2022 South American Championship

The 2022 South American Championship was held July 24 to August 1, 2022. It was the first South American Championship in four years, with COVID-19 having held off the event for a period. Competing were the top two teams historically ( Argentina and  Brazil) as well as  Bolivia,  Ecuador (playing their first international tournament since the 2013 Bolivarian Games) and  Peru, fresh off the 2022 Bolivarian Games. It is being held in Lima, Peru. Games were set for seven innings under the new WBSC regulations.

See also 2022 South American Championship (Rosters)

Games

July 24

•  Argentina 10,  Ecuador 0. The defending champions cruise as Guido Monis throws a mercy rule four-hitter over innings while SS Agustín Tissera (3 H, 3 RBI, 2 2B) and CF Sebastián García (2B, 3B, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI) lead the offense. Israel Saldarriaga is the losing pitcher, while 2B Alfonso Jalil and C Gustavo Landin each get two hits, while the rest of Ecuador is hitless.
•  Peru 16,  Bolivia 0. In an even bigger mercy rule romp, Peru crushes Bolivia. 2B Susumu Yoza goes 4 for 4 with 3 runs, 4 RBI, a walk, a double and a homer in five innings while Ken Ishihara, Gianpierre Reaño and Alex Takano combine on a no-hitter. Cristian Choque gets the loss. The only thing preventing a perfect game is when 2B José Delgado reaches on an error by SS Rider Zevallos in the 4th.

July 25

•  Brazil 18,  Bolivia 1. Brazil debuts as Bolivia again is knocked out in five innings. Luís dos Santos and Pedro Nakashima combine on a two-hitter, as RF Humberto Salas gets Bolivia's first two (and to this point only) hits of the event. Salas drives in 3B Alexi Legra with Bolivia's first run as well. 2B Felipe Burin drives in three, RF André Kirihara scores three and 1B Iago Januário doubles and homers as part of the Brazilian offensive show. Camilo Ramos only retires one out of seven before getting chased in the first.
•  Ecuador 4,  Peru 3. The first close game of the tournament (and first not to end with the mercy rule) sees Peru use the same pitching duo that upset Venezuela earlier in the month, Jorge Sivirichi and Jonathan Farías. They carry a 3-2 lead into the 6th before LF Brian Letamendi hits a two-run single to score RF Samuel Felman with the tying run and 1B Danyells Garcia with the winner; Letamendi finishes the day with three RBI. Ecuador's starter Kevin Solorzano allows one hit but six walks and three runs (two earned) in three before Orlando Leon turns in four shutout innings of relief for the win, fanning seven. For Peru, 1B/C Jorge Pastor reaches in three of four plate appearances and drives in a run.

July 26

•  Brazil 7,  Ecuador 4. Brazil chases Yeremi Tamayo in the third in jumping to a 3-0 lead but Igor Kimura also only lasts 2 1/3 as Ecuador comes back with four in the bottom of the inning. Marcelo Arai (W) and Igor Januário (Sv) provide shutout relief and Brazil rallies to win against Damián Villanueva. 3B Pedro Okuda goes 3 for 3 with two walks, two runs and a RBI as a superb leadoff sparkplug for Brazil while DH Gustavo Landin records a three-hit day for Ecuador.
•  Argentina 10,  Peru 4. Peru surprisingly battles the defending titlists through the seven regulation innings as Juan Casas and Marco Castellano of Peru match Juan Borras and Thomas Cuenca of Argentina on the hill, 2-2. Things unravel for the hosts in the 8th as Matias Miyagusuku gives up seven runs (five earned) and Kevin Yamamoto lets three of four batters reach before Akira Itokazu gets the final out. 2B Exequiel Talevi goes 3 for 5 with a run and two RBI for the victors. In a losing cause, Peru's brightest offensive star was RF Joaquin Velez, who came off the bench to go 2-for-2 with a RBI.

July 27

•  Argentina 10,  Bolivia 0. DH Exequiel Talevi (2 for 2, BB, R, 2 RBI), 3B Elian Sanchez (2 for 2, BB, 2B, 2 R, RBI) and LF Mauricio Nagahashi (2 R, 2 RBI) are among Argentina's offensive stars in an easy win while Fernando Cancelare and Federico Robles combine on a two-hitter. Ronald Quiroga takes the loss, while Bolivia's hits come from SS Franklin Montero and RF Humberto Salas.
•  Brazil 12,  Peru 7. 1B Salomon Koba drives in three to lead a balanced offense in Brazil's win, while Kawan de Araújo gets the win. Edgar Paredes is the losing hurler. CF Giancarlo Kanashiro and DH Daniel Shimura each have one run and two RBI for Peru - Shimura manages it without getting a hit!

July 28

•  Ecuador 11,  Bolivia 2. Bolivia triples their run total for the tournament but finishes winless. SS Johan Leon drives in three and RF Samuel Felman four to back the pitching of Braulio Baque. Cristian Choque falls to 0-2, while Bolivia has two-hit games from both of their Cubans, 2B José Delgado and LF Alexi Legra.
•  Argentina 9,  Brazil 5. Argentina finishes the round-robin unbeaten as they top Brazil for the top spot in that phase. Franco Perez gets the win, while 3B Pedro Figueras goes 3 for 5 with two runs and two RBI. Pedro Nakashima takes the loss; leading Brazil's offense were two runs from 2B Osvaldo Carvalho Júnior and two RBI from 41-year-old DH Tiago Magalhães.

July 29

• 1st place round-robin vs. 4th place round-robin:  Argentina 3,  Peru 2. The hosts gave the defending champs a close call. The scoring began in the bottom of the first when Argentinian CF Sebastián García tripled off Ken Ishihara and scored on a grounder from SS Agustín Tissera. Federico Robles shut out Peru for three. In the 4th, 2B Susumu Yoza singled, 1B Juan Casas walked and 3B José Salas singled to tie it. With one out, Casas tried to score on a wild pitch but was out at the plate. Peru took the lead in the 5th when SS Rider Zevallos singled, was bunted over and came home on a Yoza single.

In the bottom of the fifth, Argentina tied it back up when Tissera drew a one-out walk, stole second and scored on a single by 2B Exequiel Talevi (who went 3-for-3), chasing Ishihara. In the bottom of the 6th, Jonathan Farías hit DH Jacinto Cipriota. Casas moved to the mound and RF Matias Robles bunted him over, then C Lucas Nakandakare (also 3-for-3 today) singled in Cipriota with the winner. 2018 Championship MVP Diego Echeverría (like Nakandakare, a former Tampa Bay Rays farmhand) saved it for Federico Robles with a hitless inning.

• 2nd place round-robin vs. 3rd place round-robin:  Brazil 7,  Ecuador 0. Marcelo Arai is one out away from a perfect game when C Gustavo Landin hits into an error by 3B Pedro Okuda; Arai still finishes with a no-hit, no-walk shutout. Israel Saldarriaga allows ten hits and seven runs (six earned) in 3 1/3 IP before Javier Wong turns in 2 2/3 frames of shutout relief. C Márcio Kikuchi (2 for 3, 2B, R, 2 RBI) leads a balanced Brazilian offense.

July 30

• 3rd/4th place game:  Ecuador 7,  Peru 5. Peru again comes close in a loss as Ecuador gets third. Neither starter lasted long - Kevin Solorzano allowed five hits and three runs in 1 2/3 IP for Ecuador before Orlando Leon settled things down and went the rest of the way, while Jorge Sivirichi gave up five unearned runs in 1 1/3 IP for Peru. C Gustavo Landin (1 for 2, 2 BB, R) and CF Alfonso Jalil (2 H, R, RBI) lead Ecuador's offense, while Peru had three-hit games from SS Rider Zevallos, C/1B Jorge Pastor and RF Alonso Tenya. They outhit Ecuador, 10-6, but spread out their hits more.
• Finale:  Brazil 2,  Argentina 0. The championship game featured the two teams with six or more titles. Brazil turned to their former major leaguer, André Rienzo, and he turned in their second straight superb pitching performance, allowing only two hits (to CF Sebastián García and 2B Exequiel Talevi) and three walks while striking out 12 in 7 innings. He was matched goose egg for goose egg over the first five innings by Lucas Ramón, who had a two-hitter in progress. In the top of the 6th, Brazil broke through. They got three straight singles from 3B Pedro Okuda, 2B Felipe Burin and 1B Salomon Koba. Argentina turned to Guido Monis, who had starred in the Championship's opener. DH Iago Januário hit into a force at home, then PH Tiago Magalhães hit into a run-scoring error by 3B Pedro Figueras, who would be named the tourney's top defender. C Márcio Kikuchi then delivered a sacrifice fly for an insurance run.

Awards

• MVP: Marcelo Arai, Brazil P
• Best Defensive Player: Pedro Figueras, Argentina 3B