Taiwan on Friday beat Australia 11-0 at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Taiwan are represented at the tournament by Taoyuan’s Gueishan Elementary School, who won the Asia-Pacific regional tournament to earn the trip to the US. Australia are represented by the Hills Red team from Sydney.
Taiwan advanced to a game tomorrow against Santa Clara, representing Cuba, who won 4-1 against the Czech Republic’s Brno, the Europe-Africa regional qualifiers.
Photo: AP
Australian starter Sayre Howick had a tough time controlling his pitches at Volunteer Stadium, one of which allowed Taiwan to open their account. They scored six in the inning and Taiwan starting pitcher Lin Sheng-kai had their opponents three up, three down.
Australia’s pitching and fielding improved in the second inning, in which they kept Taiwan scoreless, but the mercy rule was enforced due to Taiwan’s massive lead after five innings out of six had been completed.
Taiwan’s Liao Hsuan-hao had three hits and five RBIs. He hit a grounder to the left field in the first inning to bring two runners home, a two-RBI single in the third and a two-RBI double in the fifth.
Photo: AP
Chiu Wei-che struck out five in two innings of relief pitching.
Australia connected in the fourth inning — the first hit that Taiwan had conceded at the tournament after their 8-0 shutout against Canada on Wednesday in their opening game — but failed to capitalize.
Tom Lee, director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, attended the game against Canada, his first visit to the Williamsport area.
Photo: AP
“It’s very beautiful here, and you know, in Taiwan, everybody knows of Williamsport,” Lee told the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. “We get up very early to watch the games.”
Despite the strong teams who await Gueishan, he was optimistic about their chances.
“It’s not easy to play in the [Little League] World Series, especially now that all the teams are getting stronger,” he said. “We used to dominate, but not anymore. That’s why I’m glad that we have so many in the audience that come to show support for Taiwan.”
“Hopefully ... we can ... advance to the finals, and when we play in the final, I will come back,” he said.
Since their first final in 1969, Taiwanese teams have made the championship game 20 times, although the most recent occasion was in 2009, a loss.
Kaohsiung’s Fuhsing team won the most recent of Taiwan’s 17 titles in 1996, when they beat Rhode Island’s Cranston Western.
The winners of the Taiwan-Cuba game are to face either Japan or the Latin America representative for a place in the International Final on Saturday next week. The top US team awaits the winners of the International Final the following day.
This MLB Little League Classic today features the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers at Bowman Field.
The Little League World Series is an annual tournament for boys and girls aged 10 to 12.
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