TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan clinched the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 championship against Japan on Sunday (Nov. 24).

Taiwan’s batters performed well in the first four innings, with hits from Chen Chieh-Hsien (陳傑憲), Lin Li, (林立), and Chiang Kun-Yu (江坤宇). They put pressure on starting Japanese pitcher Takahashi Hiroto, but ultimately did not score any runs.

Team Taiwan’s defense shone in the fourth inning, with Chen Chieh-Hsien making a deep flyout catch. Yueh Tung-Hua (岳東華) also prevented a ground ball from getting through the infield, thwarting Japan’s offensive attempts. 

Taiwan’s Lin Chia-Cheng (林家正) hit a solo home run to center field, finally breaking the deadlock in the top of the fifth inning. After that, Chen Chen-Wei (陳晨威) and Lin Li got on base, setting the stage for Chen Chieh-Hsien’s spectacular three-run homer, putting Taiwan in the lead 4-0.

By the end of the seventh inning, Japan had managed only three hits. Taiwan continued to hold off Japan in the next two innings and killed off any hope of a comeback with a game-ending double play in the bottom of the ninth.

This is the first time Taiwan has competed for a championship in over 32 years in the top three international competitions — the Olympics, World Baseball Cup, and Premier12.

Taiwan had previously lost against Japan 9-6 on Saturday.