The first day is in the books and the favourites did their jobs. But the Cuban team needed some magic to beat Australia narrowly with two homeruns in the ninth and tenth inning. Both are facing European teams on Thursday. Cuba is going against Germany, who lost to Venezuela in their first World Cup of Baseball match in years. Expect the same result tomorrow. The Aussies want their first victory of the tournament against the Dutch team. They were the only winner on the European side on Wednesday, winning easily against debutant Thailand.
Pool A featured three expected wins for the USA, Panama and Japan. The first two are facing each other tomorrow. This duel will eventually decide first place in this group. Both got shutouts in their first victories and we are anticipating a low-scoring affair. At the same time in Taichung, two European rivals are going for their first win of the event. Italy, who did not play on Tuesday, because of the postponed opening match against Chinese Taipei, welcomes the Spanish team (lost 0-5 vs. Panama).
Schedule for Thursday
(All listed times are local)
Group A
12:00 USA (1-0) – Panama (1-0)
12:00 Italy (0-0) – Spain (0-1)
18:00 South Africa (0-1) – Chinese Taipei (0-0)
18:00 Japan (1-0) – Mexico (0-1)
Group B
12:00 Venezuela (1-0) – Korea (1-0)
12:00 Thailand (0-1) – Canada (0-1)
18:00 Australia (0-1) – Netherlands (1-0)
18:00 Germany (0-1) – Cuba (1-0)