Havana, September 7 (RHC) – Today, the Cuban national team lost 0-3 to host Japan, losing its unbeaten record in Group A of the U-18 Baseball World Cup held in Okinawa.
Kenshin Shimoshige tightly controlled the squad led by Las Tunas coach Abeicy Pantoja for four innings, striking out five and allowing just two hits.
The loss was for starter Diosdenys Pentón, who pitched two innings at a two-run pace, one of them unearned due to a defensive error.
Reliever Jesús Alejandro López did put in an excellent performance over four innings, in which the Japanese squad could only muster one run at Okinawa Cellular Stadium.
But Shimoshige maintained his dominance over the Cuban batters and secured the victory, applauded by his home crowd.
With this result, Cuba sits in second place in the group, tied with Puerto Rico (2-1), its next opponent, and ahead of South Korea (1-1), against whom it will close out the qualifying stage.
The Cubans had won their previous matches against South Africa and Italy.
In the other bracket, the United States remains in the lead with three wins and no losses, followed by Australia and Germany (2-1), Chinese Taipei (1-1), Panama (0-2), and China (0-3).
