TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 13th Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) U18 Asian Baseball Championship got underway at Taipei’s Tianmu Stadium on Monday (Sept. 2), with Taiwan shutting out South Korea in the opening round by a score of 1-0.

Taiwan benefited from solid starting pitching from Chen Mu-heng (陳睦衡), who went five and one-third innings without giving up a run and recording seven strikeouts. He overpowered Korean batters with a fastball that topped 152 km/h.

However, it was not all smooth sailing for Chen, as the top of the first inning saw a fielding error followed by a hit that put two runners on base. Fortunately, Chen would get the next Korean batter, Sim Jaehoon, to strike out swinging, per CNA.

Korean pitcher Jung Hyunwoo nearly matched Chen’s dominance on the mound, locking up Taiwan batters through the early innings. But by the third inning, a lead-off double, followed by a single, and a hit batter would load the bases. The next batter for Taiwan, Chuan Shao-kai (全紹凱), walked, scoring what would be the game’s only run. 

Meanwhile, Chen continued to keep Korean batters off balance for the next few innings, only encountering trouble in the top of the sixth inning when he surrendered a single to batter Park Jaehyun. After a mound visit, he was pulled from the game for reliever Lin Po-chun (林鉑濬), who got out of the inning by striking out the next batter before inducing a flyout.

Lin's fastball continued to challenge Korean batters, protecting Taiwan’s 1-0 lead over the next one and two-thirds innings. Taiwan was scheduled to face Pakistan on Wednesday (Sept. 3), though the team’s failure to appear at the tournament, led tournament officials to award Taiwan a forfeit victory with a score of 7-0. 

The opening round victory over Korea and forfeit victory over Pakistan give Taiwan easy odds to win their group and advance to round-robin play. Another accolade for the Taiwan team was the defeat of Korean starting pitcher, Jung Hyunwoo, who many scouts regard as the top pick in this year's Korean professional baseball draft.

Taiwan’s next match in group play will be Thailand on Wednesday (Sept. 4) at Tianmu Baseball Stadium.