OSAKA, Japan – Japan’s Sena Sato went the distance and struck out 13, while his offense used a three-run third inning en route to a 5-2 win over Canada as the Super Round (second round) opened at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup.
“It was a good game, I thought it was a real good baseball game,” said Canadian Manager Greg Hamilton. “I thought both teams played really well.
“The kid (Sato) was outstanding and that was the difference in the ballgame, basically.”
Sato threw 140 pitches and had his way most of the evening on the mound changing speeds and frustrating Canadian hitters with his fastball and split-finger combo. He allowed just five hits, two of which were on bunts. Canada pressed at times loading the bases with none out in the fifth and getting a pair of runners on in third and seventh innings, but Sato was able to get out of it with minimal damage.
“We had a couple chances at him to do some things and he bent but he didn’t break,” explained Hamilton. “That’s what defines a pitcher at being good – the ability to limit damage.’
The loss puts Canada’s record at 0-3 in the Super Round with games remaining against Australia and the United States. Canada must win both if they have any hopes of playing for a medal on Sunday.
Canada opened the scoring in the top of the second as Josh Naylor (Mississauga, ON) walked and later scored from third on a wild pitch, but Japan responded with a run of their own to knot the score in the bottom of the inning. A ball deflected off Canadian starter Brady Moxham’s (Oakville, MB) glove and rolled into right field for a double before a couple of ground outs cashed the run in.
Japan took the lead in the third scoring three runs with two out to go up by three and never looked back. After a pair of two out singles, a ball that out of the reach of shortstop Kobe Hyland (Spruce Grove, AB) landed in left-centre for an RBI double before a base-hit up the middle brought in two more.
Canada loaded the bases in the top of the fifth, but only came away with one run as Royce Ando (Mississauga, ON) grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to score Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, ON) from third. Orimoloye managed a lead off double on a ball that was bunted down the third base line before Hyland walked and Cooper Davis (Mississauga, ON) reached on a bunt single.
Brady Moxham turned in a gutsy performance on the mound, but threw 110 pitches and was chased from the game after giving up a base hit and hitting a batter in the bottom of the sixth. Vincent Beauregard (Laval, QC) entered the game and issued a walk before a sac-fly to centre brought in Japan’s fifth run of the ballgame.
Beauregard ended his two-inning outing with five strikeouts before giving way to Mathieu Deneault-Gauthier (Candiac, QC) who tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
UP NEXT
Canada will face Australia tomorrow (12pm JST/11pm EDT - 09/03) at Maishima Stadium…The game will be streamed live and can be seen by clicking on the link below…RHP Josh Burgmann (Nanaimo, BC) is expected to start on the mound against the team that Canada played an 8-game series against leading up to the World Cup.
Live Stream
Live Scoring
Tournament website (Standings, Results, Stats)
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