the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup 2023 opens today in Hermosillo, Mexico, with five games at Mundialistas Hermosillenses Stadium and Fernando Ortiz Stadium. The World No. 6 Czechia will face No. 4 Canada in Game 1 of the contest at noon, local time.
All matches of the WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup will be broadcast live on Game Time, WBSC’s online streaming service. Tournament and Daily Passes are some of the options to watch the WBSC U-15 Women’s Softball World Cup on GameTime.
The teams are divided into two groups for the Opening Round:
- Group A: No. 2 Australia, No. 4 Canada, No. 6 Czechia, No. 10 Mexico, No. 12 Singapore and No. 24 Colombia
- Group B: No. 1 Argentina, No. 3 Japan, No. 5 USA, No. 7 New Zealand and No. 8 Venezuela
The World No. 3 Japan will begin their World Title defense at 13:30 at the Fernando Ortiz Stadium, facing No. 7 New Zealand, which finished fifth in the 2020 World Cup. In Game 3, the No. 5 USA will face No. 8 Venezuela in a rematch of the Pan American Championship Final, where the North Americans won the title with a 6-1 victory. The match will be held at the Mundialistas Hermosillenses Stadium.
The five-time world champions and No. 2 Australia will make their debut at 16:30 against No. 12 Singapore, while the hosts and No. 10 Mexico will face No. Colombia, the only new tournament, at 20:30. The last two games of the day will be played at Fernando Ortiz Stadium.
Australia vs. Singapore
Above the 2nd – Australia sent 11 hitters to the plate to score six runs on four hits and two walks. The Aussies are in front, 7-0.
Above the 1st – Kylan Pearce reached on an infield single, stole second base and moved to third on a fly ball to left field from Timothy Gleeson. Pearce then scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch. Australia lead 1-0.
Venezuela vs USA
Under the 6th – USA put together a five-run rally, sparked by a three-run homer from Logan Boom, to take the lead for the first time in the game. USA in front, 8-5.
Above the 6th – Rafael Bonilla hit two triples to right field, and scored on a wild pitch. Starter Carlos Pinto will get an insurance run. The match was 5-3 for the South American squad.
Under the 5th – Brennan Ducharme made it a one-run ballgame with a home run over the center field fence. This is the first homer in the WBSC -18 Men’s Softball World Cup 2023. Venezuela is still leading, 4-3.
Third inning – The teams trade runs in the third inning. Sebastian Hassell scored for Venezuela, while Logan Boom did it for the USA on a defensive error. The game is now 3-1 for the Venezuelans.
Above the 2nd – Jefferson Colmenarez reached first on an error. Then stole second base and advanced to third on another error. And finally scored Venezuela’s second run on a single from Juan Carlos Pereira.
Above the 1st – Venezuela took the lead on an RBI single from Jose Morales to plate lead-off hitter Juan Carlos Pereira, who singled to start the game.
New Zealand vs. Japan
In a high scoring game, Japan began their world-title defense with a 10-5 win against New Zealand, in the second match of the World Cup. Ryuki Tsuda scored three times on two hits, while second baseman Yuito Matsuo scored twice to be the biggest contributor for Japan.
Sixth inning – New Zealand plate three runs on three walks, an RBI double from Ciaran Bloger and a single from Lennox Easthope. However, Japan responded with two outs in the bottom of the inning, on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. We head into the seventh with Japan leading 10-5.
Under the 5th – Japan’s rally for four runs extends their lead to 8-2. Yuito Matsuo drove in two with a comebacker that hit New Zealand pitcher Hunter Simpson and headed to right field. An error and an RBI single from Eito Yodogawa produced Japan’s other two runs.
Under the 4th – Japan responds with three runs in the bottom half of the inning and regains the lead. Three costly defensive errors from New Zealand opened the door for Japan.
Above the 4th – New Zealand lead!! George McCarroll and Shiloh Rice had RBIs to put their team in front 2-1.
Under the 1st – Ryuki Tsuda hit a double down the right field line to put Japan in front, 1-0.
Canada vs. Czechia
Canada got their first win of the tournament at the Mundialistas Hermosillenses stadium, with a 5-2 win over Czechia in Game 1 of the competition. Sharl Leclerc went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, and pitched 4.1 innings of relief to get the win.
A pair of RBI triples from Blake Brubacher and Adrian Green in the second and third innings gave Canada an early lead over Czechia, and they never looked back.
Leclerc pitched 4.1 innings, giving up three hits, one run and one walk, while striking out six.
For Czechia, the loss was charged to Matej Macas, who threw 10 in seven innings, allowing six hits and five runs.
Above 7th – Sharl Leclerc, who had been resting since the second inning for Canada, drove in Brubacher to extend Canada’s lead to 5-2.
Third inning – The two teams exchange runs. Canada scored its fourth run of the game on a triple from Adrian Green, as the European champions took advantage of a defensive error to cross the plate. The score is 4-2.
Under the 2nd – Ondrej Seda put Czechia on the scoreboard with a run-scoring single to left field. It was the Czechia’s first hit of the game.
Above the 2nd – Canada rallied for three runs, highlighted by a two-RBI triple from Blake Brubacher. Canada leads 3-0.
The WBSC U-18 Men’s Softball World Cup continues. Game 1 between Canada and Czechia will open the 42-game schedule in Hermosillo. You can follow the game by playing HERE.