Taiwan defeats South Korea at Asian Baseball Championship

中華隊在亞洲棒球錦標賽上擊敗韓國隊

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan defeated South Korea 10-0 in group play at the Asian Baseball Championship on Tuesday in Pingtan, China.

The victory allows Taiwan to advance to the Super Round as the top seed in Group B. The Asian Baseball Championship is held every two years, the main tournament for national teams, and also serves as an Olympic qualifier.

Taiwan benefitted from solid starting pitching with Chen Mu-heng (陳睦衡) tossing five scoreless innings. Taiwan had a strong offensive effort in the bottom of the first, which began with Chin Min-shih (陳敏賜) drawing a two-out walk, advancing on a single by Kao Yu-wei (高育瑋), and scoring on a wild pitch, per CNA.

Taiwan would later tack on another run with Yang Chen-yu's (楊振裕) double. Offensive momentum continued with Li Yi-wei (李亦崴) singling, Lin Yu-li (林雨力) drawing a walk, and Wu Song-hsun (吳松勳) hitting a clutch single with the bases loaded, driving in two runs. Taiwan then added two more runs with three consecutive walks.

In total, Taiwan sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring six runs. It was a commanding lead that South Korea would not be able to overcome.

Taiwan would rally again in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded with two outs, Chen Hsiao-yun (陳孝允) drew a walk, giving Taiwan its seventh run.

And in the bottom of the seventh inning, Chen Hsiao-yun led off with a single, and Chen Min-sih homered (Taiwan's first home run of the tournament), scoring two runs to end the game early due to the tournament's 10-run mercy rule.

Taiwan's 19-year-old pitcher, Chen Mu-heng, from the Orix Bulls in Japan, tossed 64 pitches over five innings, allowing three hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. He did not surrender a run and was given the victory.

Taiwan went to the bullpen for the sixth inning, with Huang Po-ju (黃柏儒) working one scoreless inning. He was followed by Zhang Jun-wei (張峻瑋) of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the seventh inning to seal the victory.

Earlier in the tournament, Taiwan defeated a team from Palestine. Taiwan will complete the final game of group play against Hong Kong on Wednesday.