Hosts Mexico, despite losing to Venezuela 4-1 on the penultimate day of the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup Super Round, punched their ticket to Sunday’s World Championship Final thanks to other results on Friday, especially USA’s 10-5 loss at the hands of Canada.
The other five Super Round teams remain in contention for Sunday’s medal games with Japan holding a 3-1 win-loss record (same as Mexico) followed by Canada and USA at 2-2 and Australia and Venezuela 1-3. Mexico can’t finish worse than second place in the Super Round standings having already beaten USA and Canada.
| Singapore vs Argentina (PR) | 3 – 10 | Box score |
| Australia vs Japan (SR) | 0 – 6 | Box score |
| New Zealand vs Czechia (PR) | 4 – 9 | Box score |
| Canada vs USA (SR) | 10 – 5 | Box score |
| Venezuela vs Mexico (SR) | 4 – 1 | Box Score |
Saturday’s last day of the Super Round sees Australia play USA, Venezuela take on Canada and Japan play Mexico needing a win to guarantee a spot in the final.
Mexico will play the Final on Sunday, 19 November, at 17.00 local time. This will be Mexico’s first WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup Final, and their second medal in history. Their only medal was a bronze from Edmonton 1981, the inaugural edition of the event.
Friday’s results also assured Japan a place in Sunday’s medal games. Saturday’s games will determine whether Japan will play the Bronze Medal Game or the World Championship Final. Japan has the most medals in the history of the event with 11, including three world titles, four silver medals and four bronzes.
In the Placement Round, Argentina beat Singapore 10-3; while Czechia topped New Zealand, 10-4 to secure seventh place in the final standings.
In the first Super Round game of the day, Japan defeated Australia, 6-0, improving their record to 3-1 and securing their presence in Sunday’s medal games. Kanta Aso pitched a three-hit complete game, while Ruito Ono and Ryuki Tsuda combined for five RBIs from the top two spots in the lineup, leading Japan to victory. Aso was named Player of the Day.
The second game at Fernando Ortiz saw Canada and USA going head-to-head in a key matchup for the Super Round. The Canadian lineup exploded with five runs in the top of the sixth inning, including a pair of homers by Joseph Weiler and Riley Good. It proved to be the difference in the game, which finished 10-5 for the red and white squad. Canada and USA are now tied with a 2-2 mark in the standings. Canada’s win over USA secured a spot in the Final for Mexico.
In the night game, Venezuela handed the host team their first loss of the tournament, behind a stellar performance by their pitcher Yohenrik Torres. Torres struck out five in a complete-game effort, giving up seven hits and one run, earning his first win in the World Cup in his first start.
Fans around the world can watch all the action on GameTime. The WBSC OTT platform offers Tournament and Daily Passes to watch the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup.