Brazil and Chinese Taipei, two of the winning teams on Day 1 of the WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup Group A, will face on Wednesday their doubleheader at the renovated Estadio Municipal Mie Nishi in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In the first game of the day, Chinese Taipei beat Colombia, 10-2, while in the second game, the Asian team is leading Brazil in a duel between undefeated teams. The third game of the day will see the host team playing Great Britain, while Czechia and New Zealand will close Day 2. All the games are available on the WBSC streaming platform GameTime.
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Chinese Taipei clinched today their second win in the tournament, with a 10-2 win over Colombia in Game 4 of the World Cup. After a scoreless first inning, the Asian squad scored multiple runs in the next four at bats securing their second run-ahead rule win of the conmpetition.
Chinese Taipei lead-off hitter Yu-Ching Lo went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored; while shortstop Yu-Lan Wang hit 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored to lead their team's 12-hit offense.
The winning pitcher was Yu-Huan Ke, who pitched two scoreless innings to close the game, allowing two hits, with no strikeouts and walks. Starter Yu-Chien Huang pitched 2+ innings of no-hit ball, issuing two walks agains two strikeouts.
The loss was charged to Colombian starter Audrey Lum, who surrendered five runs on six hits, with one strikeout.
The hosts will complete their double header today, when they take on Great Britain at 4pm. The European squad need to bounce back after a tough debut last night, when they lost to Czechia, 9-0. The last time they met in a World Cup was on 13 August 2015 in Oklahoma City, USA. Brazil needed 12 innings to beat Great Britain and their ace Georgina Corrick, 6-3.
Czechia and New Zealand will play the last game of the day. The European champions made a statement yesterday with a solid 9-0 win against Great Britain, while New Zealand lost to Chinese Taipei on Game 1 of the competition. First pitch is scheduled at 7pm. These two teams faced each other for the last time in a World Cup on 14 August 2019 in Irvine, USA, for the Placement Round. The Junior White Sox scored twice in the top of the eighth to defeat Czechia, 4-2, in extra innings.
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Top 1st - Helen Rodrigues got into trouble, loading the bases with consecutive walks and a defensive error. Then, Jia-Jehn Cheng sent a 2-1 pitch to the left field corner for a bases-clearing triple, igniting a six-run first inning. Wei-Chi Lin also tripled and Pei-Chieh Hsiao doubled in the inning. Chinese Taipei is ahead, 6-0.
Starting pitchers - Helen Rodrigues (BRA), Yi-Ting Chou (TPE)
Preview - At 1pm, Chinese Taipei will take the field again to play Brazil in the second match today. Brazil made a resounding debut yesterday with a 7-0 victory in front of more than 2,000 people at Mie Nishi Stadium. They faced each other last time on 11 August 2015 in Oklahoma City. Chinese Taipei beat Brazil 7-1 for the Group B of the World Cup.
Top 5th - Chinese Taipei scored three more, with a pair of RBI singles by Yu-Ching Lo and Yu-Lan Wang and Colombia's third error in the game. The game is now 10-2.
Bottom 4th - Colombia load the bases with no outs, before Makenzie Degan draws a bases-loaded walk to plate the first run for Colombia. An RBI single from Sofia Villa added the second run for the South Americans. The game is now 7-2. These are the first two runs allowed by Chinese Taipei in the tournament.
Top 4th - Two more runs for Chinese Taipei off Sophia Escobar, who replaced Audrey Lum in the circle for Colombia. An RBI triple by Yu-Ching Lo was the first of three consecutive hits for the Asians. Chinese Taipei is winning now 7-0.
Bottom 3rd - Yu-Chien Huang tossed two innings of no-hit ball. She opened the third with a walk and was replaced by Emory Cheng. Sophia Loreto got the first Colombian hit of the game, but Cheng hung the zero in the end. Huang's line ended with 2+ innings, issuing two walks agains two strikeouts.
Top 3rd - Chinese Taipei use three hits to put together a three-run rally to extend the lead to 5-0. Doubles by Yu-Lan Wang and Yen-Ting Chiu, and a single bu Yu-Wei Chiang.
Top 2nd - With two outs on the scoreboard, Chinese Taipei string three hits together to score the first two runs of the game. Yen-Ting Chiu tripled to right field and scored on a Chen-Hsuan Chang double to the center field. She then crossed the plate on a run-scoring single by Wei-Chi Lin. Chinese Taipei is winning 2-0.
Top 1st - Three up, three down for Chinese Taipei. Audrey Lum retired the three batters she faced, highlighted by a spectacular diving catch by second baseman Jazmin Mejia.
Starting pitchers - Audrey Lum (COL), Yu-Chien Huang (TPE)
Preview - Chinese Taipei and Colombia will play the first game of the day at 10am (all local time). On Opening Day, the Asian team earned an 8-4 win against New Zealand, while the South Americans suffered a 7-0 loss to Brazil. Both teams faced each other for the last time in a World Cup on 6 December 2021 in Lima, Peru. Chinese Taipei defeated Colombia, 9-0, in their way to a silver-medal finish in that competition.