The fourth day at the World Cup of Baseball in Taipei is over and the teams take their positions to advance to the quarterfinals. Cuba is the first nation with four victories. Chinese Taipei is the only other undefeated squad. Both should be on their way into the next round.
Australia showed their complete offensive potential against Thailand. They scored 26 runs on 30 hits. It was a much needed breathier for them, after three thrillers, decided by walk-off-hits, to start the tournament. Korea is up next, who lost for the first time on Saturday. Both are 3-1 and it should be one of the most intriguing match ups on Sunday.
It was somehow a bad day for Europe. Only the Dutch (3-1) received a win, which put them in position to advance into the next round. They are facing Canada (2-2) tomorrow, what could decide the outcome for fourth place in group B. Besides the more or less expected losses by Germany (0-10 vs. Canada) and Spain (4-8 vs. Taiwan), the clear defeat of Italy was a bit surprising, after the last few days. But they are still in fourth place in pool A. South Africa is their next opponent.
Schedule for Sunday
(all listed times are local)
Group A
12:00 Chinese Taipei (3-0) – Mexico (1-3)
12:00 South Africa (0-4) – Italy (2-1)
18:00 Spain (1-3) – USA (3-1)
18:00 Japan (2-2) – Panama (3-1)
Group B
12:00 Australia (3-1) – Korea (3-1)
12:00 Netherlands (3-1) – Canada (2-2)
18:00 Venezuela (1-3) – Cuba (4-0)
18:00 Germany (0-4) – Thailand (0-4)