Six players to watch at WBSC Men's Softball World Cup Group C in Oklahoma City

The WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup, the biggest men's softball competition in the world, features the most talented players in the world. Let’s take a look at six players you should watch out for during the Group C tournament, which takes place in Oklahoma City, USA from 17-21 September.

Elkin Chinchilla (COL)

Elkin Chinchilla was Colombia's ace at the WBSC Americas Qualifier played earlier this year in Sincelejo, Colombia. The veteran right hander worked 29.2 innings throughout the tournament with a 1.18 ERA, giving up five earned runs. He struck out 31 against 10 walks, for a seven-inning rate of 7.31 and 2.36 respectively. He allowed a .190 batting average to opponents.

On 13 April 2024, Chinchilla pitched a five-inning perfect game against Costa Rica, striking out seven of the 15 batters he faced. 

According to data provided by Synergy, he topped 83 mph in the competition, averaging almost 75 mph with his drop ball and 69 with the rise ball. During the competition he was a heavy ground ball pitcher, inducing ground balls 63% of balls in play.

This will be Chinchilla's second Men's Softball World Cup. He pitched in 2013 in New Zealand, in Colombia's only previous appearance in the men's softball premier event. He worked 9.1 innings giving up seven earned runs on 10 hits. He struck out nine against one walk. 

Jorge Segura (GUA) - @piporro_segura

As well as his Guatemala National Team, Segura will be participating in his second Men's Softball World Cup. He pitched for Guatemala nine years ago at the 2015 World Cup played in Saskatoon, Canada, where his team finished 12th in their official debut. 

The 42-year old veteran pitched 33 innings in 2015, striking out 50 opponents, 10.6 every seven innings. He walked 23 for the tournament (4.88 per seven frames).

During the Americas Qualifier, he worked 24.1 innings, giving up three earned runs on 24 hits. He struck out 25 against nine walks. According to Synergy, he averaged 69.8 mph both with his rise ball and drop ball, topping 74 mph with the latest. He posted a 67% strike rate, with an 18% of swinging-strike rate and a 39% chase rate. 

Shota Onodera (JPN)

After leading Japan to silver medals at the U-18 and U-23 Men's Softball World Cups (in 2018 and 2023 respectively), Shota Onodera will make his WBSC Men's Softball World Cup debut in Oklahoma City. 

During last year's WBSC U-23 Men's Softball World Cup the 23-year-old Japanese pitched 17 innings, posting a 0.82 ERA According to Synergy, during this event, his go-to pitch was the curveball, which he used 42% of the time. Throughout the tournament, he averaged 11.12 strikeouts and 1.23 walks per seven innings, and proved to be a ground-ball pitcher, inducing ground balls on 53% of balls in play. He made 257 pitches in the tournament, 66% of them in the strike zone (170), but leaving only four of them in the middle of the zone (two of them in a sac bunt situation).

In 2023, Onodera also pitched for Japan at the Asia Qualifier, working nine scoreless innings while striking out 11. He was the winning pitcher of the final against Singapore.

During the U-18 World Cup played in Prince Albert in 2018, the Japanese worked 26.1 innings in six games (five starts), giving up 10 earned runs for a 2.66 ERA. He struck out 38 (10.1 per seven innings) and walked 11 (2,92 per seven).

Eldrick Dijkhoff (NED) - @eldrick.dijkhoff.9

The veteran infielder will play his third Men's Softball World Cup with the Netherlands, after his participations in 2015 and 2019 in Canada and Czechia respectively. In 2019, he hit .353 with two RBIs, while in 2015 he finished with a .375 average. Counting the previous World Cups, he has posted a career .363 batting average in this competition with three doubles and a triple. 

During the European Championship 2023, which served as a qualifier for the World Cup, Dijkhoff played eight of nine games, helping his team to a third place finish with a .412 batting average, including a triple and a home run. 

In the bronze medal game, he scored the game-tying run in the top of the seventh, leading a five-run rally to complete the comeback win.

Lucas Lamola (RSA)

Left-handed pitcher Lucas Lamola will play his second Men's Softball World Cup, after pitching four innings in Auckland 2022. However, this will be his fourth World Cup overall, since he represented South Africa at the U-18 World Cup 2018 and the U-23 World Cup in 2023.

Both in 2018 and 2023 he posted a 2.53 ERA in 19.1 innings of work, allowing seven earned runs. During the U-18 World Cup, he struck out 10 and walked nine; while during the U-23 he struck out 34 against 11 walks. 

Counting all three previous World Cups (in all three age brackets) he has accumulated 47 strikeouts and 27 base on balls, for a 1.74 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

According to Synergy, during the U-23 World Cup in Argentina (his last appearance on the global stage), Lamola found the strike zone 58% of the time. In addition, hitters swung against 41% of his pitches, missing 41% of the time, with a chase rate of 27%.

Erick Ochoa (USA) - @eochoa8

A three-time World Cup veteran and bronze medallist in 2022, Erick Ochoa is one of the veterans in the US team. He has a career .354 batting average at Men's Softball World Cups, with three home runs (one in each World Cup) and 20 RBIs in 19 games.

In 2017, he hit .381 with six runs scored and six RBIs, helping USA to a sixth-place finish. Two years later, he improved his average to .391, adding 11 runs batted in and six runs in his best World Cup offensive performance. In Auckland 2022, he earned the bronze medal, helping with a .310 batting average three RBIs and five runs.

He's also a Pan American Games silver medalist, hitting .429 in Lima 2019 with two doubles, three homers, seven RBIs and nine runs scored.