New Taipei City clinched the Pony League youth baseball World Series Championship after a 4-1 triumph over Monterrey, Mexico, in the US on Wednesday.
A solid outing from pitcher Lu Gaun-wei led the team, made up mainly of players from New Taipei City’s Er Chong Junior High School and a few from Xintai Junior High School, to the title at the Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington, Pennsylvania.
Lu, who had pitches 4-2/3 scoreless innings against Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in New Taipei City’s previous game, contributed another 3-2/3 innings with three strikeouts while surrendering five hits against Monterrey.
Photo: AP
With one out at the top of the fourth, New Taipei City put runners on first and second on the back of a Lee Cheng-yen double and Shih Cheng-yu’s walk, closing out the inning with a three-run frame following a fielder’s choice and error.
They added an insurance run at the top of the fifth on an infield grounder from Lee Cheng-yen.
After a brief stint in relief for Pan Ting-hao, who gave up one run, closer Lee took to the mound with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth.
Lee put in a solid performance, sealing the championship by striking out the next seven hitters while only giving up two hits.
The series is an international tournament for players aged 13 and 14.
New Taipei City qualified for the tournament as the Asia-Pacific Zone champions. Their first game in the US was a 6-1 win against Guaynabo, the Caribbean Zone champions. They lost their next game 4-2 against Johnstown, Pennsylvania, but earned a second chance against them with a 12-0 shutout of Bay County, Michigan.
They did not spurn the chance at redress, beating Johnstown twice to reach the final. Their 7-3 win in Game 15 forced a third encounter in Game 17, which New Taipei City won 6-1 to set up the grand final clash against the Mexico Zone champions.
The title is the third collected by New Taipei City, coming after their 2016 and 2018 triumphs.
The previous Taiwanese team to win the Pony Championship was Taipei in 2019.
Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, the Fu Lin Little League team participated in the opening ceremony at the Little League Baseball World Series in South Williamsport.
Taipei’s Fu Lin Elementary School earned their place at the Howard J. Lamade Stadium after last month winning the Asia-Pacific Region Championship with victory over a team representing South Korea.
They were to play their first game yesterday.
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
RSS