Taoyuan easily advanced to today’s semi-final against Tainan by defeating New Taipei City in a surprising 10-0 shutout win at the Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City yesterday to finish the second round of the E.Sun Cup with a perfect 3-0 record.
Going into the tournament as heavy favorites, the four-time defending champions needed only five innings to thrash their archrivals in front of a hostile crowd to send the hosts packing in one of the most dominating showings in recent years.
Starter Chang Chao-sheng was at his best, pitching 3-2/3 innings of shutout ball in a one-hitter, before being relieved by Chang Chun-kai, who followed up with 1-1/3 innings of scoreless relief to keep the shutout intact.
ALL THAT MATTERS
“We played like we are able of playing, that’s all that mattered,” Chang Chun-kai was quoted as saying after the game.
Chang Chun-kai will likely take the mound for skipper Wu Po-hung should they go on to reach tomorrow’s title game by beating Tainan City in the first of the two semi-finals today.
Leading the way at the plate for Taoyuan were sluggers Kao Yu-chieh and Hsin Yuan-hsu, who batted a combined six for six with five RBIs to account for half of their team’s runs.
After a scoreless first inning, Taoyuan jumped all over New Taipei City starter Lin Hao-chi with three quick runs in the bottom of the second on four base hits to lead it 3-0.
That set up another three-run third, before a four-run fourth that pushed Taoyuan’s lead to 10-0 and triggered the mercy rule.
Baffled by Chang Chao-sheng, previously unbeaten New Taipei City found themselves in unfamiliar territory as they let Taoyuan run away with a rare blowout win between the two perennial powerhouses.
KAOHSIUNG 9, TAINAN 5
Kaohsiung erased two early deficits with a strong mid-game push to top Tainan in a hard-fought 9-5 victory in their final game of the second round in New Taipei City to earn a spot in today’s other semi-final against New Taipei City.
In a game in which the lead changed five times, Kaohsiung managed to come out ahead after falling behind 1-3 in the first inning and 3-4 in the fourth, plating two runs in the fifth and sixth to stay ahead for good.
Wong Wei-chun was credited with the win, while the loss was charged to Tainan’s Tsai Chieh-chin.
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