Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

CAN’T BRING IT BACK – Japanese centre-fielder Shimpei Omoto can’t track down Argentine Gonzalo Masmu’s drive over the fence in the bottom of the ninth inning yesterday.

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

WINNER – Argentine pitcher Roman Godoy picked up the win against Japan by pitching two scoreless innings in relief.

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

DEALING – Japanese ace Kento Okazaki struck out 11 in eight and two-thirds, before surrendering a walkoff home run.

Japan takes eventual champs to brink en route to bronze

International Softball Federation president Dale McMann called it “one of the finest” games he’s seen all year.

By Marcel Vander Wier on July 21, 2014

International Softball Federation president Dale McMann called it “one of the finest” games he’s seen all year.

In a rematch of 2012’s championship final, Japan took Argentina to the brink in the bronze-medal game Sunday afternoon, before succumbing 3-1 to the eventual champions on a ninth-inning two-run home run by Gonzalo Masmu.

Lionhearted Japanese ace Kento Okazaki struck out 11 in eight and two-thirds, before surrendering the walkoff homer to Masmu. The game-ending hit came on Okazaki’s 138th pitch.

“I’m very proud of the whole team,” the 19-year-old star said post-game, after rating his personal performance at 80 out of 100.

The loss earned Japan bronze.

As the game wore on in extra innings, Okazaki and catcher Hideo Taguchi became more picky on which balls they would use, often forcing the home plate umpire into a juggling act before settling on their ball of preference.

“I wanted to play with old balls, used balls, rather than brand-new ones,” he explained. “A brand-new ball tends to be slippery.”

Despite windy and wet conditions, fans jammed the bleachers for the contest, which at times felt like it would go on forever.

Japan staked themselves to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when an RBI single from Ryoyu Une scored Kazuki Kajihara.

Argentina tied it in the bottom of the fourth when Huemul Mata hit an RBI double to score Facundo Carril.

Head coach Yoshio Yamaguchi said his team needed to hold on to that lead if they were to have a chance to win.

“Argentina’s pitcher is so good, we really wanted to get the first point,” Yamaguchi said through an interpreter. “We got it, we just couldn’t run away with it ... Argentina’s batters are pretty good too.

“We aimed at number one, but we failed. Still, all of the players played very very well, and I feel like they played as good as champions.”

Argentine ace Mata struck out 14 in seven innings before giving way to Roman Godoy, who tossed the final two frames for the win.

Godoy kept Japan at bay, setting up teammate Gonzalo Masmu’s game-winning heroics.

With two out and Franco Gini on second – thanks to the ISF extra-inning rule meant to help teams score runs – Masmu jacked it over the centre-field wall, just out of the reach of Shimpei Omoto’s glove.

A similar hit off the bat of Masmu earlier in the contest had been caught by Omoto, but he wasn’t able to perform the feat twice.

“To get the team to the final game ... it’s the best thing that could have happened to me,” the 18-year-old Masmu told the Star via an interpreter.

Masmu would score a run and pick up another RBI in the final as Argentina defeated New Zealand 9-0 to win their second straight world championship.

The club achieved the world title a week after Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi failed to do so in the FIFA World Cup.

“It’s got nothing to do with it, because soccer is another sport,” Masmu said. “We had our plan to win the world tournament, and we did it.”

Japan earned the opportunity to play Argentina by defeating Australia 12-3 in the first semifinal matchup Saturday.

The Japanese scored three in the first and added four more in the second, chasing Aussie starter Jerremyah Selu.

Hideo Morita, Haruki Kinjo, Takanari Osaki, and Okazaki each had two RBIs in the win.

With the loss, Australia finished the tournament in fourth place.

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