With an 8-1 victory over Japan Wednesday evening, Argentina continued its undefeated record at the Junior Men’s World Softball Championship.

So dominant has the South American club been that the run scored by Kazuki Kajihara in the bottom of the second inning was the first surrendered by Argentina’s pitching staff.

Roman Godoy pitched all seven innings for the championship leaders, recording 17 strikeouts while giving up just two walks.

The one-two punch of Godoy and Huemul Mata has left 76 batters standing at the home plate so far this tournament.

“The speed is something I have not encountered before,” Japanese second basement Ryoyu Une said through an interpreter during a post-game interview. “It was hard to hit but at least I got one of three.

“After a while, I just get to see and adjust, and match to his pitch.”

Wednesday’s game was a rematch of the 2012 championship final won by Argentina on their home turf in Parana, Argentina, by a score of 5-0.

With yesterday’s loss, Japan has dropped its last three games after opening with four consecutive wins.

Coach Yamagushi Yoshio isn’t bothered by his team’s slide.

His players, he said through the interpreter, know they have to bring their A-game to the field for the rest of the week, but that’s what they do anyway.

“We are very happy to be here to play in Canada,” Yoshio said. “It does not matter which team, which country they are playing against. Every game they just do their best.

“Argentina is very strong but also there are other teams that are really strong as well,” he continued. “They are going to focus on doing their best every game and they will bring their best, you have to to make it to the final.”

Japan broke the ice yesterday evening in the bottom of second with designated hitter Takanari Osaki pounding out a single to score Kajihara.

The lead was short-lived, as Godoy went on to allow just two hits through seven innings while Argentina’s Gonzalo Masmu lit up the board with three home runs, accounting for seven of the eight runs batted in.

Masmu is not one of the team’s sluggers – not compared to a couple of teammates who are hitting .600 or better. With yesterday’s dingers, the right-fielder’s batting average has shot up to .368 from .267 going into the game.

That’s just the way it goes with the Argentines, team manager Julio Gamarci said in an interview afterwards, while having a beverage and watching the showdown between Mexico and Australia.

Gamarci said his club has been training for these championships in Parana for 18 months.

It’s been his job to give them the tools to win ball games and to provide the training that allows them to play with confidence, said the veteran catcher who spent 17 years with Argentina’s national fastpitch team.

Gamarci said he teaches his players respect for the game, for the competition, but Argentina is here to win, as are all the other teams.

The greater the challenge, the better for his club because they like to play like champions, he said.

Gamarci said when players have the training and confidence, it’s not surprising a player like Masmu can step up and deliver.

“We know we will face great teams here,” he said. “So we will do all that is in our control to beat them, and they are doing the same.

“That is the fun part of the competition. It is not about winning, it is the challenge, that is the engine of life.”

Gamarci said there are many players at this championship who will go on to play for their national teams.

“That centre-fielder for Australia,” he said, nodding his head in appreciation of the lad’s future.

Gamarci said he too has players who will go a long way, and Mata is among them.

Though he didn’t see the mound last night, he has not allowed an earned run in six games that he’s pitched all or some of, and has struck out 37 batters in 19 innings.

In their tournament opener against Mexico, an extra inning affair that Argentina won 1-0 in the eighth, the 19-year-old right-hander didn’t surrender a single hit.

Not only can he throw, he can hit too, and was plugged into yesterday’s lineup as the designated hitter, batting fourth – cleanup. He went 2-for-3 with one RBI – Argentina’s first RBI to tie the game.

For Mata, hitting is what he likes, even more than pitching, he said in a post-game interview through one of his coaches.

But with a solid frame of 203 pounds and just under six feet tall behind the ball, he admits he’s a better pitcher than a hitter, armed with a dropball, riseball, changeup and curve.

Mata said while he gets all his heat with the dropball, his changeup is his favourite pitch.

His success, he said, is due to his teammates, the support they give him, and knowing they will do their job.

It’s what gives him the ability to pitch with confidence.

“Stay calm and keep playing like we are playing,” Mata said of what it will take to defend their title as the best junior men’s team in the world.