The Premier12 continued after the rest day with its fourth game day of the first round on Saturday in Taiwan. Prior to all games a moment of silence was held to honor the victims of the terror attacks in Paris, France the evening before.
It was day with interesting results. Japan used a pair of big home runs and nine runs combined in the sixth and seventh to down Team USA 10-2 in the clash of number one and two in the Men’s Baseball World Rankings. Japan improved to 4-0, while the USA dropped to 2-2. USA’s opponent on Sunday is South Korea, which is 3-1. The 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist held on to an early lead to defeat Mexico 4-3. In the third Pool B matchup Venezuela rallied against the Dominican Republic to prevail 8-6.
In Pool A Canada shut out Italy 4-0 to remain undefeated. They will play for first place against the Netherlands on Sunday. The Dutch team scored eight runs in the first two frames en route to an 11-7 victory over Puerto Rico. They are now 3-1. In the evening Chinese Taipei got an eighth inning home run to stun Cuba with a 4-1 victory. Both teams are now 2-2 in first-round play.
On Sunday the last game day of the first round at the Premier12 will be played. The top four in each pool advances to the quarterfinals. Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea already can plan for the second round. Italy and the Dominican Republic already have been eliminated and will close out the tournament with their final first-round match. Venezuela, USA, Mexico, Chinese Taipei, Cuba and Puerto Rico still have to fight for a spot in the final round.
The quarterfinals will be played in Taiwan on Monday. The semi-finals, bronze medal game and gold medal game will switch to the Tokyo Dome in Japan and will be played from Thursday to Saturday.
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Schedule, Results and Recaps of Premier 12:
Sunday, November 8, 2015:
Japan – South Korea 5-0 Recap
Monday, November 9, 2015:
Chinese Taipei – Netherlands 4-7 Recap
Tuesday, November 10, 2015:
Venezuela – Mexico 4-6 Recap
Puerto Rico – Italy 7-1 Recap
USA – Dominican Republic 11-5 Recap
Cuba – Canada 1-5 Recap
Wednesday, November 11, 2015:
USA – Venezuela 5-7 Recap
Netherlands – Cuba 5-6 Recap
Dominican Republic – South Korea 1-10 Recap
Japan – Mexico 6-5 Recap
Canada – Puerto Rico 2-0 Recap
Italy – Chinese Taipei 1-7 Recap
Thursday, November 12, 2015:
South Korea – Venezuela 13-2 (7) Recap
Cuba – Puerto Rico 8-7 (10) Recap
Mexico – USA 0-10 (8) Recap
Dominican Republic – Japan 2-4 Recap
Italy – Netherlands 1-16 (7) Recap
Chinese Taipei – Canada 8-9 Recap
Saturday, November 14, 2015:
Venezuela – Dominican Republic 8-6 Recap
Netherlands – Puerto Rico 11-7 Recap
Mexico – South Korea 3-4 Recap
USA – Japan 2-10 Recap
Canada – Italy 0-4 Recap
Chinese Taipei – Cuba 4-1 Recap
Sunday, November 15, 2015:
12:05 Dominican Republic – Mexico
12:35 Puerto Rico – Chinese Taipei
18:00 South Korea – USA
18:08 Japan – Venezuela
18:35 Cuba – Italy
18:35 Netherlands – Canada
Monday, November 16, 2015:
Quarterfinals in Taiwan
Standings:
Pool A
1) Canada 4-0
2) Netherlands 3-1
3) Chinese Taipei 2-2
4) Cuba 2-2
5) Puerto Rico 1-3
6) Italy 0-4
Pool B
1) Japan 4-0
2) South Korea 3-1
3) Venezuela 2-2
4) USA 2-2
5) Mexico 1-3
6) Dominican Republic 0-4
Photo by Ezio Ratti, FIBS