Korea beats Chinese Taipei with squeeze plays in U-23 Baseball World Cup
2 min read
The decisive inning ended up being the second, when they scored four runs. After maintaining a strong defensive presence and preserving the advantage, Korea passed the baton to unbeatable relievers Kyuyeon Kim and Donghyun Sung.
The game between Korea and Chinese Taipei on Thursday evening was a matchup between two unbeaten teams competing in the IV WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup. The game was won by Korea, who defeated Chinese Taipei by a score of 6-2 to take the lead in the Super Round rankings.
The predatory instincts of Korea kicked in when they detected a hole in their adversaries’ defenses. After getting on the scoreboard with a bases-loaded single in the top of the second inning, the World No. 3 then performed a squeeze bunt with shortstop Hanbyul Kim, which resulted in an error that led to more runs being scored.
In the second inning, Chinese Taipei managed to record one quick out, and shortly after that, center fielder Donghee Yoon reached on a dropped fly ball. After loading the bases, the starting pitcher Hsin Yen Chuang sent the ball to the Korean catcher Songbin Son, who drove in a run with a single.
After that, Korea decided to play with a smaller ball, and shortstop Hanbyul Kim bunted the ball while he was still a couple of steps away from the plate. Although Chuang attempted to scoop the ball and then flip it to catcher Hsiang Chang, he was unsuccessful and the ball went out of play, which allowed Korea to score two runs.
Although Chuang was removed from the mount and replaced by Yan Cheng Wang, Korea were not finished and greeted the reliever with another bunt, which resulted in the scoring of the fourth run.
As a response to the pitching of the Korean starter Dohyun Kim
The designated hitter Jyun Siang Yang and right fielder Kuo Chin of the Chinese Taipei team hit back-to-back singles, and then Kuo Chin advanced to second on a groundout. In the second inning, shortstop Yueh Ku Lin singled, and there was also a run that scored due to a wild pitch. When Songbin Son caught Yen attempting to steal second base, the inning came to an end.
The result of Korea’s tenacious defense was a 6-2 advantage for their team at the end of the fifth. In the remaining two innings, Kyuyeon Kim and Donghyun Sung retired the side in order by striking out a combined total of four batters.
On Friday, at 14.30, Korea will take on the number one team in the world, Japan, while Chinese Taipei will play Mexico at 19.00.
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