The Japanese national baseball team has made a pleasant first step toward winning the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 title for the second consecutive time. It produced a reversal drama against the U.S., gaining an advantageous position to advance to the finals.
Japan beat the U.S. 9-1 in the first round of the 2024 WBSC Premier 12 Super Round held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on Monday (Korea time). It was a complete victory thanks to the solid mound and powerful firepower of the Japanese team.
With the victory against the U.S. on the day, Japan will be able to play the remaining Super Round matches against Venezuela on the 22nd and Taiwan on the 23rd with a lighter mind. If it beats Venezuela, it will effectively confirm its advance to the finals.
In the 2024 WBSC Premier 12, 12 countries that participated in the finals were divided into groups A and B of six countries. The top two teams in each group will advance to the super round, and the four countries will clash once, before the top two teams will have the championship match and the bottom two teams will have the third-place match.
Japan formed a lineup consisting of Masayuki Kawahara (left fielder), Kaito Kozono (second baseman), Ryosuke Tatsumi (center fielder), Shota Morishita (right fielder), Ryoya Kurihara (third baseman), Shogo Maki (first baseman), Sosuke Genda (striker), Keita Sano (designated hitter) and Shogo Sakakura (catcher). Hiroto Takahashi took the mound as a starting pitcher. 토토사이트
The U.S. team consisted of Chandler Simpson (right fielder), Matt Shaw (third baseman), Luke Ritter (first baseman), Ryan Ward (designated hitter), Carson Williams (striker), Colby Thomas (midfielder), Turmar Johnson (second baseman), Chris O’Kee (catcher) and Thustin Crawford (midfielder). Rich Hill, a 44-year-old veteran, faced off as the starting pitcher Hiroto Takahashi.
It was a tight race between pitchers at the beginning of the game. Japanese starting pitcher Takahashi got the upper hand by throwing out the U.S. batters early in the first inning. Rich Hill sent leadoff hitter Masayuki Kuwahara to the first base due to a mistake at the second base in the bottom of the first inning, but he quickly stabilized after receiving a heavy hit by Ditsumi after one out. He did not allow Morishita and Kurihara to hit base one after another.
The Japanese batters had unexpectedly difficulty attacking Rich Hill. At the end of the second inning, Maki threw a fly ball to center field, and Genda and Sano struck out consecutively and remained silent. At the end of the third and fourth innings, the offense was rarely resolved as it only had three outs.
The U.S. got the first run thanks to Rich Hill’s good pitching. While Japan replaced the pitcher with Chihiro Sumida at the beginning of the fifth inning when the team started defense, leadoff hitter Colby hit a solo home run to take a 1-0 lead.
The U.S. drove the momentum of Colby’s home run and pushed Sumida hard with Johnson’s hit on base. However, he did not get an additional score without a follow-up hit.
Japan also quickly counterattacked. The U.S. also replaced Ryu with Darrell Thompson as soon as the inning started in the bottom of the fifth inning, but Thompson could not handle Japan’s firepower. Japan brought the game to square one with Sakakura’s RBI double following consecutive hits by Kenda and Sano.
Japan was not satisfied with the score tied. With two outs and runners on the first and third bases, Gozo hit a game-changing three-run double to Austin Vernon. The score quickly changed to Japan’s 3-1 lead.
Japan blocked the U.S. offense in the top of the sixth and seventh innings without a run, and then scored additional points in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the win. In the leadoff hitter Sano’s hit to the middle and a bases-loaded chance with no outs, which was caught by Sakakura and Guwahara’s body, Gozo’s three-run home run exploded to make the score 6-1.
Japan continued its offense in the bottom of the eighth inning. With two outs and runners on the second base, Kuwahara’s timely hit and Gojono’s two-run homerun made the team run to 9-1. Gojono hit consecutive homeruns and bombed the U.S. mound.
Japan silenced the U.S. team’s last resistance without losing a point in the top of the ninth inning. Japan managed to secure a generous eight-point lead to end the game. Pitchers’ good pitching in the relay and the best batting performance shown by the main hitters were in harmony.
The U.S. kept its head down due to the turbulence of the bullpen and the silence of the batters, although Hill played his part in four innings with one hit, no outs and five strikeouts. Hill showed his record of 382 games, 1,405 ⅓ innings, 90 wins, 73 losses and 24 holds with an ERA of 4.01.
With this victory, Japan has won 25 consecutive international competitions.
