sitting on a 4-1 lead, built against South Africa's starter Joshua Tribe, as Taylor took over for Wright with the bases loaded. He hit Corbin Greenslade, then allowed back-to-back singles to Ethan Grobler and Darian Pretorius and a two-RBI triple to Jamie Brookes.

Bryce McClelland and Greenslade protected the lead, allowing Great Britain two runs on three hits. McClelland earned the win, while Greenslade picked the save.

Second baseman Darian Pretorius and catcher Luke November combined for four of the eight South African hits. Pretorius led the line up with three RBIs.

South Africa (1-2) will face Colombia (1-2), and Great Britain (0-3) will play the Netherlands (3-0). Both games are scheduled for 10:00 (local time) on Friday, September 13.

World No. 7 Netherlands came from behind to beat No. 15 Australia 3-2 in the day's second game.

Starters Dylan Farley and Kieran Hall navigated through three innings with no score.

Australia scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fourth without getting a hit. Farley left with the bases loaded and one out. Reliever Pim Vijfvinkel got the second out on strikes, then allowed the go ahead run on a passed ball.

Hall took a no-hitter into the fifth. Rushenten Tomsjansen reached on a two-out double, recording the first Dutch hit. Hall walked Marnix Ruben and left for Stuart Tharle. The reliever allowed the runners to advance with a wild pitch, then gave up a two-RBI single to Gedionne Marlin, allowing the third run on a bases-loaded walk.

Australia scored their second run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Benjamin Fierenzi off Jeile Van der Lelie. Australia's final at-bat ended with the potential tying run at second and the winning run at first. Van der Lelie retired the side in order to pick the save.

World No. 3 Chinese Taipei outscored Colombia 10-0. It was a one-run game through four innings. Chinese Taipei extended the lead in the fifth and broke the score open in their sixth at-bat.

Chinese Taipei scored the go-ahead run in the top of the first, taking advantage of three walks, two of which were allowed by José Garces. The Colombian starter could only get an out and left for Cristian Diaz, who allowed two more walks and the run.

Chia-Wei Lin and Bo-Rui Huang extended the lead to 4-0 with back-to-back RBI doubles in the top of the fifth against Nicolas Maldonado. Five hits, including doubles by Heng-Yu Ho and Jun-Wei Zheng, produced six runs in the top of the sixth.

Zi-Hao Huang shut out Colombia for five innings, allowing four hits and a walk. Pin-Hong Chen and Po-Huai Ying took care of the final six outs.

Chinese Taipei (3-0) will face Australia at 14:30 (local time) on Friday, while Colombia will play Australia at 10:00.