TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan faced South Korea in Sunday's bronze medal match of the U18 Baseball World Cup in Okinawa, Japan.
With the score tied in the top of the seventh and final inning, Taiwan pushed the go-ahead run on a single from Jiang Ting-yi (江庭毅), securing a 3-2 victory and a third-place finish in the tournament, per CNA.
Taiwan's victory avenged an earlier 8-1 loss to South Korea in the opening game of the Super Round. This time around, Taiwan fared better with solid starting pitching from Liu Jen-yu (劉任右), who limited South Korea to just one hit in the first inning.
In the bottom of the second, Liu surrendered a solo homer to leadoff batter Kim Geonhwi. He soon recovered, getting the next three outs. In the bottom of the third, Liu gave up an infield single to the leadoff batter but was able to get a groundout double play, preventing any runs.
Taiwan had a chance to score in the top of the fourth with Zeng Sheng-en (曾聖恩) hitting a double and advancing to third base on a bunt. The next batter, Jiang, walked on four balls, but the lack of a timely hit left the team scoreless.
Taiwan finally broke through in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Hsu Shu-cheng (許書誠) and Pasula Takislinian hit back-to-back singles. A groundout by the next batter, Li Kai-qi (李楷棋), brought home the tying run. And with two outs, Wu Cheng-hao's (吳承皓) timely single put the team ahead, 2-1.
South Korea rallied in the bottom of the sixth. Facing Taiwanese reliever Wang Yi-xiang (王奕翔), with two outs, Park Jiseok was struck by a pitch and later stole second base. The next batter, Kim Geonhwi, singled in the run, tying the game 2-2.
In the seventh inning, Jiang singled, sending Zeng from second base all the way home, where he collided with the catcher. He was initially called out, and the umpire gestured for his ejection.
However, after replay assistance, the call was changed to an obstruction charge on the catcher, and Zeng's run counted. This would end up being the winning run as Taiwan's pitching in the bottom half of the inning kept South Korean hitters to groundouts, sealing the victory and a third-place finish in the tournament.
