Taiwan on Sunday beat Nicaragua to win the bronze medal at the U-15 Baseball World Cup in Colombia, while Liu Jen-yu won the tournament’s ERA award.
Taiwan defeated the Central American country 7-6 at the biennial World Baseball Softball Confederation competition in Barranquilla after fighting back from a four-run deficit.
It was Taiwan’s fifth bronze medal at the U-15 Baseball World Cup and their third consecutive bronze since 2018.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association via CNA
Down 6-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth in the regulation seven-inning game, Taiwan pulled back a run on an RBI single by starting pitcher Lo Shih-cheng.
Still trailing 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Taiwan scored a run on four straight singles and then two more on a base hit by infielder Su Zi-jin that was misplayed by Nicaragua.
Catcher Yang Jun-hao put Taiwan ahead by a run with a groundout, and a strong relief effort by Yang Chih-hao shut down Nicaragua over the final two innings to clinch the victory.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association via CNA
“I was only thinking to pitch strikes and give my teammates the chance to make the plays,” the tournament’s Web site quoted Yang Chih-hao as saying.
Nicaragua took a 2-0 lead in the first inning off Lo, and then added to its lead with a run in the second off reliever Yu Nien-hsiao.
Yu kept Nicaragua at bay over the next two innings, while Taiwan pulled back to 3-2 with two runs in the bottom of the third.
Nicaragua added three runs in the top of the fifth, with a run on three hits off Yu, and a hit, a hit batter and a fielder’s choice off Yang Chih-hao that scored two more, setting the stage for Taiwan’s comeback.
Taiwan finished tied for second in the Super Round that determined the teams in the gold and bronze-medal games, a tiebreaker put them behind Puerto Rico.
In the gold-medal game, Japan topped Puerto Rico 7-6.
Pitcher Liu won the tournament’s ERA award with a 0.00 earned run average.
Although Liu did not take the mound on Sunday, over the 12.1 innings he pitched at the World Cup, he struck out 15, while giving up eight hits and two unearned runs.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
Taiwan suffered its first defeat of the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12, losing to defending champion Japan 3-1 at the Taipei Dome last night. Japan’s victory put Taiwan’s score at two wins and one loss in WBSC Premier12 championship Group B play. In the top of the first inning, a sacrifice fly from Japanese batter Shota Morishita allowed Masayuki Kuwahara to score a run on Taiwan’s starter Chen Po-ching (陳柏清). Taiwan’s attempt to catch up in the bottom of the first ended to no avail and an uneventful second inning saw the score
A debate over the soul of soccer is raging in FIFA World Cup holders Argentina, pitting defenders of the social role of the beautiful game against the government of libertarian Argentine President Javier Milei, who wants to turn clubs into for-profit companies. Argentina, which gave the world Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, is home to some of the world’s most devoted soccer fans — a fact attributed by supporters like Gabriel Nicosia to the clubs’ community outreach. Nicosia is a lifelong supporter of San Lorenzo, a more than 100-year-old first division club based in the working-class Buenos Aires neighborhood of Boedo where
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and an overhead kick on Friday as Portugal beat Poland 5-1 to guarantee a place in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals. Ronaldo turned in a man-of-the-match performance in a blistering second half. Rafael Leao broke the deadlock with a fine header 14 minutes into the second half and then Ronaldo got his 134th international goal from the penalty spot 13 minutes later. Bruno Fernandes scored a stunning third from almost 30m out and three minutes later Ronaldo’s pass gave Pedro Neto the space to lash home a fourth from a tight angle. Ronaldo made it five — and 135
RSS