Tilson Brito’s liner over a drawn-in outfield scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the tenth as the President Lions rallied from one down in the ninth to top the La New Bears 6-5 in extra-innings at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium on Wednesday night.
Trailing 4-5 after the Bears’ Huang “Easy” Long-yi had knocked in a run with a sacrifice-fly to break a 4-4 tie in the top of the ninth, the Lions immediately responded when Liu Fu-hao drew a lead-off walk off Bears closer Jermaine Van Buren and took second on a wild pitch by the American right-hander before scoring on Kuo Dai-chi’s single up the middle to even things up and send the game into extra sessions.
The Lions pack awoke and strung together three straight singles off Van Buren in the bottom of the tenth to put the game away.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The battle of the top two squads in the league lived up to its hype as it featured four different lead changes before it was all over.
Chen Chin-fong’s RBI-single off Lions starter Lin Yueh-pin gave the visiting Bears a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the third, before the Lions answered with the equalizer an inning later on Kao Guo-ching’s liner to shallow-center that scored the runner from second. The Bears would skid ahead in the fifth with a two-run double from Shih Chih-wei, only to see the Lions counter with Brito’s league-leading tenth home run of the season, a three-run shot over the left field wall.
Huang’s solo blast in the seventh made it 4-4, and that score lasted into the ninth to set the stage for the late-game drama.
Picking up the surprising win was Lions reliever Ricky Stone, who pitched a scoreless tenth, his first of the season, while his counterpart, Van Buren, was hit with the loss for blowing the save opportunity and allowing the game-winner in the tenth.
ELEPHANTS 7, T-REX 2
The Brother Elephants avenged an embarrassing 12-2 loss to the dmedia T-Rex on Monday with a 7-2 win on Wednesday evening at the Taipei County Baseball Stadium in Sinjhuang, their fifth win in six chances.
Game MVP Chen Guan-ren scored three times on a terrific four-for-five night and Chen Huai-shan drove in four RBIs to account for the bulk for the runs for the Elephants.
Starter Tseng Jia-min was spotted a six-run lead through the third which was more than ample for the rookie hurler as he allowed just a pair of runs on six hits over five solid innings.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Japan yesterday secured a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup finals appearance with a 2-1 win over 2023 champions Canada, thanks to Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino in the qualifying doubles decider. Shibahara and Aoyama powered through the opening set 6-3, breaking twice for a quick 3-0 lead. Cross and Marino hit back in the second, edging it 7-5 to level the match, before the Japanese pair regained control in the third. Canada’s 18-year-old Victoria Mboko edged Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5 in a marathon opening clash. Mboko fired eight aces to
DAY OF BLOWOUTS: Elsewhere, the Lakers clinched the third seed in the Western Conference with a 140-109 pounding of the under-strength Houston Rockets The Denver Nuggets on Friday improved their playoff position, with a triple double from Nikola Jokic helping them to a 117-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Serbian put up 26 points, 13 assists and 16 rebounds. The triple-double performance, his 34th this season, ensured that he will finish the regular season as just the third NBA player to average a triple double across an entire season. The win meant the Nuggets improved to 49-32 on the season and gave them a real chance of grabbing fourth place and home-court advantage in the playoffs. Aaron Gordon top scored with 33 points for Denver,