An infield single from shortstop Nestor Fransisco in the bottom of the seventh was enough to give the Dominican Republic a walk-off win in the opening game of the 2025 WBSC World Cup Finals.
Fransisco’s bases-loaded line-drive glanced off the tip of Japanese 3B Yusuko Sakuraba’s glove and into the air, giving designated player Jendry Torres enough time to cross home for a 3-2 win.
“The team was concentrating inning by inning,” Dominican team captain Elias Valerio said through a translator. “We were focused until the last inning. We know the game won’t finish until the last inning.”
Fans were treated to a back-and-forth affair on a hot afternoon at Max Powers Ball Park in Prince Albert. Starting pitchers Hiroki Ikeda and Yan Gonzalez kept the game scoreless until the fourth when Japanese LF Koki Sato hit the first home run of the tournament. The drive to deep left-centre field was also Japan’s first hit of the day.
The Dominicans tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when Yoel De Mota doubled down the left field line, then scored on another double from Pablo Figuereo.
The Dominicans took the lead the next inning thanks to a solo home run from Valerio, but Japan tied it in the seventh on another solo home run from 1B Kazuya Toriyama.
In the bottom of the seventh, Japan brought in Shota Onodera to finish the game. Onodera gave up a lead-off triple to Torres, followed by an infield single where the defence held Torres at third base. Figuereo was intentionally walked to load the bases, setting the stage for Fransisco’s heroics.
“We were more aggressive to get what we were focused on: getting a run,” Valerio said afterwards.
The Dominican Republic entered the tournament as underdogs. As the 11th ranked team in 2024, they were looking for a boost against the third ranked team from Japan. Valerio said the win has given them confidence.
“We know this game doesn’t end until the last out,” he said. “We came here to be number one in the world.”
Venezuela 1 Argentina 0
Argentina entered the 2025 World Cup as the number one seed, but they’re already facing early adversity.
An RBI single from 1B Erwin Diaz and seven shut-out innings from pitcher Maiker Pimentel were enough for Venezuela to knock off the Argentines 1-0 in the second game of the day at Max Power Ball Parks.
Huemul Mata and Roman Godoy combined to pitch seven innings of one-run ball for Argentina. The two pitchers gave up only three hits all day, but didn’t get the offensive support to win.
With the game scoreless in the top of the sixth, Venezuelan shortstop Pedro Flores walked, then advanced to second on a ground-out by Angel Adames.
With two outs, Diaz hit a ground ball that snuck past the outstretched glove of Argentine 2B Federico Eder, giving Flores enough time to round third and score.
In the bottom of the seventh, Argentina’s Teo Migliavacca led off with a single, and advanced to third on another single by catcher Juan Zara. With two outs and two on, pinch-hitter Gonzalo Ojeda popped up to third base for the final out.
USA 10 Australia 0
A close game turned into a rout as Team USA scored 10 runs on 11 hits and received a dazzling pitching performance from Marco Diaz for a 10-0 win over Australia on Tuesday.
The Americans led 1-0 in the top of the fifth when Cameron Schiller’s inside the park home run made it 3-0. The USA added another run in the sixth to make it 4-0, then put six runs on the board in the seventh, with 1B Rick Ochoa doing most of the damage on a two-out, three RBI double to left-centre.
On the other side, Diaz kept the Australian bats quiet, giving up one hit all game, while striking out 10 and walking none to earn the win.
Australia will hope for a quick turnaround on Wednesday. They’ll face the Dominican Republic in the opening game at 11:30 a.m. The USA will face Japan in the second game at 2:30 p.m.
