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Martina, Ryan have superb performance on mound in no-hit win against Japan for Curacao

By Jon Gerardi 3 min read

Once Jaymiell Martina struck out Japan's Ryosuke Takaoka in the top of the second inning, any worries he may have had being on the mound against Tokyo, Japan went away.

It was also with that strikeout that he felt he had the ability to do something special. And do that he did.

Martina was brilliant on Friday afternoon at Volunteer Stadium for Willemstad, Curacao. The Pariba Little Leaguer threw 4 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball and, combined with reliever Giendry Ryan, the Curacao champions threw the country's third-ever no-hitter in a 6-0 win against Japan.

"In the second inning when I struck out he big guy (Takaoka), I was like 'yeah!' and pumping up myself and stuff like that. It was a good feeling," Martina said. "I felt no pressure."

Japan has a team with plenty of hitters, but they all were held silent throughout all six innings. In his 4 1/3 innings of work to begin the game, Martina gave up just one walk in the second inning and a walk in the third. Other than that? A handful of strikeouts, grounders and pop outs.

"It was a successful outing and I did well, I pitched well," Martina said. "I was OK with our team (behind me) and we did our best to win the game."

Martina was pulled at 67 pitches and had a good chance to throw a complete-game no-hitter, but manager Railison Gijsbertha pulled him, although he did have discussions of possibly leaving him in.

When Ryan came in, he stepped up to the pressure of having a no-hitter in tact and delivered.

Ryan faced just five batters, and struck out four of them at 17 pitches. The only runner who reached was Taiga Yumitori, who reached on an infield error.

"I felt good because I felt it in me. I was the closer for the game," Ryan said. "My team was feeling good."

Ryan noted that after throwing just 17 pitches and being eligible for Sunday, he's ready for a matchup against either South Korea or Brno, Czechia.

"I'm ready to pitch the next game," Ryan said.

The two pitchers were superb on the mound throughout Friday. Japan had just one batter send a ball out of the infield and that was Kei Kawanishi in the second inning when he had a fly out to centerfield.

While the two were great pitching, a defensive gem of a play by Zha-djir Janga was key in preserving it.

With one out in the top of the fifth inning, Yunosuke Yabe sent an absolute missile of a shot toward short that looked like it would be an easy dropped ball to left-center field. But Janga jumped and grabbed it with one hand, showing outstanding athleticism in preserving the no-hitter for his teammates and not letting a hard-hit turn into a routine single.

The no-hitter is the third-ever for Curacao, but this team did something those other two teams didn't. This was the first time a team from Curacao had a complete-game no hitter.

The previous no-hit performances by Curacao were four-inning mercy-rule victories. In 2019, Shendrion Martinus threw four innings in an 11-0 rout over Australia and in 2002, Reinus Roosberg threw four innings of no-hit ball i a 13-0 win over the Europe Regional champions that year.

The combined efforts of Martina and Ryan will leave a lasting mark for Pariba Little League and the town of Willemstad. It's safe to say those two Little Leaguers will have their names remembered for awhile back home after Friday's performance.

Starting at /week.