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Post date: Jul 17, 2017 4:45:16 AM
WHITEHORSE, Yukon, Canada – The WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship has now finished six days of pool play with one day remaining before the Championship Round field is determined.
Some teams have punched a ticket to the playoffs already, while others are on the bubble needing tomorrow to determine their fate. But everyone is fighting for the best possible position as World Ranking points are up for grabs.
Defending champions, Canada, is the only remaining undefeated team in this championship.
Turkey makes history, scoring its first runs in their short WBSC World Championship history.
Pool B
No. 7 Venezuela (5-1) v No. 19 Botswana (3-3)
7-1
Venezuela cruised to a 7-1 win over Botswana to keep their winning streak alive at 5.
The big bat of Rafael Flores sailed the ball over the fence to start the game up 2-0. The homers continued in the 2nd when Jorge Lima crushed the ball deep to left field to score two more and give Venezuela the 4-0 lead. But a pitching change for Botswana stranded two runners.
Quiet for two innings, Carlos Ojeda started things off in the 5th with a base hit. Flores with a big RBI single put Venezuela up 5-0. Then after a disagreement on a call with the home plate umpire, Botswana faced the first coach ejection of the tournament.
Venezuela’s lead furthered in the 6th when Frances Rojas hit a single but errors by the catcher pushed another across.
In the bottom half of the inning though, Botswana got on the board to avoid the shut-out. Witness Garogwe hit a single into left field, only for Obusitswe Lekgothu to respond with a bunt single. Eric Simwanza then hit a double to score Garogwe for a 6-1 game.
In the seventh, Venezuela added their final run with one out when Lima produced another RBI.
With six days complete, Venezuela is tied with Japan and New Zealand in 1st place, while Botswana is tied with Denmark in 4th in Pool B. The top four teams from each pool advances to the Championship Round.
Win: Eder Pineda
Loss: Romeo Tshelametse
Next Up:
Venezuela – 13 July at 2:00pm against Great Britain
Botswana – 13 July at 11:30am against New Zealand
Pool A
No. 6 USA (4-2) v Hong Kong (1-5)
16-0 (3 innings)
With one of the strongest USA men’s national team assembled in years, the Americans crushed Hong Kong 16-0 in three innings.
Marcus Tan opened the game up with a solo shot to center as USA went on to score 11 runs on 7 hits in the 1st inning.
Jeffrey Nowaczyk hit a two-run homer in the second as USA moved ahead 13-0. The 3rd was more of the same as Chase Turner scored three more on a blast over the outfield fence to end the game 16-0.
USA ended the day hitting a combined six home runs.
With six days complete, USA is tied with Argentina and Australia in 2nd place, while Hong Kong is in 7th in Pool A. The top four teams from each pool advances to the Championship Round.
Win: Mervin Weiler
Loss: Tang Chung Ming
Next Up:
USA – 13 July at 4:30pm against South Africa
Hong Kong – 13 July at 12:30pm against Australia
Pool A
No. 14 South Africa (2-4) v India (0-6)
6-2
India still searching for their first win took on South Africa in Day 6 of pool play. The game was close until South Africa scored four runs in the third to win 6-2.
India showed off their defensive potential in the second inning with a nice block by Raj Sunil to throw Brandon Bouillon out. But Duncan Small gave South Africa their first hit before Phokoane Mapheto connected to left to bring Small home for the 1-0 lead.
In the third, Sehlabi Molokoane, a top hitter for South Africa, walked to load the bases. A pitching change for India brought in Mahanand Kishan. But he walked the next two scoring two. After Javier Frost hit a two-run ground-rule double, India put Kumar Deepak back in with two runners on. Mapheto drove in Small in a ground-out. But a fielder’s choice ended the inning for the 6-0 game.
In the fifth, Rjan Veenit got his second hit with a solid single, slapping it over the second baseman. But two strike-outs ended India’s chances of scoring.
Entering the 7th, pumped up by a catch in center field by Dave Kumar, Sobodh Kumar hit a double. Veenit then hit a one-out single to score Sobodh. South Africa decided to put Thupidi back into the pitching circle only for Sehgal Singh hit a ground rule double over the outfield fence to score Veenit. But Thupidi got out of the inning to earn the win with a final score of 6-2 over India.
With six days complete, South Africa is in 6th place, while India is in 8th in Pool A. The top four teams from each pool advances to the Championship Round.
Win: Mogau Thupudi
Loss: Kumar Deepak
Next Up:
South Africa – 13 July at 4:30pm against USA
India – 13 July at 3:00pm against Canada
Pool B
No. 10 Great Britain (1-5) v Turkey (0-6)
24-1 (3 innings)
Great Britain and Turkey entered the game searching for their first win and run of the championship. Neither team has had much success so far, though Turkey is seeing international play for the first time. But after today’s game, each team could take successes home with them – Great Britain finally got the bats going and Turkey crossed the plate for the first time in their short international play.
Great Britain got on the board, finally getting some offense going scoring 7 runs on 5 hits in the first inning as Mathew Tonlin, Amit Aswani, and Kevin Stockford each doubled.
Turkey experienced a high in the bottom half of the inning. Lead-off batter Ramazan Alacaöz reached base on a drop third strike and eventually made his way to third on a put-out and throwing error. Then with two outs, Oguz Ates beat out an infield single allowing Alacaöz to score. Murat Pazan hit another single, but a grounder to second ended the inning with Great Britain up 7-1.
Great Britain continued their offense, scoring 7 runs in the 2nd and 10 runs in the 3rd to end the game in their favor.
Regan O’Neil, James Darby, and Kelvin Harrison all hit home runs in the game.
With six days complete, Great Britain is in 7th place, while Turkey is in 8th in Pool B. The top four teams from each pool advances to the Championship Round.
Win: Regan O’Neill
Loss: Cansin Etgu
Next Up:
Great Britain – 13 July at 2:00pm against Venezuela
Turkey – 13 July at 10:00am against Czech Republic
Pool B
No. 1 New Zealand (5-1) v No. 13 Denmark (3-3)
8-1
Denmark is on the bubble to advance to the Championship Round but had to face World No. 1 New Zealand today.
After being upset yesterday by Venezuela, New Zealand started the game off with a bang as Campbell Enoka hit a first pitch home run. Joel Evans followed with a home run of his own, bouncing one off the top of the wall. Kim Hansen then found the zone to strike out two.
The second inning brought more home runs as Cole Evans nailed one to deep left field. Defensive miscues loaded the bases for Isaac Fletcher, who hit right into Martin Simonsen’s glove to end the inning in a 6-0 game.
Denmark got on the board in the 4th when Simonsen laced one over the fence, still down 6-1.
In the 5th inning, Brad Rona entered the game – his 100th – to hit a RBI single to score Kallan Compain, while Joshua Harbrow scored on a wild pitch. New Zealand then held Denmark for the 8-1 win.
With six days complete, New Zealand is tied with Japan and Venezuela in 1st place, while Denmark is tied with Botswana 4th in Pool B. The top four teams from each pool advances to the Championship Round.
Win: Karl Gollan
Loss: Kim Hansen
Next Up:
New Zealand – 13 July at 11:30am against Botswana
Denmark – 13 July at 5:30pm against Japan
Pool B
No. 2 Japan (5-1) v No. 8 Czech Republic (2-4)
9-1 (5 innings)
A must win game for Czech Republic if they want to advance to the Championship Round while Japan entered the game tied for first with New Zealand and Venezuela in Pool B. But Czech Republic got off to a disastrous start.
Yusuke Morita started the game with a lead-off solo home run. Masaki Sawada followed up with a ground rule double. A double for Tsukasa Oishi scored Sawada and an error scored Oishi to make it 2-0. Peter Vacha ended the inning with a nice catch in center to stop the bleeding.
Czech Republic got on base in the bottom half as David Mertl with a leadoff single. But back-to-back strike outs ended the inning.
Yusuke Itose showed off his incredible speed as he put down a leadoff bunt and made it to first in the top of the 2nd. Czech Republic would load the bases before Oishi hit a grand slam to go up by seven. Michael Holdbradek would come in to get the 3rd out.
In the third inning, Mertl hit a huge home run to put Czech Republic on the board.
But Daishi Uramoto would hit Japan’s third home run of the game to lead 8-1. A base hit from Itose made it 9-1 in five innings.
With six days complete, Japan is tied with New Zealand and Venezuela in 1st place, while Czech Republic is in 6th in Pool B. The top four teams from each pool advances to the Championship Round.
Win: Hayami Takahashi
Loss: Jaroslav Brenik
Next Up:
Japan – 13 July at 5:30pm against Denmark
Czech Republic – 13 July at 10:00am against Turkey
Pool A
No. 5 Australia (4-2) v No. 3 Argentina (4-2)
9-1 (5 innings)
This was a pivotal game for both teams. Both teams have fallen to the defending champions Canada, while Australia lost another to USA. Tied for third place, another loss for the Aussies could potentially knock them out of playoff contention.
Nick Shailes did his part opening the game with a home run to go ahead 1-0. Andrew Kirkpatrick reached base only to be caught at home on a Ryan Merriman single to end the inning.
Argentina tied things up in the third when Teo Migliavacca hit a solo shot of his own.
But not to be outdone, Brenden O’Byrne nailed a solo shot to go ahead 2-1. After a Shailes walk, James Todhunter ripped a ball to center sending Shailes home. Merriman then hit a two-run homer before Julian Jemmott struck out to end the inning, up 5-1.
Another walk allowed O’Bryne to hit another home run to put Australia ahead 7-1. But Shailes and Todhunter wanted to join the home run party and followed up with back-to-back solo shots and the 6th homer of the game. Australia wins 9-1 in five innings.
With six days complete, Argentina and Australia are tied, along with USA, for 2nd place in Pool B. The top four teams from each pool advances to the Championship Round.
Win: Andrew Kirkpatrick
Loss: Maximiliano Montero
Next Up:
Argentina – 13 July at 7:00pm against Dominican Republic
Australia – 13 July at 12:30pm against Hong Kong
Pool A
No. 4 Canada (6-0) v No. 11 Dominican Republic (3-3)
7-0 (5 innings)
Canada continued to win and remain undefeated as Dominican Republic could not deliver from the pitching circle.
Canada’s Brandon Horn led off a monster first inning with a single before moving to third on two passed balls. Bradley Ezekiel then hit it back up the middle for a RBI single. Santiago Paulino walked a run in before he was replaced by Luiyi Mena. But Shane Boland hit a grand slam to make the game 6-0.
After that, neither team could get anything going in the game through 4.5 innings. But Shane Boland drilled a lead-off double in the 7th before Andrew Skelton hit to the gap in center for another stand-up double to score Boland. The run made it 7-0, ending the game on the run-ahead rule.
With six days complete, Canada is in 1st place, while Dominican Republic is in 5th in Pool A. The top four teams from each pool advances to the Championship Round.
Win: Devon McCullough
Loss: Santiago Paulino
Next Up:
Canada – 13 July at 3:00pm against India
Dominican Republic – 13 July at 7:00pm against Argentina
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