Pitcher Shohei Otani was the star as hosts Japan swept aside arch-rivals South Korea 5-0 in the opening game of the Premier12 baseball tournament at the Sapporo Dome today, striking out 10 batters over six scoreless innings.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) has announced it has launched a new website and domain name to incorporate the organisation’s baseball and softball divisions.

The winners of the inaugural World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 tournament will receive a prize fund of $1 million (£652,000/€905,000), the sport’s governing body has announced, with every participating nation guaranteed at least $150,000 (£98,000/€136,000).

Tokyo 2020 executive director of communications and engagement Hidetoshi Fujisawa has condemned three Japanese baseball players at the centre of an illegal betting scandal but claimed the scandal will not hamper the sport's chances of inclusion at the Olympic Games in five years' time.

Legendary South Korean baseball star Chan Ho Park will be a global ambassador of the inaugural World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 event, the sport’s governing body has announced.

Japanese city Chiba will host the 2018 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s Softball World Championships while the men’s equivalent the following year will take place in Prague and Havlíčkův Brod in the Czech Republic, the sport’s governing body has announced.

South Korean broadcasting company SBS has been awarded exclusive rights for the inaugural World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 event in the Asian nation, it has been announced.

You can never know with these votes, and it is always rash to make bold predictions. Yet it seemed a fairly safe bet that baseball and softball would be among the sports proposed for Tokyo 2020 Olympic inclusion by Games organisers today.

So far as we could see, karate, rather than squash, was being mooted as another likely choice, while there was always a chance that a youth oriented event would be selected: skateboarding under the guise of roller skating, perhaps.

Tokyo 2020 have announced they will put forward their proposed additional sports to be included on the Olympic Programme to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on September 28.

Japanese companies JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd have been named official sponsors for the upcoming World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Under-18 World Cup in Osaka.

The United States beat Japan in the final of the Under-19 Junior Women's Softball World Championships in front of their home crowd at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City.

The 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Under-18 Baseball World Cup will help "unite the sport’s future stars" ahead of Tokyo 2020’s announcement concerning new sports being added to the Olympic programme, the governing body has claimed.

The participation of Major League Baseball (MLB) players formed part of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) bid for inclusion at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the sport’s President Riccardo Fraccari revealed today.

Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and TV Asahi have been awarded broadcast rights in Japan for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12, baseball's new flagship international event which is due to make its debut in Japan and Taiwan this November, it was announced today. 

Cuban International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Reynaldo González López has died in Mexico City aged 66.