Japan, Korea and Canada celebrate big Wins on Saturday

XXV IBAF 18U Baseball World Championship sees Koshien star shine

Seoul (Korea). Fans at the XXV 18U Baseball World Championship saw exciting games on the second day of first-round play on Saturday. In the morning Canada celebrated a second straight walk-off win at Mokdong, coming back against a strong Italian team, scoring the winning run in the ninth. Nearly at the same time Australia erased a three-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth, before falling down to Venezuela in the tenth.

In the afternoon at Jamsil, host Korea won a 3:45h game against the United States, crucially sparked by a bases clearing double in the sixth. In the evening at the same Stadium a Koshien star fulfilled expectations to lead Japan to a two-hit shutout over defending champion Chinese Taipei. In the other games Panama got their second win over the Czech Republic and Colombia scored early in a win over the Netherlands.

Chinese Taipei 0 – Japan 2

Scouts and general managers of professional leagues MLB, NPB and KBO witnessed another gem by Koshien phenom Shintaro Fujinami. The right-hander threw his third consecutive two-hit complete game shutout in ten days, leading Japan to a 2-0 shutout over defending champion Chinese Taipei, which itself received a masterpiece from their starter Hsin Chi Hung. Fujinami struck out 13, facing just four batters over the minimum. Runs in the second and the seventh provided the run support. The potential tying run for Chinese Taipei was thrown out at the plate in the sixth. Both teams are 1-1 in the tournament. September 02, 2012 （IBAF）

(From IBAF Website)