WBSC Softball Highlights: Men's Softball World Championship Final: Argentina v Japan

When people ask you why you love softball, this is the game that will do all the talking for you.

Argentina came into the final game of the 2019 Men's Softball World Championship facing a sellout crowd and an undefeated opponent. Japan had gone 9-0 in the tournament while Argentina had fallen, just once, to Japan on the 3rd day of play.

As young as their staff may have been, the Argentines proved to have a very quick learning curve. Their ace in the circle, Huemul Mata, went above and beyond. He pitched a complete game, including 3 extra innings, throwing just 146 pitches over 10 innings of work.

For his part, Japan's starting pitcher, Hikaru Matsuda was a double threat, being equally intimidating from either side of the plate. Hitting just .250 on the day, Matsuda finished the tournament with a .545 average and a 1.18 slugging percentage. He went down swinging 3 times while flagging 4 of his own. Over his 5.0 innings of work, 41 of his 55 pitches crossed the heart of the plate. Matsuda finished the tournament with a .46 ERA.

There were a lot of amazing defensive plays in this game, and several more that could easily have shifted the momentum, but the game itself seemed to have its own pulse; a drive that grew faster and stronger with every passing moment. We didn't want to deny you the experience of the game so we've extended this reel. It will feel a bit more like a mini-game than our usual content but we're fairly confident you'll forgive us.

Included in the reel is a special message to the people of Argentina from their world-class player Sebastian Gervasutti: https://www.baseballebm.com/single-po...

Gold Medal Ceremony Highlights:    • WBSC Softball Highlights: Men's Softb...  

Box Score: https://mswc.wbsc.org/en/2019/schedul...

Interview with SS Gian Scialacomo: https://www.prague2019.com/en/clanek....

Argentina Roster: Japan Roster:
P Mata, Huemul (4) Matsuda, Hikaru (20)
C Motroni, Bruon (28) Oishi, Tsukasa (12)
1B Godoy, Manuel (27) Uramoto, Daishi (9)
2B Eder, Federico (11) Yasumi, Kotaro (8)
3B Godoy, Gustavo (82) Tsutsui, Takuto (7)
SS Scialacomo, Gian (42) Une, Ryoyu (24)
LF Montero, Mariano (17) Morita, Yusuke (19)
CF Migliavacca, Teo (9) Kuroiwa, Seii (23)
RF Peker, Alan (59) Ikeda, Hiroto (21)

Highlights Produced by: European Baseball & Softball Magazine

Full Game Footage Provided By: Playo.TV with permission from the WBSC

Thumbnail Photo Credit: WBSC

Broadcasters: Steve Sabourin play-by-play and Kris Abbott on color

Music on this video was part of the stadium environment. EBSM holds no copyright and claims fair use.

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