WBSC U-12 World Cup 2025 | Shotaro Hashimoto shut out Cuba in Japan's 4-0 victory

Shotaro Hashimoto recorded five strikeouts against the Cubans in a shutout where he allowed only three hits.

Cuba was blanked in its second outing at the WBSC U12 World Cup 2025 being held in Tainan, Taiwan, falling 4-0 to one of the favorites, Japan.

Box score

RHP Shotaro Hashimoto (1-0) pitched a complete game, giving up three hits and a walk, and striking out five to secure Japan's second straight victory.

Hashimoto performance was impressive, needing only 80 pitches (60 for strikes) to lead Japan to their second consecutive win.

Cuba's starter, Yan Carlos Ramírez (0-1), proved to be a solid opponent, conceding four runs—only two of which were earned—over the first three innings. Lacking both offensive and defensive support, he completed a 68-pitch outing and took the loss. Ramírez gave up six hits, struck out three, and walked one.

Japan decided the game in the first inning, when Taiki Toyama led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored the first run on a groundout.

In the second inning, they widened the lead with a single, a balk, a fly out, and Riku Sahashi' single that brought the runner home.

In the third inning the sealed the score, using two hits and helped by an error of the Cuban defense, scoring the final two runs of the game.

The Cuban hitters were completely dominated by starter Hashimoto, managing only singles from center fielder Maykol Lluch, left fielder Sean M. García, and second baseman Alex N. Gómez.

In the first inning, two hits occurred when Lluch and García each hit singles after one out, but Yordan Reyes and Yuceider Torres were unable to drive them in.

It was the first challenging moment for the Japanese starter in the game. In the second inning, Cuba also managed to get two runners on base with a walk at the start of the inning and a single by Alex Gómez. However, Hashimoto neutralized the threat by striking out Yan C. Ramírez for the third out.

Hashimoto didn't allow more hits, successfully retiring the next 12 batters, and concluded the game by retiring 13 of the last 14 batters. Sean M. García was the only player to reach base in the sixth inning due to Japan's sole error in the game.

Cuba (0-2) is set to play against Mexico (2-0) next on Sunday - Saturday at 11:30 pm Eastern time -, and a win is essential to keep their chances of advancing to the Super Round alive.