10/07/2024 4 Minute Read

WBSC Men's Softball World Cup Group B Day 1: Argentina, New Zealand, Canada victorious on Opening Day

Prince Albert saw an exciting start to the WBSC Men's Softball World Cup Group B as former World Champions Argentina, New Zealand and Canada triumphed in their opening games on Wednesday. Argentina dominated Israel 8-0, New Zealand edged out Singapore 2-0, and Canada overwhelmed Hong Kong, China 7-1. Follow the action on GameTime as teams compete for two spots in the 2025 Finals.

The three top-ranked teams started the WBSC Men's Softball World Cup Group B with a win at Rotary Field in Prince Albert, Canada on Wednesday. No. 1 Argentina earned an 8-0 win against Israel, No. 10 New Zealand won a pitching duel against No. 11 Singapore, and No. 3 Canada closed the day with a 7-1 win against No. 24 Hong Kong, China.

Up Next WBSC Men's Softball World Cup 2024 - Group B

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Schedule & Results

After defending World Champions Australia and the Dominican Republic booked their tickets to the Finals 2025 in Group A in Mexico, the next group of six teams in Group B started their campaigns in the competition, aiming to secure one of the two tickets available in next year's Finals.

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Group B will start with a 15-game round robin, with the top-four making the playoffs on Sunday. The first ticket will be decided in the game between the top two qualified teams; while the second ticket will be contested between the loser of the 1 vs 2 game, and the winner of the 3 vs 4 game.

For the first time, the Men's Softball World Cup is being played under the two-stage system. Group A in Hermosillo served as a hot start for the tournament, with No. 14 Dominican Republic and the defending World Champions and No. 2 Australia earning their berth in the 2025 Finals. No. 5 Venezuela finished third in Hermosillo and are waiting for the rest of the groups to be completed, to see if they earn a wild card for the Finals.

Argentina earned their first win of the tournament, with a solid 8-0 victory against Israel. 2019 World Champions Federico Eder and Gonzalo Ojeda homered for the world No. 1 team, leading a seven-hit offence.

From the circle, Martin Gonzalez tossed 3.2 innings of perfect ball, finishing the game with one hit allowed, one walk and eight strikeouts. Pablo Migliavacca completed the shutout with a perfect inning, including two Ks.

New Zealand defeated Singapore, 2-0, in the second game with an interesting pitching duel. Cole Evans gave New Zealand the lead and Ben Enoka added an insurance run with a homer to give the seven-time World Champions the first win in the tournament.

Pita Rona started the game for New Zealand, pitched the first inning, and then re-entered the game in the sixth to retire the last six outs of the game. He earned the win. Nick Hayes and Liam Potts pitched two innings each in relief.

For Singapore, Raynard Heng pitched five solid innings, giving up two hits and two runs (only one earned) and was recorded with the loss.

After the Opening Ceremony, in front of a good crowd at Rotary Field in Prince Albert, hosts Canada defeated Hong Kong, China, 7-1, in the third and last game of the day. Bryan Abrey started hot, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs in the game to lead Canada's lineup. Jeff Lyons and Nicholas White went 2-for-3. Those three players combined to hit seven of the eight hits of their team.

From the circle, Justin Schofield earned the win after tossing five innings of one-hit ball, collecting 13 strikeouts. Steven Normand pitched the sixth and seventh innings, giving up one run.

For Hong Kong, China, designated player Wai Wong went 2-for-3 in the game. In addition, Corey Ng (1-for-3) and Tak Hei Cheung (1-for-3, RBI) connected the other two hits of the Asian team in the game.

Hong Kong, China 1-7 Canada

Bottom 6th - A Bryan Abrey double gave Canada again a six run lead. The hosts are in front 7-1.

Top 6th - Hong Kong, China's center fielder Corey Ng sent a two-out line-drive double to the left field fence, and then scored on a bloop single in shadow left field by Tak Hei Cheung. The result 6-1.

Bottom 5th - Canada added two more runs with an RBI single from Jeff Lyons and a sac fly from Jordan Pomeroy to right field to put the game at 6-0.

Bottom 4th - Canada extended the lead. With a runner on third base and two outs, Dallas Kipfer hit a high fly ball to right field that was misread by Sheung Leung, allowing the host team score the second run of the game. This costly error opened the door for two more runs. Canada led 4-0.

Bottom 3rd - After two scoreless innings, Canada took the lead with a sacrifice fly. Mathieu Roy hit a triple to the left field fence, and then scored on a long fly ball to center field from Blake Hunter. Canada took a 1-0 edge.

Preview - After the Opening Ceremony, scheduled at 16:30, Canada and Hong Kong, China will play Game 3 of the competition at 6pm. Their last meeting in a World Cup was on 10 July 2017 in Whitehorse, when the red and white topped the Asian squad 14-1.

2024 Men's Softball World Cup - Group B - Game 3 HKG vs CAN

Singapore 0-2 New Zealand

Bottom 5th - Ben Enoka went deep to give New Zealand their second run of the game. The Black Sox led 2-0.

Bottom 4th - Cole Evans got on base after a dropped fly ball in the right field line, stole second base and finally scored with a pair of passed balls. New Zealand took a 1-0 lead.

After three complete innings, the game remain tied 0-0. Singapore pitcher Raynard Heng held New Zealand to one hit; while the Black Sox sent Pita Rona (1 IP) and Nick Hayes (2 IP), allowing also one hit to the Singaporean lineup.

Preview - In Game 2, seven-time World Champions New Zealand will take on Singapore. First pitch is scheduled at 2pm. The two teams played each other for the last time in a World Cup in 1992, in Manila, Philippines, with a victory for the Black Sox.

2024 Men's Softball World Cup - Group B - Game 2 SGP vs NZL

Argentina 8-0 Israel

Top 5th - Argentina mounted a four-run rally, started with a two-run single from captain Manuel Godoy, and capped by a towering home run from Gonzalo Ojeda.

Bottom 4th - Kfir Leon walked with outs and Yaniv Rosenfeld followed with a single to right field. Argentina starter Martin Gonzalez tossed 3.2 perfect innings before, with eight strikeouts.

Top 3rd - Federico Eder hit the first homer of the tournament. He sent a 1-0 pitch over the centre field fence, extending Argentina's lead to 3-0. Then, Federico Olheiser drove in Teo Migliavacca with a single, for the fourth run of the game.

Top 1st - Argentina scored the first run of the tournament. Teo Migliavacca drew a two-out walk, stole second base, and then a pair of passed balls allowed him tor cross the plate. The No. 1 team in the world took the lead in the game, 1-0

Preview - Argentina and Israel will meet today at 11am (all local time), in Game 1 of this Group B. For Argentina it's their 12th participation, while Israel has played the tournament only once. This is the second time the two teams will face each other in a World Cup opening day. The two teams played Game 3 of the 1996 Men's Softball World Cup in Midland, on Friday 5 July, with the South Americans beating Israel, 13-0. It represented Israel's first-ever Men's Softball World Cup game.