Michell Chirinos triples twice as Venezuela rally for eighth-place finish against South Africa

Michell Chirinos tripled twice to guide Venezuela to a 4-1 win in their final Placement Round game in the WBSC U-23 Men’s Softball World Cup on Saturday. The centre fielder collected two RBIs and scored once in the game. 

South Africa jumped ahead with a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, where Kiddo Malematja's RBI single scored Reece Nyland. However, this would be the lone run allowed by Venezuelan pitcher Jose Chirinos as he tossed seven innings two hits and one run, while striking out 13.

Venezuela responded with two runs on their turn in the bottom half of the same inning, with Jesus Gimenez scoring the tying run on a Yeison Diaz grounder and Michell Chirinos giving Venezuela the 2-1 lead with a triple to right field.

In the fourth, Michell Chirinos hit his second RBI triple, this time to the left feld line, eventually scoring on scored on a grounder by Denny Monjes to extend the lead to 4-1.

Venezuela ended the Placement Round stint with a 4-1 record to finish eighth overall in the standings. South Africa concluded their campaign in the tournament with a 1-4 record and must wait for the results of the remaining Placement Round games to determine their final position.