The Korean national team was completely defeated in the first match of the World Youth Championships 메이저놀이터.
On the 2nd, the national team lost 1-6 to the home team Taiwan in the opening round of the 31st World Youth Baseball Championship held at the Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan. It was thought to be a realistic match for first place in Group A, but the national team collapsed in vain.
Although the home fans’ support was one-sided, the national team clearly lost on skill level.
As soon as they went on offense in the top of the first inning, all they could do was get the first run with a timely hit from Yeo Dong-geon (Seoul High School). Since then, the national team has not been able to exert any effort, only scoring 5 sporadic hits. Rather, Taiwan’s Ko Ching-Hsien, who hit the game-winning hit against Australia, once again had to watch a perfect performance of 2 hits and 2 walks in 2 at-bats.
The failure to replace the pitcher in the third inning was also a fatal blow. If Hwang Jun-seo, whose pitching status had declined somewhat entering the third inning, had been replaced a little sooner, there was no telling what the outcome of the game would have been. However, even if we exclude all these points, the national team players did not perform well. The only consolation was that national team ace Kim Taek-yeon pitched 3 innings, allowing 1 earned run and striking out 7.
Another Taiwanese ace, Lin Wei-En, dominated the national team’s batting lineup with 6 strikeouts and no earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Taiwan virtually confirmed first place in the opening round with two wins in the competition. In Group A, the United States defeated Spain 6-2, and Japan defeated Panama 7-0.