Korea’s national youth baseball team recorded its first win in its second game of the Baseball World Cup.
The Korea National Youth Baseball Team, led by Lee Young-bok, opened the 31st World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup with a 14-1 victory over the Czech Republic in the second game of the Group A Preliminary Round at the Intercontinental Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, on Wednesday.
Park Ji-hwan, one of the top prospects in the 2024 KBO Draft, went 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and a walk in the game.
South Korea played their first game against Chinese Taipei on the second day after their first game against Puerto Rico was postponed due to rain, but lost 1-6. However, they got their first win against the Czech Republic on the same day to improve their record to 1-1.
Korea’s starting lineup was Lee Chung-heon (center field), Jung Ahn-seok (first base), Yeo Dong-gun (second base), Park Ji-hwan (shortstop), Lee Seung-min (left field), Cho Hyun-min (third base), Lee Sang-joon (catcher), Lee Yul-ye (catcher), and Yeon Jun-won (right field). The starting pitcher was left-hander Park Ki-ho.
Korea took control in the first inning, as Jung Ahn-seok singled and stole second, Yeo Dong-gun singled to third, and Park Ji-hwan singled to left. Lee Seung-min grounded out to second base to score Jung Ahn-seok from third. A throwing error by Czech shortstop Martin Soboka allowed Yeo to score from second base. 2-0 lead. In the third inning, Yeo Dong-gun led off with a walk, stole second, and came home on Cho Hyun-min’s infield single to make it 3-0.
Korea added three more runs in the fourth inning. Lee Yul-ye doubled off the left field fence and Yeon Jun-won followed with a bunt single to third and a stolen base to put runners on second and third. Lee Chung-heon’s sacrifice fly to right field, Jung Ahn-seok’s RBI single up the middle, and Park Ji-hwan’s RBI double over the left field fence plated three more runs to extend the lead to 6-0. In the fifth, Yeon Jun-won capitalized on an error and drove in Park Ji-hwan with a double to left center.
Park Ji-hwan, who also singled to left in the ninth inning, went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a walk. Lee Yul-ye also had three hits and two RBIs, while Yeo Dong-gun, Cho Hyun-min, and Yeon Jun-won were evenly matched with two hits apiece.
On the mound, starter Park Ki-ho earned the win with a three-hit shutout, striking out three on 37 pitches. He was followed by Park Gun-woo, who pitched two innings of one-hit ball with no walks and three strikeouts; Kim Sang-hyun, who pitched one inning of one-hit ball with one walk and three strikeouts; and Cho Dae-hyun, who pitched ⅔ inning of two-hit ball with no walks and one strikeout. The tournament will be played in seven-inning games. 바카라사이트
South Korea is in Group A with Taiwan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia and China in the 12-nation tournament. It will be 15 years since the last tournament in Edmonton, Canada, in 2008.
Korea will play its third preliminary round game against Australia on Thursday.