In a battle between the two top-ranked teams in Group A, Japan’s pitchers shut down Taiwan’s batters to walk away with a 3-0 victory over the hosts at the 11th Baseball Federation of Asia Under-18 Championship in Taichung last night.
Japan sit atop Group A on two wins, with Taiwan in second place with a 1-1 record after they thrashed Indonesia 20-0 on the opening day of action on Tuesday.
Japan had a similar result in their first game, beating Hong Kong 19-0.
South Korea are top of Group B with two wins from two outings, prevailing over China 3-1 yesterday and clobbering the Philippines 14-0 on the opening day.
In other results, China started well by blanking Thailand 11-0 on Tuesday, while Hong Kong sailed past Indonesia with an 11-1 triumph yesterday.
In Taiwan’s opener, power hitters Chen Hu and Chiu Ta-yu each clubbed a home run to help starting pitcher Fang Chao-tse pick up the win against Indonesia.
The gap between the hosts and baseball minnows Indonesia was evident when in the first inning Taiwan sent 15 batters to the plate and scored 10 runs on five hits, aided by walks and two opposition errors, with the outcome beyond doubt at that point.
With the tournament hosted by Taiwan and organized by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, home fans and sports officials hope to claim the trophy, but Taiwan face stern tests from the main regional rivals of Japan and South Korea.
Taiwan head coach Chen Ming-tang said at the opening ceremony: “I want to apologize first to the other teams, but the championship trophy will stay in Taiwan.”
However, he might come to regret his overconfidence, as Japan defeated the hosts last night and Taiwan are likely to face South Korea in the playoffs.
If they can win their semi-final, the home side will most likely face the powerful Japan in the final.
TODAY’S GAMES
In today’s round-robin games, Group B sees China and the Philippines face off in the noon time slot, while the 6:30pm game features South Korea against Thailand at the National Taiwan University of Sport baseball ground.
In Group A, Japan face Indonesia in the afternoon contest, while Taiwan are to play Hong Kong in the evening at Taichung’s Intercontinental Stadium.
The business-end of the tournament gets started tomorrow, with playoffs between the top-two finishers from the each group.
As the top-ranked teams in youth baseball in this part of the world, two teams out of Taiwan, Japan and South Korea are expected to vie for the title in Sunday’s final.
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