Taipower beat defending champs Taiwan Cooperative Bank 4-1 in the semi-finals of the Cross-Strait Baseball Challenge at the Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium yesterday to earn a berth in this afternoon’s title game against New Taipei City.
Run-scoring base hits by Lin Lien-kai and Yu Tsong-han capped a two-run sixth that broke a 1-1 deadlock for Taipower before they tacked on an insurance run in the eighth to earn a major upset against the defending champs.
“It was a beautiful win for us,” Taipower skipper Chen Tseh-hsiang said after the game.
His team clearly outfought the Bankers in every facet of the game to earn a well-deserved victory.
As well as outslugging the Bankers by an 11-7 margin on offense, Taipower also outpitched and outplayed their opponents on defense to beat them fair and square.
Starter Lai Kai-di’s gutsy effort off the mound was the difference as he went 7-1/3 innings strong over 119 pitches with only one allowed run to outduel Bankers’ counterpart Cheng Wei-hao.
New Taipei City 5, Taipei City 3
New Taipei City narrowly won their contest against a diehard Taipei City squad that nearly overcame a five-run deficit at the Taipei Municipal Stadium in Tianmu yesterday afternoon to earn their place in the final.
New Taipei City’s Huang Yu-hsiang, Lin Jin-chang and Kuo Hsu-yen strung together three consecutive singles that paved the way to a three-run third to make it 4-0 to the eventual victors.
The New Taipei City offense tacked on a fifth run in the fifth before Taipei City answered with two runs of their own to make it a three-run game.
Taipei City would have had an even bigger inning in the sixth had it not been for New Taipei City starter and game-winner Kuo Jung-hong, who escaped a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout and a pop-up over the infield to end a potentially game-turning rally.
Taipei City added a third run in the ninth inning.
Guangdong Leopards 5,
Jiangsu Hopestars 2 in the 10th
Guangdong Leopards overcame a 0-2 deficit in the eighth with a pair of runs to send the game into extra innings and won it with a three-run tenth to humble the Jiangsu Hopestars 5-2 in the early game in Tianmu yesterday afternoon.
Na Chuang’s three-run blast in the tenth completed the Leopard’s five-run comeback.
Also yesterday, it was:
‧ Tianjin Lions 4,
Sichuan Dragons 1
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