Eudomar Toyo and Erwin Diaz turn in solid performances for Cuba in victory against Japan

Venezuela's combined pitching and hitting efforts helped secure a 3-1 win against a tough Japanese side. Eudomar Toyo gave up just one run on seven hits, while teammate Erwin Diaz powered the offence with two RBIs.

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<p>Eudomar Toyo

delivered a solid performance on the mound for Cuba, giving up just one run on

seven hits and striking out six batters, while Erwin Diaz had one hit and two

RBIs that were good enough to beat a tough Japanese side on Tuesday in the XVII

WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup.</p>

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<p>The crowd

at Rosedale Park were on its feet both squads kept the game scoreless in the

first four innings followed by the three thrilling frames.</p>

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<p>Engelbert

Herrera singled to the left centre and eventually reaching the home plate after

another single from Edinson Marrero for one tick on the scoreboard in the bottom

of the fourth inning.</p>

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<p>Japan tried

to keep up with their South American rivals, with aggressive moves from the

batter’s box that helped get Hikaru Matsuda and Kotaro Yasumi into scoring

positions. However, they were retired on a double play to end the top of the

fifth.</p>

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<p>Carlos Villegas moved to first base off a single. Rogelio

Sequera also hit a single, moving Villegas to second base. As Rafael Flores

reached on fielder’s choice, Villegas was struck out on third, but Sequera

progressed to second base.</p>

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<p>With Sequera and Flores in scoring positions, Venezuela amplified

their mission to log more runs and they successfully completed it when Diaz

doubled to left centre to extend the advantage to 3-0. </p>

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<p>Japan kept its hope alive when Taiyo Kataoka tripled to the

left centre and scored the run on the next play from Kazuya Toriyama who

singled up the middle.</p>

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<p>However, Toyo recovered quickly and struck out the next three

Japanese batters to close the game in Venezuela’s favour 3-1.</p>

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