Shohei Ohtani hits his first dwelling run of 2023 WBC in Japan win over Australia

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It appeared like all of Japan was ready for this actual second. Fans had been displaying up early to the Tokyo Dome simply to see his batting follow huge hits. And with an off-the-cuff, easy swing of his bat, Shohei Ohtani delivered.

In the primary inning of what can be a Samurai Japan 7-1 rout of Australia, Ohtani launched a 70 mph curveball into the depths of the correct area crowd of the Tokyo Dome.

Actually, the ball traveled to this point that earlier than watching the slowed down video of the place it truly landed, it appeared to hit his face (effectively, the enormous billboard of his face alongside the again wall of the dome).

He barely appeared like he exerted any power in any respect, delivering on an off-speed pitch that simply the sport earlier than appeared to confound him. Not this time, although, and the pitch allowed Ohtani to hit his first dwelling run of this World Baseball Classic.

“That was a good home run,” Ohtani advised reporters in Japan. “Hitting a home run at the WBC has been a dream of mine since I was a child. I wanted to hit one soon. It was my first quality at-bat in a while.”

Back within the crowd, the house run ball was being shared. The girl who caught it, Yuma Akatsu, handed the ball to these round her, in order that others may take an image holding a bit of historical past if just for a second.

“It was a great experience,” Akatsu advised MLB.com. “I’m really happy that I was able to share that experience with everyone else around.

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“It’s a true honor to be able to catch it and it feels like I’ve used all my life’s worth of luck,” she joked. Akatsu didn’t maintain the house run ball, relinquishing it to Japanese baseball officers who requested for it.

The cheers started to reverberate over the published earlier than he even let go of his bat and began his trot across the bases after his three-run dwelling run. Just the third at-bat of the complete recreation, the third batter Australia starter Will Sherriff confronted, Ohtani produced Japan’s first runs.

Japan already clinched a spot within the quarterfinals with their win over the Czech Republic and have dominated their pool by way of the opening stage of the event.

They will play Italy, who beat the Netherlands to safe their spot because the runner up in Pool A. So Angels infielder David Fletcher, who’s enjoying for Italy, will meet Ohtani within the quarterfinals.