Chang Hao-wei’s clutch single with a runner in a scoring position broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the eighth as Taitung’s Chii Lih Coral held on to defeat Taichung’s Veetime in a 1-0 final at the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium yesterday afternoon to even the weekend series at one win apiece.
The Amis player made the most of his final plate appearance of the day by slapping a 0-2 offering from Veetime pitcher Juan Pena through the left side of the infield for what ended up being the game-winning hit to give the home team a much needed victory.
“I knew I fell behind on the pitch count, so I had to swing at anything that looked close,” Chang said afterward about his game-winning hit.
Photo courtesy of the CTBA
His steady improvement on the field has raised his stock ahead of the upcoming amateur draft.
A pitchers’ duel between Veetime’s Pena and Coral starter Huang Tzu-pong left the opposing offense empty-handed through the seventh as both hurlers managed to pitch into and out of trouble on more than one occasion.
Pena learned about Chang the hard way as he served up the game-winner to lose both a shutout bid and the game.
Huang pitched shutout ball with eight hits two outs into the eighth before being relieved by game-winner Luo Chia-ren after allowing runners to reach first and second. He missed the win by an out. Luo was awarded his first victory of the season for getting the final four outs in the game.
Taking the loss was Pena, who pitched well enough for the win had his offense been able to provide him some run support.
TAIPOWER 0, FALCONS 2
The Topco Scientific Falcons blanked Taipower at the Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City yesterday afternoon thanks to a stingy outing by the Falcons pitching staff.
Liu Yu-yen entered with one out and two on base in the top of the fourth and induced a double-play that ended the inning to deny the Power Crew a great scoring opportunity. He left with 2-2/3 innings of hitless relief to take home the win.
Offensively for the Falcons, Fong Chien-ting’s second-inning single with two on base to score the go-ahead run proved to be the difference in the game.
Also starring was slugger Chiang Chien-ming, who collected three hits to lead all hitters.
Taipower starter Shih Hung-chieh gave up two runs on seven hits in five innings in a losing cause, falling victim to an anemic offense, who failed to produce any runs on the five hits they mustered off Falcons starter Lin Wei-chih.
NSTC 4, COOPERATIVE BANK 10
Ho Yu-teh’s fielding error on a would-be inning-ending grounder broke a three-all tie for Taiwan Cooperative Bank in the bottom of the eighth as the Bankers went on to win against the National Sports Training Center (NSTC) in Tianmu last night.
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