Taiwan’s nearly unbeaten run in the U-18 Baseball World Cup yesterday ended in defeat, as they lost 2-1 to world No. 1 Japan in a brutal final in Taipei.
Taiwan were again runners-up in the World Baseball Softball Confederation tournament, which they lost last year to the US in Florida. They last won the tournament in 2019. No tournament was held in 2020 or 2021.
It was a devastating defeat in front of a crowd of 9,000 at Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium, after Taiwan proved they could beat just about anyone in the tournament, having won every game prior to last night’s final, including their Super Round match against Japan on Saturday. They won that game 5-2.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
Yesterday’s final started promisingly, with Taiwanese starter Sun Yi-lei (孫易磊) holding Japan to just one hit in the top of the first inning.
Taiwan’s first batter of the day, designated hitter Chiu Hsin (邱鑫), also recorded the first run of the game.
After getting on base with a single in the bottom of the first, he moved to second off left fielder Hsu Ting-lun’s sacrifice bunt. Chiu then stole third on a wild pitch while center fielder Ko Ching-hsien (柯敬賢) was at bat. Shortly after, Ko sent Chiu home on a single to right field.
Photo: CNA
After two tense, scoreless innings, second baseman Ren Ogata and center fielder Minato Maruta put Japan on the board in the top of the fourth inning, taking a 2-1 lead. Maruta was initially called off at first base, but Japan successfully challenged the call.
After Lin Wei-en (林維恩) took over for Sun in the top of the fifth inning, Taiwan held Japan off for two more innings, with Lin striking out back-to-back batters in the sixth.
He kept Japan at bay again in a tense seventh inning, in which left fielder Koga Hashimoto was tagged out at third only to be replaced with shortstop Syuya Yamada. Lin struck out Ogata to close out the frame.
However, Taiwan was unable to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, with three outs after four batters.
In the bronze medal game, South Korea blanked the US 4-0, as Kim Tae-kyeon held last year’s champions to just two hits in seven innings.
South Korea started off hot, with first baseman Yeo Tong-keon’s triple in the first inning sending home second baseman Jeong An-seok, while Yeo scored off a single from shortstop Park Jih-wan.
Third baseman Cho Hyun-min scored in the top of the fourth inning off a single from Lee Sang-jun, and then scored again in the top of the sixth off a triple from Lee Seung-min.
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