Day two at the inaugural 21U Baseball World Cup in Taichung started with a huge upset. Underdog New Zealand stunned Mexico with a 9-5 victory. Taking an early 3-1 lead, the team of manager Chris Woodward blew the score open with four runs in the seventh. Mexico tried to come back in the ninth, but gap was too steep to overcome. Roland Shaw struck out eight in 6 1/3 strong frames to earn the win. Dewald De Clerk scored three times and drove in two. Brandon Huez took the loss.
For the teams from European Baseball, the second game day showed three losses. The Czech Republic dropped to 0-2 with a 1-16 loss to host Chinese Taipei. 11 runs in the last two innings turned the game into a blowout. Otherwise Marek Cervenka and especially Jan Novak had kept the Czech team in the game early. But the bullpen imploded later on. Yu Ning Tsao went 3-for-4 with a walk, three runs scored and five RBI. Ming Hsuan Chen pitched seven strong innings for the win.
The Netherlands, which opened the tournament with an off day on Friday, lost 1-10 against Australia, which improved to 1-1 in Group B. Five runs in the fifth broke a scoreless tie. Five more in the eighth and the ninth made a comeback impossible. In the first four frames it was a game on the same level thanks to the pitching of Maickel Rietel (NED, 4 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 SO), Sam Gibbons (AUS, 3 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 SO) and Joshua Guyer (AUS, 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO), who ended up with the win. Entwin Reigina (L, 0-1) and Kaj Timmermans couldn’t keep up and the Dutch team picked up the loss.
Italy dropped to 1-1 with a 6-12 defeat against Korea. After falling behind by five runs early in the contest, the Squadra Azzurri crawled back, cutting the deficit to 5-6 midway through the sixth. But then Korea scored again and prevailed in the end for their second win. Mirco Caradonna and Sebastiano Poma had two RBI each. Dohyun Kim hit a home run and drove in three for Korea. Kyeongchan Moon received the win, Yomel Rivera the loss.
In the second evening matchup Japan downed Venezuela 11-1 in an easy win in seven innings. After the South American held on to a narrow 1-0 lead after three innings, Team Samurai put seven runs on the board in the fourth and the fifth to get in front. Naoyuki Uwasawa struck out nine in five innings, allowing five hits and a run. Francisco Duran conceded four hits, five runs (4 ER) and three base on balls in four innings. Fumiya Hojo homered and drove in four.