TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Wei Chuan Dragons captured the first-half championship of Taiwan's professional baseball league on Saturday with a 4-0 victory over the TSG Hawks at Chengcing Lake Baseball Stadium in Kaohsiung.
The title is the sixth in franchise history and the Dragons' second since returning to the league. Following the victory, Dragons fans celebrated by tossing red ribbons onto the field, according to CNA.
The first-half title guarantees the Dragons a place in the postseason. Under the CPBL's playoff format, the first-half champion, the second-half champion, and one wild-card team qualify for the postseason. The wild-card team faces the half-season champion with the lower winning percentage.
With the Dragons entering the game needing just one win to clinch the title, large numbers of supporters traveled to Kaohsiung to witness the potential championship celebration. The third-base side of the stadium was packed with fans wearing the team's signature red colors.
Dragons starter Drew Gagnon delivered a dominant performance, throwing 108 pitches over eight scoreless innings. He allowed five hits, struck out a career-high 13 batters, and did not issue a walk. The outing lowered his earned run average to 1.92.
The Dragons broke a scoreless tie in the eighth inning. With two outs and a runner on first, Liu Ji-hung (劉基鴻) doubled to drive in the game's first run. Chu Yu-hsien (朱育賢) followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0, per CNA.
The rally continued when Giljegiljaw Kungkuan (吉力吉撈·鞏冠) drew a walk, followed by another free pass to Lee Kai-wei (李凱威), loading the bases. Wang Shun-ho (王順和) then hit an infield single to extend the lead to 3-0.
Liu added an insurance run in the ninth inning, singling home a runner from second base to complete the scoring and seal the championship-clinching victory.
