La Jornada – Mexico lost to Japan in Game 1 of the Little League World Championship

La novena mexicana, representing the Municipal Liga of Tijuana, cayó for 6-1 ante la Liga Musashi Fuchu of Japan, which debuted in the Serie Mundial de Ligas Pequeñas Williamsport 2023, encuentro celebrado in the Volunteer Stadium of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United State.

The team from Japan, a country with a history of 11 world titles in the under-12 category, dominated from start to finish, neutralizing the Mexican representative at The Rules.

And the Japanese Jorge Villa defended since the first half, who withdrew with an injury in his arm after allowing two runs to Akito Masuda and Daimo Nakano. Jaime Mandugano came on to finish the episode.

Jorge Lizarraga drove in Jonathan Juarez in the second period for the only Mexican score.

With a pitch on Shoma Tachibana, Japan extended their lead with the bases loaded for Sota Kavanuma to score the third, then the Japanese did not relent until the end of the inning and the game up 6-1.

The team, led by Francisco Fimbres, is seeking a fourth title for the country, which seems a long way off, as the Borders team is now forced to win the next three matches to reach the final.

Mexico’s next commitment will be against the winner of the duel between Canada, Europe and Africa, on Monday.

The Japanese will be looking to continue their exemplary pace when facing the Asia-Pacific side.

This version of the Children’s Tournament is played intricately, which is that if a team loses a match, it falls into the losers category and will be eliminated with a second defeat.

Mexico qualified for this last stage in 2022 as champions of the Monterrey Industrial Championships, and was the first non-US team to win the tournament, which it achieved with a perfect game by Ángel Macías against a team from California.

In this final stage, Mexico led directly into the first turn of the draw, sharing the key with the representatives of Japan, Panama, Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Australia, the Caribbean and Cuba. The latter is participating for the first time in the Little League tournament.

In total, three Mexican teams have been crowned Little League champions in the more than 60 years that Little League has competed in the tournament, always staged in Williamsport.

The first title was in 1957, the second in 1958, and the last in 1997, all achieved with teams from Monterrey.

In the previous match on Friday, Venezuela, with the San Francisco de Maracaibo team, achieved an important victory over Panama, 4-3, and in the next stage they will play against a team from the Caribbean.