WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup: Puerto Rico lead after Super Round Day 1
The WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024 in Shaoxing, China is down to the second round.
The Super Round (places 1-6) opened at 10:00 (local time) on Thursday, with World No. 6 Korea defeating No. 24 China.
No. 10 Puerto Rico beat No. 17 Nicaragua in a thrilling pitching duel and is now in sole possession of the Super Round first place with a clean record.
No. 1 Japan showcased masterful pitching and timely hitting to defeat No. 5 Venezuela and is now tied with Nicaragua behind Puerto Rico.
World No. 31 South Africa, No. 3 Chinese Taipei and No. 7 Netherlands meanwhile opened the Placement Round (7-12) with wins.
Read more on how things went in the Placement Round
Tournament Links
Japan-Venezuela 5-1
Three Japanese pitchers limited Venezuela to a pair of singles on the way to the fourth consecutive win for the defending champions.
Right-hander Koki Taniwaki took the mound for Japan, while Venezuela handed the ball to righty Brayan Medina.
Japan missed a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the first. Medina walked himself intro trouble, but got out of the inning with two strikeouts.
Venezuela took the lead in the top of the second on an RBI single by right fielder Cesar Idrogo.
Japan scored the tying run in the bottom of the third with one out when Yuichiro Murakami homered on the fifth pitch he saw.
Shortstop Kanta Aida put Japan ahead with an RBI double and sent Medina to the showers. Venezuela handed the ball to right-hander Cristian Fermin to get out of the inning.
Japan extended the lead in the bottom of the fourth on back-to-back RBI doubles by Kaito Yoshikawa and Takuya Yamada. Venezuela called Leonardo Lugo from the bullpen with a runner at second and no outs.
Lugo walked the first batter he facedn, then got Murakami to ground into a double play. He walked another batter, hit two and allowed Japan the fifth run. Venezuela called José Guzman from the bullpen to end the inning.
Kento Matsuda and Yuto Hayashida threw back-to-back perfect innings to end the game.
Puerto Rico-Nicaragua 1-0
Puerto Rico won a dramatic pitching duel scoring the only run with catcher Luis Gonzalez RBI single in the top of the seventh. It's the first defeat for Nicaragua.
Right-hander Axel Zapata started for Nicaragua, while Puerto Rico picked left-hander Jorhan Laboy.
Zapata and Laboy dominated through the fifth inning, combining 15 strikeouts. Zapata allowed only one single to leadoff hitter Edgardo Villegas on the first pitch of the game. He navigated through five innings with 54 pitches. His lineup only had two against Laboy, including a leadoff double by Emanuel Trujillo in the fifth. Laboy completed five innings with 59 pitches
Zapata allowed the game's first walk in the top of the sixth. It was again Villegas to reach base for Puerto Rico. He stole second with two outs, becoming the first Puerto Rico hitter to go beyond first base. He became the third out, trying to reach second on a grounder by Edrick Felix.
Puerto Rico won the game in the top of the seventh. Catcher Luis Hernandez singled on the second pitch he saw against reliever Bryan Torres, scoring pinch-runner Daniel Figueroa from second.
Right-hander reliever Luis Rivera picked the save, striking out Luis Gonzalez on five pitches with the potential tying run at second.
GAME REPORT
Korea-China 7-2
Right-hander Hyunseok Choi took a perfect game into the seventh, and Korea beat China, manufacturing the lead with a mix of running game and timely hitting.
Right-hander Hyunseok Choi took the mound for Korea. China handed the ball to right-hander Yuyun Lin.
Korea had the first scoring opportunity in the bottom of the second. Donhyun Kim grounded into an inning-ending double play with runners at second and first and one out.
Hyunseok Choi navigated through three perfect innings and Korea took the lead in the bottom of the third on three hits by Hojung Song, Hyunjong Kim and Daeseon Jeong.
China handed the ball to Jian Yi with runners at the corners. With his fourth pitch, the right-hander got Donghyun Kim to line into an inning-ending double play.
China manufactured their third double play of the game to end the bottom of the fourth. With runners at third and second, reliever Jie Zhou got Hojung Song to line out at shortstop and Qiroi Wu picked the runner away from the third base bag.
Choi didn't allow China a runner through five innings, while striking out nine.
Korea opened the score in the bottom of the fifth through a mix of running game and timely hitting. Anseok Jeong, Daeseon Jeong, Siang Kim and Doohyun Kim hit RBI singles, Korea stole second three times and China called Huachen Fu, their fourth pitcher, from the bullpen.
Choi took his perfect game into the top of the seventh and left after Xudong Zhu bunted for the hit becoming China's first runner of the game.
Korea handed the ball to Baeksan Kim, who loaded the bases and allowed Yuyang Li a two-RBI single that put China on the scoreboard.
Left-handed Jaeyoung Song took the mound to get the last out of the game.
GAME REPORT
