With only three games left in the super round, all six teams will still be fighting for a medal at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup 2024 after Friday’s games.

Puerto Rico and Japan lead the super round 3-1 and have secured a place in Sunday’s medal games. Chinese Taipei and Nicaragua are tied at 2-2, while Colombia and Mexico are tied at 1-3.

All three games on Saturday will determine the two finalists and the two teams competing for the bronze medal.

Host Colombia, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico are aiming to finish on the podium for the first time at the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Championship.

On Friday, Puerto Rico defeated Chinese Taipei 8-2 in the first match of the day, while Japan beat Mexico 6-1 in a rain-interrupted match. Both teams lead the table with a score of 3-1. Nicaragua came from behind to beat Colombia 6-2.

Meanwhile, Italy beat South Africa 14-4 in the placement round, Venezuela was too strong for Guam with a 19-3 win and the Dominican Republic narrowly beat the Netherlands 5-4.

With one match remaining for both teams on Saturday, Italy (currently ranked 8th) will face Venezuela, aiming for its best result at the event, having previously finished ninth in 1998 and 1996.

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A great pitching performance by Victor Rivera and a strong first inning helped Puerto Rico to an 8-2 victory over Chinese Taipei on the second day of the Super Round. With this victory, Puerto Rico moved to 3-1 in the Super Round standings.

Puerto Rico took advantage of a shaky first inning for Chinese Taipei, which sent three pitchers to the field to finish the game’s first three outs, allowing six runs, three hits and five walks in the inning. Puerto Rico never looked back.

Rivera pitched five innings, allowing six hits and two runs and had three strikeouts. He was the winning pitcher.

Chinese Taipei scored its only runs of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. They hit two consecutive singles to start the inning and Yu-Chieh Hsu hit a bunt down the third base line for a single. Rivera tried to put the runner on first base out of the game, but his throw went into right field, scoring two runs.

However, Puerto Rico got the two runs back in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring single by Jean Rosa.

Thanks to an outstanding performance from Naru Fukui, Japan claimed its first victory of the Super Round today, beating Mexico 6-1. The start of the match was delayed by almost 90 minutes due to rain.

Eight Japanese players hit safely in the game, including Ryota Okada, who hit 2 for 3 and was the only Japanese player with two hits in the game. Yuga Arai collected two RBIs, for a total of nine in the tournament.

Fukui needed 81 pitches to finish the game, managing six strikeouts while allowing four hits and one run. Two of Mexico’s four hits came from Alexander Huerta.

Japan enters the final day of the Super Round with a score of 3-1 and tied with Puerto Rico as the leader. Mexico is down 1-3 and will play tomorrow to advance to the bronze medal match.

In the final match of the day, Colombia and Nicaragua will face off at 7:00 p.m., looking to get a much-needed win to stay in the race for a spot in the medal games.

A close game at home that was initially ruled “canceled” and then overturned after review tied the game in the fourth and opened the door for four more runs for Nicaragua, helping the Central Americans to a 6-2 win over Colombia. Luis Garcia hit a two-run single that gave Nicaragua the lead in the sixth.

Colombia took the lead by scoring a run in the first and second innings, both times against Nicaragua starter Cristhian Alvarez, who pitched 1.1 innings and allowed two runs on one hit and two walks.

Gean Carlos Lopez threw 5.2 scoreless innings as a relief pitcher, allowing just two hits and one walk to earn the win.

Nicaragua improved to 2-2 in the table, while Colombia slipped to 1-3.

Italy used 11 hits and two five-run innings to defeat South Africa 14-4 in five innings. For Italy, Pablo Suarez, Patrick Silva and Matteo Chinello went 2-for-3 in the game, while eight players had at least one RBI.

Christian Totoni was the winning pitcher, throwing three innings, allowing two hits and three runs and striking out five players.

Italy’s record improved to 3-1 in the placement round, while South Africa slipped to 1-3.

Venezuela took an easy win against Guam with 19:3 in five innings. The South Americans secured the victory in the first inning, scoring nine runs.

Venezuela’s first batter Francisco Marquez hit 3 for 3 with three runs scored and four RBIs and led an offense with 16 hits.

With this result, Venezuela improved its record to 3-1, level with Italy. Guam is at 0-4.

The Dominican Republic defeated the Netherlands 5-4 to earn its second victory in the placement round. A throwing error in the seventh inning allowed Wandy Asigen to score the game-winning run from third base.

Frandely Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Alfredo Sena went 1-for-2 with an RBI, the only three hits of the game for the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic maintains a perfect record in the placement round, while the Netherlands are now 1-3.

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Colombia 2 – 6 Nicaragua – Result

Lower 4. – Nicaragua came from behind to take the lead in the game. A walk with the bases loaded made it a one-run game. One out later, Ludell Espinoza hit a fly ball to center field, Sebastian Solano caught the ball and threw it precisely to home plate in a close play that was initially ruled an out but was then overturned after review, tying the game and leaving the inning still open. A two-RBI single by Luis Garcia and a dropped fly ball to left field allowed Nicaragua to score four runs and take the lead in the game.

Top2 – Adrian Niño and Omar Marrugo worked a walk and Alan Peña singled to right field for the game’s second run. Colombia leads 2-0.

Below 1. – Nicaragua had the bases loaded with one out, on a single by Luis Garcia and two walks. Colombian pitcher Juan Jose Payares escaped unscathed, striking out Berman Moreno and forcing Johacner Gutierrez to hit a fly belt to left field.

Top1 – Colombia struck first in the game. Sebastian Cervantes walked five pitches and got to second base on a single by Ander Elorriaga. He then stole third base and the throw went to left field, scoring the first run of the game. Colombia leads 1-0.

• Game 41 – 19:00, Edgar Renteria Stadium, Barranquilla.
• COL – No. 0 – Juan Jose Payares Martinez RHP
• NCA – No. 38 – Cristian Alvarez RHP

Mexico 1 – 6 Japan – Result

Lower 5. – Mitsuki Tokura hit a leadoff single and then pinch runner Yusei Niwa scored on a sacrifice fly to center field.

Top4 – With two runners in scoring position, after a single by Alejandro Gonzales and a long double by Alexander Huerta, Mexico scored its first run of the game on a wild pitch by Naru Fukui. Two fly balls ended the inning. Japan leads 2-1.

Lower third – After two scoreless innings, Japan takes the lead. A throwing error and a walk put two runners on base with one out. Mexican pitcher Dereck Lopez struck out Soya Kokubo, but could not prevent a two-run double to right field by Yuga Arai. It was Japan’s first hit of the game. Japan leads 2-0.

16:29 – Play Ball! Mexico and Japan are on their way almost 90 minutes late.

4:20 p.m. – Grounds crew are working on the field, so the game will be delayed by a few more minutes.

15:42 – The tarpaulin is being pulled. Estimated start time 16:20 local time.

3:00 p.m. – Tarp laid out at Edgar Renteria Stadium. First pitch has been delayed.

• Game 39 – 3:00 p.m., Edgar Renteria Stadium, Barranquilla.
• MEX- #22 – Dereck Alexander Lopez Romero RHP
• JPN – No. 19 – Naru Fukui, RHP

preview – Japan and Mexico will face off in Barranquilla at 3pm. The match could decide the fate of the two teams in the competition. Japan are tied at the top of the table with 2-1 points, while Mexico lost to Colombia yesterday and will need to recover to remain in the race for a medal. They have never participated in a U-15 World Cup before.

Puerto Rico 8 – 2 Chinese Taipei – Result

Top7 – Puerto Rico gets two back. A walk and an error put two runners in scoring position with no outs. Jean Rosa hit a sacrifice fly, followed by two singles by Arnaldo Rodriguez and Valentin Carrasquillo, who brought home pinch runner Saul Maldonado last. Puerto Rico now leads 8-2.

Below 6. – Chinese Taipei hit two consecutive singles to start the inning and Yu-Chieh Hsu hit a bunt to the third base line for a single. Victor Rivera tried to take the runner on first base out of the game, but his throw went into right field, scoring two runs and leaving a runner on second base. Rivera was replaced by Carlos Coira, who took the inning out of the game. Can Chinese Taipei pull off another late-inning comeback?

Top-5 – Rivera puts another zero on the scoreboard. The Puerto Rican left-hander pitched five scoreless innings, allowed three hits and had three strikeouts.

Lower 4. – Victor Rivera pitched very well in this game. In four innings, he allowed three hits, no runs and no walks. He had one strikeout. On the other hand, after a shaky first inning, the Chinese Taipei team settled for Ren-Ruei Wu, who pitched 3.2 innings, allowing three hits and one run, three walks and one strikeout. The game is still 6-0 for Puerto Rico.

Below 1. – Victor Rivera allowed a two-out single, but then forced Shih-Yao Huang to ground to shortstop to end the inning. All four Chinese Taipei batters put the ball in play and on the ground. Puerto Rico leads 6-0.

Top1 – Chinese Taipei sent three pitchers to stop the game’s first three outs. As a team, they allowed six runs, three hits and five walks in this inning. For Puerto Rico, Jean Rosa put Puerto Rico ahead with an RBI single, Valentin Carrasquillo and Bradley Rodriguez drew walks with the bases loaded, Edward Pineiro singled to score the fourth run and Sebastian Cruz capped the comeback with a two-run single up the middle. Puerto Rico leads 6-0 and their starter Victor Rivera hasn’t thrown a single pitch yet.

• Game 37 – 10:30 a.m., Edgar Renteria Stadium, Barranquilla.
• PUR – No. 29 – Victor Rivera, left-hander
• TPE – No. 1 – Nien-Hsiao Yu RHP

preview – Chinese Taipei and Puerto Rico, both leading the Super Round 2-1, will face off in the first match of the day. The winner of the match will be one step closer to reaching the World Cup final. They met in a Super Round match in Hermosillo, Mexico in 2022 and the Asians won 9-0. Kick-off is at 10:30 a.m.