Taiwan reaches Junior League World Series final

台灣晉級小馬聯盟世界大賽（Junior League World Series）決賽

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taoyuan's Hsinming Junior High School (新明國中) baseball team defeated Aruba 6-0 to win the international division title at the Junior League World Series and advance to Monday's championship game against California, the US champion, per UDN.

Both Taiwan and California enter Monday's championship game undefeated after earning decisive victories earlier in the tournament. Taiwan, however, has won the tournament's last four championships.

Taiwan advanced behind a dominant pitching performance from starter Lin Kuan-chin (林冠嶔), who struck out six batters over seven innings while allowing just two hits and two walks. He faced only one batter over the minimum during the shutout.

Hsinming got off to a fast start offensively, loading the bases on consecutive singles before Chen En-yu (陳恩宇) drew a walk to bring home the first run. Chao Yi-chieh (趙奕傑) then singled to drive in two more runs, giving Taiwan a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Taiwan extended its lead in the fourth inning after an error by Aruba's third baseman and aggressive baserunning helped set up another scoring chance. With runners on first and third, Yu Chia-jui (余家睿) delivered a crucial double that drove in two runs and extended Taiwan's lead to 5-0. Taiwan later added another run to complete the 6-0 victory.

Taiwan had also defeated Aruba earlier in the tournament, winning 10-0.

Junior League baseball is for players ages 12-14 and is the age category following Little League, which is generally for players ages 9-12, per official regulations.