Taiwan yesterday met reigning world champions the US in the WBSC Under-12 Baseball World Cup final in Tainan. Despite an early lead, a number of errors by the hosts and strong US batting helped them overtake Taiwan and hold their lead until the end.
At their previous meeting in a second-round game on Friday, Taiwan defeated the US 11-6.
Taiwan took the lead in the bottom of the first inning with one run and then increased their lead to 2-0 in the second inning.
Photo: CNA
Up until that point, things were looking good for Taiwan, but it all changed in the third inning, when the US rallied to turn the game on its head. In the top of the third, the US scored two points due to poor fielding by Taiwan’s Yang Chun (楊鈞) and the US’ Jack Ryan hitting into right field.
The US then increased their lead to 4-2 after short stop Davis Diaz scored a two-point home run. By the end of the inning, the US were leading hosts Taiwan 5-2.
In the top of the fifth inning, Ryan scored a home run to widen the US’ lead to 6-2. By the bottom of the sixth inning, the US had scored yet another run to secure their 7-2 victory, successfully defending their 2013 title by once again defeating Taiwan in the final.
The Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (中華民國棒球協會) said all 11,000 tickets were sold and Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) attended the game to cheer for Taiwan.
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