Japan are in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic 2023

On Thursday night we had an incredible show from the game between JAP and ITA. Japan managed to book their ticket to Miami with a 3-9 victory.

Japanese has been on of the favorites since the beginning of the tournament. They managed to completely dominate Pool B winning the four games they had. On the other hand, Italy struggled in Pool A winning only two games and loosing the other two.

This game was going to decide who will travel to Miami to the semifinals and face the winner from Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Games highlight

Japan came into this game with eyes on target. In the third inning they came hard and managed to score the first four runs from the game. Three of them came thanks to a great home run with two players on base. With this Italy had a lot of pressure to at least tie the game.

The fifth inning got around pretty fast. With runners in each base Italy managed to score a single that pushed two runs closing in the match. Japan responded in the same inning with a double that pushed one more run making ending the short streak from Italy. In the next play the Japanese pushed two more run thanks to a double.

Moving on into the seventh inning, another solo home run set the game 2-9.

Italy tried to fight back in the eight inning, but only managed to score one more run. The game ended 3-9.

This is a huge step for Japan’s road to victory. Italy has been sent back home and will have to wait until the next edition to out perform themself.

Are Japan going to be able to win the tournament? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section!