Kyla Holas and Yu Yamamoto: USA & Japan coaches discuss "big" clash of the titans

After a thrilling 3-2 win against world No. 1 USA in the showpiece game on Thursday, world No. 2 Japan is the only undefeated team after Day 2 of the WBSC U-15 Women's Softball World Cup 2025 Super Round, taking place in Caronno Pertusella and Legnano, Italy from 27 June to 5 July.

Entering the game between the two previously unbeaten sides of the tournament, defending champions USA had been seen as slight favourites having dominated the event, scoring 68 runs and not having allowed an earned run in their six previous victories. They allowed an unearned run in the first inning of their tournament, and that was it.

Japan, meanwhile, had a 36-runs-scored and six-against record entering the blockbuster showdown.

And it was the last edition's bronze medallists who scored twice in the first inning. USA starter Maci Barnes allowed back-to-back bases-loaded walks with head coach Kyla Holas explaining that Barnes failed to challenge the hitters.

"Those are situations we haven't been in for some time. When these situations come up, it's big, and if we get into those again, I want to make sure we will use our routine to slow the game down in those moments."

USA tied the game at two, but gave up the lead again on two defensive errors, one in the outfield and one in executing a trap between third base and home.

"We gave them some opportunities, some free passes. We made some errors, we allowed the extra bases, gave up walks, and this is not characteristic of us," Holas added. "We haven't played this way so far, so we want to make sure that these things go away and we can play our game."

Japan's small ball and speed put pressure on the American defence.

"Well, to be honest, we also made defensive errors that helped them score," commented Japanese head coach Yu Yamamoto through an interpreter.

The Tokyo 2020 gold medallist added: "If we are talking about today, we won because we executed the small ball properly. You never know what will happen next time we face them again. For now, we are simply focusing on getting back to the hotel, getting some rest, and then we will think about what is more likely to win the next game. In any case, we have to perform at our best."

Japan used four pitchers on Thursday night, and the rotation limited a powerful USA offence to three hits. The defending World Champions had averaged 11 per game before Thursday night.

"We didn't enter the game intending to split innings among four pitchers," said Yamamoto. "Today, all my pitchers were ready, so I thought that we could rotate them to be more effective. When we play the final, we will think about who is in the best condition to start the game. If the pitcher we pick can make it through seven innings, it's fine; if not, we will have other pitchers ready to step in."

"[Japan's strategy] was something we expected. We watched a lot of their games and we prepared for that during our warmups," commented Holas. "They didn't do anything we didn't expect. We just didn't play the game we wanted to play today."

USA now need to earn their spot in the final against Puerto Rico. It's not the time to think about a rematch against Japan.

"Not at all," said Holas. "You have to think about who you are up to on the day. We played Puerto Rico for the title in the last U-15 [Women's Softball World Cup] - Our only focus is trying to take care of them and make sure we can get past them."