After the first two days at the inaugural 21U Baseball World Cup in Taichung saw mostly lopsided games, the third game day provided five highly competitive games. Nicaragua edged out Australia 3-2 for their second win in two games. Two runs in the fifth turned out to be the difference maker. The team from Down Under tried to come back, but left two men on base with one out in the top of the ninth, dropping to 1-2 in the tournament.
The Netherlands put up a good fight against Japan, but in the end lost 2-7 against the top favorite. Three runs in the second and four in the fourth gave Team Nippon the victory. The Dutch team had cut the deficit to 2-3 in the top of the fourth. Yudai Mori and two relievers kept the Netherlands to five hits and a pair of runs by Kevin and Kirvin Moesquit. Floris Timmer got charged with the loss. Entwin Reigina pitched three scoreless innings in relief.
The Czech Republic struck out on their attempt for their first win in the event. They lost 5-6 to New Zealand, dropping to 0-3. The Kiwis meanwhile improved to 2-1. After the Czech tied the game 5-5 in the top of the ninth thanks to a run by Petr Sila, New Zealand countered with a two-out RBI single in the bottom half of the frame to win in walk-off style. Jakub Ondracek tripled and scored twice.
The tough tournament for Mexico continued on Sunday, when they lost 1-5 to Italy for their third defeat in three games. Italy improved to 2-1 and remains hopeful for a second round berth. Gabriele Quattrini, Matteo Bocchi and Enrico Varin laid the groundwork with nine strong innings on the mound. Sebastiano Poma scored twice. Alberto Mineo drove in two.
In the second evening game Chinese Taipei got its third win with a 7-1 win over Korea. It was pitcher’s duel in the first half. But after Korea took a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth, Chinese Taipei answered with seven runs in the seventh and eighth to run away with the victory. A two-run triple by Po Jung Wang and a three-run home run by Chih Chieh Su were the highlights.