In a tightly contested final, a go-ahead single in extra-inning was pivotal as Greater Kaohsiung edged New Taipei City 8-7 to win the under-15 Hua Nan Cup at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City on Sunday.
Greater Kaohsiung, with the team’s core players from Zhongxiao Junior High School and students from four other schools, will go on to represent Taiwan at the IBAF U15 Baseball World Cup in Baja California Sur, Mexico, from Aug. 1 to Aug. 10.
In the semi-finals on Saturday, Greater Kaohsiung advanced to the final by defeating Taitung County 7-4 in the early afternoon contest.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association
In the second semi-final the outcome was still uncertain late in the game until New Taipei City’s big bats came alive to blow it wide open by scoring eight runs in the eighth inning, before eventually shutting out Taipei 10-0.
The final was a see-saw battle, with both sides trading runs throughout the game and it was knotted at seven runs each after the regulation nine innings.
New Taipei City could not get the run they needed in their top of the 10th frame and Greater Kaohsiung seized their chance to lift the Hua Nan Cup.
With two men on base, second batter in the lineup Juan Ming-chih slapped a bouncer through the infield for a single, that scored the walk-off run.
“It was a really tough game and very nerve-wracking. We had opportunities to score in the eighth and ninth innings, but our players could not capitalize. However, they came good in the 10th, so I am proud of the team,” Greater Kaohsiung coach Ni Kuo-chang said.
Ni, a six-year professional player with Taichung Agan of the now-defunct Naluwan Taiwan Major League and a familiar figure to sports journalists for his good-humored personality, said in his post-game interview that “my heart was pounding like crazy.”
“I thought it might stop beating. In the late innings, my arms and legs got cramps, because my body was so wound up,” he said.
Ni gave credit to Juan for the winning run, as the hitting star drove in two runs in the game and finished with nine RBIs overall to top all players in the tournament.
He also praised pitcher Hsu Chi-ling for winning two key games, for which he was selected the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
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