Led by a complete game shutout by Hayato Takagi and a five-run fourth inning, top-seeded Japan blanked Chinese Taipei, 8-0, in the Honkbalweek semifinal B matchup.
When these two teams faced off in the opening round on July 15, fans were treated to a pitcher’s duel that Japan eventually won thanks to a big game from catcher Taiga Kojima. Japan’s offense stepped on the gas earlier to take a big lead this time.
Hayato Takagi, who had not given up a run in the tournament, started the game for Japan. Takagi continued his magical tournament run, pitching all nine innings and allowing zero runs. The righty from Japan has been masterful in this tournament and is a key piece of why Japan will be competing for the Honkbal championship tomorrow afternoon.
Japan’s offense gave Takagi strong run support, starting at the bottom of the third. Akira Shigenaga doubled right off of Chinese Taipei starter Li-Chen Wu and was then brought in by Motomu Ilyama’s double to make it 2-0.
A run in the third and another five in the fourth inning added momentum and propelled the Japanese to build their lead exponentially. Taipei’s Zi-Hao Huang came in for Wu after he loaded the bases, and Japan’s Akira Shigenaga ripped a single down the left-field line to score two.
Next, an Ilyama single to center scored Tsubasa Yoshino from second. To cap it off, Misho Nishikawa sent a triple into center, bringing two more runs. That would be the last scoring in the fourth, but the Japanese had put up a huge five spot that extended their lead to 6-0.
In the fifth inning, Taiwan still was unable to touch Takagi’s stuff, and the Japanese offense scored two more via a Kengo Yanagate double and, once again, a Shigenaga RBI single.
Takagi took his one-hitter into the ninth, and it stayed that way. He rolled two grounders into outs and then struck out Cheng-Chun Yang to punch his country’s ticket to the finals of Haarlem Honkbalweek. Takagi finished with 11 strikeouts and only one hit allowed for what could be the best pitching performance of the tournament.
The United States and the Netherlands play later today to determine who will face Japan in the final. Chinese Taipei will play the loser of that matchup in the third-place game.
You can follow the Honkbalweek Haarlem event here at the World Baseball Network all week and watch along at honkbal.tv.
