Behind a gutsy outing by starter Chang Jia-liang, Nan Ying Vocational High School edged past Ku Pao Home Economics and Commercial High School by a 3-2 margin in the decisive Game 3 to win the annual High School Baseball Taiwan Championship in Taichung on Sunday evening.
Despite losing Game 1 on Friday night to Ku Pao in a 2-0 decision, Nan Ying managed to top their nemesis from Taipei County by winning Game 2 in a 1-0 thriller on Saturday before making it two in a row on Sunday to run away with the trophy.
Shutting down a potent Ku Pao attack with a near-flawless performance was starter Chang, who took a 3-0 shutout into the eighth before surrendering a run each in the eighth and ninth (one unearned) to clutch the complete-game victory in dramatic fashion.
PHOTO: CHAN CHAO-YANG, TAIPEI TIMES
The Nan Ying hitters needed little time getting to Ku Pao starter and Game 1-winner Pan Jeh, who also went the distance on Friday. In a brilliant five-hit gem, Nan Ying first struck in the top of the second when Lai Wei-yu drew a one-out walk off Pan and scored two batters later on Chen Cheng-ming’s RBI-single up the middle to lead it 1-0.
Pan quickly regrouped and struck out the next two batters to prevent Nan Ying from doing further damage in the inning and breezed through the seventh without much difficulty before running into a world of trouble when he surpassed the 100-pitch plateau in the eighth.
With his pitches losing their velocity and sharpness, Pan allowed two of the first three Nan Ying hitters to reach base, but nearly escaped the inning unharmed by inducing an apparent grounder to third for what would have been an inning-ending double play.
But his third baseman failed to field the ball cleanly in a costly error that allowed a run and ultimately gave Nan Ying a 3-0 lead in the top of the eighth. That proved too much for Ku Pao to overcome even though its efforts in the eighth and ninth reduced the deficit to a lone run.
With the tough loss, Ku Pao failed to defend its title in the annual high school competition, cooling off slightly from its recent dominance in high school play after winning the title in three of the previous four tournaments in which it participated.
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
Sumo is walking a “tightrope” as it prepares to stage events outside Japan for the first time in 20 years while also trying to preserve its ancient traditions, experts say. The sport is to hold exhibition tournaments in London in October and in Paris in June next year, the first time the Japan Sumo Association has been abroad since Las Vegas in 2005. Sports such as soccer, baseball and football play domestic games overseas in a bid to gain new fans in emerging markets. John Gunning, a former amateur sumo wrestler who commentates on the sport in English on Japanese television, says its
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday poured in 35 points as the Thunder grabbed a bounce-back 118-108 victory in Portland to push their NBA-best record to 37-8. The Thunder, surprised by the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, fended off a late surge from the Trail Blazers to snap their four-game winning streak. Jalen Williams scored 24 points and Isaiah Joe added 16 off the bench. Center Isaiah Hartenstein, back after a five-game absence with a calf injury, added 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a big block. The Western Conference leaders were under pressure late as Portland, trailing by 15 heading
The Golden State Warriors on Wednesday withstood Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 52-point outburst to beat the Western Conference leading Thunder 116-109. Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half as Golden State erased a double-digit deficit and pulled away late for the victory. “We just stayed solid,” said Curry, who entered the contest mired in a shooting slump and had just four points on one basket in the first half. “Just all-around effort.” The Thunder, fueled by 31 first-half points from Gilgeous-Alexander, led by as many as 14 in the
RSS