Baseball's best face three rounds of sudden death

The problems might be behind them, as Taiwan enters the medal round following their best performance of the tournament, a 5-1 win over South Korea.

"I'm very pleased we were able to defeat Korea. Their always are one of the top teams from Asia. I'm very satisfied with my team's performance tonight, manager Lin Hua-wei (林華韋) said after the game.

Dutch manager Robert Een-hoorn knows that Taiwan will give his team a stiff test.

"They finished first in their group, so they must be a very strong team," Eenhoorn said. "We're confident. We've showed that we can play against anybody and we've got a lot of experience. We are looking forward to playing Taiwan."

While Taiwan will have a sold-out stadium behind it, the Dutch should not be overlooked. Their three losses, to Japan, Cuba and Panama, were by a combined six runs.

Taiwan won the last meeting between the two teams in the World Cup by 12-6 in 1998.

Japan vs. South Korea

Japan won Group B, the only team in the tournament to finish round robin play unbeaten. The Koreans finished fourth in Group A at 5-2, getting outscored 16-1 in lopsided losses to the US and Taiwan.

But the preliminary-round results can be left aside is what is probably the most intriguing quarterfinal game. Both teams are loaded with stars from their respective professional leagues and Japan will be looking to avenge two recent losses to the Koreans.

South Korea defeated Japan 8-3 in the quarterfinals at the 1998 World Cup and then downed their neighbors 3-1 to win the bronze medal at last year's Olympics.

Chen ties for RBI title

Taiwan's Chen Ching-fong (陳金鋒) tied with Yojane Valera of the Dominican Republic for the most RBIs in the 2001 Baseball World Cup, both driving in 11 runs.

The winners of individual statistical categories are determined through the round robin phase of the tournament.

Evert-Jan 't Hoen of the Netherlands won the home run title with three. Chen and teammate Wang Chuan-chia (王傳家) tied four other players for second place with two.

Luis Ulacia of Cuba captured the batting crown, finishing with an average of .600 (18-for-30). Chen was fourth, batting .480 (12-for-25). Nine pitchers had earned-run averages of 0.00, with Samuel Meurant of France taking first place based upon his having the highest total of innings pitched (15 2/3).

Taiwan's Chang Chih-chia (張誌家) won the award for best won-loss record with his 3-0 record. Seven pitchers, including Taiwan's Hsu Ming-chien (許銘傑), tied for second with 2-0 marks.

Former Florida Marlins and New York Mets player Ralph Milliard of the Netherlands recorded the most stolen bases with seven.