2018 Women's Softball World Championship
The 2018 Women's Softball World Championship was an international softball competition held in Chiba, Japan, from 2 August to 12 August.[1][2] It was the 16th edition of the tournament, and the third edition to be sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Previous editions were sanctioned by the International Softball Federation, which governed the sport until its 2013 merger with the International Baseball Federation to create the WBSC. As the winners, the United States earned the right to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[3] It was the last world title awarded under the championship format before the WBSC implemented the new world cup 4 year cycle.[4]
Tournament details | |
---|---|
Host country | Japan |
Dates | 2–12 August 2018 |
Teams | 16 (from 5 continents) |
Venues | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
Defending champions | United States (2016) |
Final positions | |
Champions | United States (11th title) |
Runner-up | Japan |
Third place | Canada |
Fourth place | Australia |
Tournament statistics | |
Games played | 73 |
Attendance | 44,990 (616 per game) |
Best batting average | Meng-Ting Lai (.526) |
Most homeruns hit | Yu Yamamoto (6) |
Most stolen bases | Britt Vonk (6) |
Best ERA | Danielle Lawrie (0.45) |
Most strikeouts (as pitcher) | Dalla Escobedo-Gosch (61) |
Qualification
Origin | Berths | Qualified |
---|---|---|
Host nation | 1 | Japan |
Oceania | 2 | Australia, New Zealand |
Europe | 3 | Netherlands, Italy, Great Britain |
Americas[5] | 5 | Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, United States, Venezuela |
Asia | 3 | Philippines, Chinese Taipei, China |
Africa[6] | 2 | Botswana, South Africa |
Venues
Narashino | Narita | ||
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Akitsu Baseball Field | NASPA Stadium | ||
Playoff Round | |||
Chiba | Ichihara | ||
Zozo Marine Stadium | Zett. A. Ball Park | ||
Competition format
The teams are separated into two groups of eight teams each for the preliminary round. Each group plays a single round robin. The top four teams in each group advance to the championship round, while the bottom four teams play in placement games. The championship round is played in a double Page round.[7]
- Preliminary Page (two sections)
- Minor semifinals: Third- and fourth-place teams play (A3 vs. B4, B3 vs. A4). Winners advance to Preliminary Page final, losers eliminated.
- Major semifinals: First- and second-place teams play (A1 vs. B2, B1 vs. A2). Winners advance to Championship Page major semifinal, losers play in the Preliminary Page final.
- Finals: The minor semifinal winners and major semifinal losers play. Winners advance to the Championship Page minor semifinal, losers eliminated.
- Championship Page
- Minor semifinal: Winners of each Preliminary Page final play. Winner advances to Championship Page final, losers eliminated.
- Major semifinal: Winners of each Preliminary Page major semifinal play. Winner advances to Championship Page grand final, losers play in the Championship Page final.
- Final: The minor semifinal winners and major semifinal losers play. Winner advances to Championship Page grand final, loser finishes in third place.
- Grand final: The major semifinal winner and final winner play. Winner is the champion, loser is second place.
The games were played with the 15/10/7 run ahead mercy rule where a game was called if one team leads the other by 15 runs or more after 3 innings, 10 runs or more after 4 innings, or 7 runs or more after 5 innings have been played.[7]
Group stage
Standings
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | United States | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1.000 | — | Qualification to Playoff Round |
2 | Puerto Rico | 7 | 6 | 1 | .857 | 1 | |
3 | Mexico | 7 | 5 | 2 | .714 | 2 | |
4 | Netherlands | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429[lower-alpha 1] | 4 | |
5 | Chinese Taipei | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429[lower-alpha 1] | 4 | Advance to Placement Round |
6 | New Zealand | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286[lower-alpha 2] | 5 | |
7 | Philippines | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286[lower-alpha 2] | 5 | |
8 | South Africa | 7 | 0 | 7 | .000 | 7 |
Notes:
- Netherlands won against Chinese Taipei 6-5
- New Zealand won against Philippines 2-0
Games
Date | Home | Score | Away |
---|---|---|---|
3 August 2018 | South Africa | 0–21 (4) | Chinese Taipei |
United States | 5–2 | Mexico | |
Puerto Rico | 6–5 | Netherlands | |
Philippines | 10–0 (4) | South Africa | |
New Zealand | 4–7 | Chinese Taipei | |
4 August 2018 | Puerto Rico | 9–0 (5) | South Africa |
Philippines | 0–2 | Mexico | |
Chinese Taipei | 0–7 (5) | United States | |
New Zealand | 5–10 | Netherlands | |
Puerto Rico | 3–0 | Philippines | |
5 August 2018 | Netherlands | 0–11 (4) | United States |
Chinese Taipei | 11–12 | Puerto Rico | |
Netherlands | 4–5 | Philippines | |
Mexico | 8–0 (5) | South Africa | |
United States | 7–0 (5) | New Zealand | |
6 August 2018 | Puerto Rico | 9–0 (6) | Mexico |
South Africa | 0–6 | New Zealand | |
Netherlands | 6–5 | Chinese Taipei | |
Philippines | 0–12 (4) | United States | |
7 August 2018 | Puerto Rico | 4–1 | New Zealand |
Chinese Taipei | 9–7 | Philippines | |
Mexico | 1–0 | Netherlands | |
United States | 7–0 (5) | South Africa | |
Mexico | 1–0 | New Zealand | |
8 August 2018 | United States | 8–1 (5) | Puerto Rico |
Chinese Taipei | 3–4 | Mexico | |
9 August 2018 | South Africa | 1–11 (5) | Netherlands |
New Zealand | 2–0 | Philippines |
Standings
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Japan | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1.000 | — | Qualification to Playoff Round |
2 | Australia | 7 | 5 | 2 | .714[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | |
3 | Canada | 7 | 5 | 2 | .714[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | |
4 | Italy | 7 | 4 | 3 | .571[lower-alpha 2] | 3 | |
5 | China | 7 | 4 | 3 | .571[lower-alpha 2] | 3 | Advance to Placement Round |
6 | Great Britain | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 | 5 | |
7 | Venezuela | 7 | 1 | 6 | .143 | 6 | |
8 | Botswana | 7 | 0 | 7 | .000 | 7 |
Notes:
- Australia won against Canada 2-0
- Italy won against China 7-0 in 5 innings
Games
Date | Home | Score | Away |
---|---|---|---|
2 August 2018 | Japan | 9–0 (6) | Italy |
3 August 2018 | Australia | 7–1 | Venezuela |
Canada | 7–0 (5) | Great Britain | |
Australia | 0–1 | China | |
Venezuela | 0–7 (6) | Canada | |
Japan | 20–0 (3) | Botswana | |
4 August 2018 | Italy | 2–3 | Australia |
China | 1–0 | Great Britain | |
Botswana | 0–8 | Venezuela | |
Canada | 1–0 | Italy | |
Japan | 5–0 | China | |
5 August 2018 | Italy | 8–0 (5) | Botswana |
Australia | 2–0 | Canada | |
Venezuela | 0–6 | China | |
Great Britain | 0–6 | Japan | |
6 August 2018 | Australia | 14–0 (4) | Botswana |
China | 0–7 (6) | Canada | |
Italy | 1–0 | Great Britain | |
Japan | 7–2 | Venezuela | |
7 August 2018 | Botswana | 0–10 (4) | Great Britain |
China | 15–1 (4) | Botswana | |
Venezuela | 1–3 | Italy | |
Great Britain | 0–11 (5) | Australia | |
Canada | 0–2 | Japan | |
8 August 2018 | Canada | 22–0 (3) | Botswana |
Italy | 7–0 (5) | China | |
9 August 2018 | Great Britain | 5–2 | Venezuela |
Japan | 9–1 (6) | Australia |
Placement round
13th-16th Placement | 11th-12th Placement | 9th Place | ||||||||
P1 | ||||||||||
A5 Chinese Taipei | 8(6) | |||||||||
P5 | ||||||||||
B8 Botswana | 1 | |||||||||
Chinese Taipei | 13 | |||||||||
P4 | ||||||||||
Great Britain | 11 | |||||||||
B6 Great Britain | 2 | |||||||||
P7 | ||||||||||
A7 Philippines | 1 | |||||||||
Chinese Taipei | 6 | |||||||||
P2 | ||||||||||
China | 4 | |||||||||
B5 China | 3 | |||||||||
P6 | ||||||||||
A8 South Africa | 0 | |||||||||
China | 8 | |||||||||
P3 | ||||||||||
Venezuela | 2 | |||||||||
A6 New Zealand | 0 | |||||||||
B7 Venezuela | 4 | |||||||||
13th-16th Placement
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11th-12th Placement
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Playoff round
Upper round 1 | Upper final | World Championship Final | |||||||||||||||||||||
C3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
A1 | United States | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
B2 | Australia | 1 | C8 | ||||||||||||||||||||
W3 | United States | 4(8) | |||||||||||||||||||||
C4 | W4 | Japan | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
B1 | Japan | 7(6) | |||||||||||||||||||||
A2 | Puerto Rico | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
C10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
W8 | United States | 7(10) | |||||||||||||||||||||
W9 | Japan | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 3 | Lower final | ||||||||||||||||||||
C5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
C1 | L3 | Australia | 2(8) | C9 | |||||||||||||||||||
A3 | Mexico | 1(9) | W1 | Mexico | 1 | C7 | L8 | Japan | 3 | ||||||||||||||
B4 | Italy | 0 | W5 | Australia | 0 | W7 | Canada | 0 | |||||||||||||||
C6 | W6 | Canada | 12(4) | ||||||||||||||||||||
C2 | L4 | Puerto Rico | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
B3 | Canada | 8(5) | W2 | Canada | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||
A4 | Netherlands | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Preliminary Semifinals
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Preliminary Finals
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Championship Semifinals
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Bronze-medal game
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Canada | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Japan | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 7 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
WP: Yukiko Ueno (6-0) LP: Danielle Lawrie (5-1) Home runs: CAN: None JPN: Saki Yamazaki Attendance: 7165 Boxscore |
World Championship Final
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | ||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Japan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
United States | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
WP: Monica Cecili (5-0) LP: Yukiko Ueno (6-1) Home runs: JPN: Yamato Fujita (2) USA: Delaney Spaulding Attendance: 11,168 Boxscore |
Final standings
Qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics |
Rank | Team |
---|---|
United States | |
Japan | |
Canada | |
4 | Australia |
5 | Puerto Rico |
6 | Mexico |
7 | Italy |
8 | Netherlands |
9 | Chinese Taipei |
10 | China |
11 | Great Britain |
12 | Venezuela |
13 | New Zealand |
14 | Philippines |
15 | South Africa |
16 | Botswana |
External links
References
- "XVI Women's Softball World Championship". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- "WBSC Announces Dates for 2018 Baseball World Cups and Softball World Championships". Around the Rings. 25 January 2018. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
- "XVI Women's Softball World Championship Final Report" (PDF). WBSC.org. World Baseball Softball Confederation. 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
- "WBSC launches new Softball World Cup format, 2021-2029 global schedule". WBSC.org. World Baseball Softball Confederation. 2021-02-26. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
- "USA wins Pan American Women's Softball Championship over Mexico, qualify for Chiba 2018". XVI Women's Softball World Championship. World Baseball Softball Confederation. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- Kolantsho, Calistus (18 January 2018). "Women's softball team qualifies for World Championships". Mmegi Online. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
- "Softball Competition & Technical Code 2018" (PDF). WBSC.org. World Baseball Softball Confederation. 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2021-06-09.