Taiwan leads a group of the top six teams with two victories after two days in the second round of the Under-12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan, while Japan, South Korea, the US and Mexico each have one win and one loss.
The hosts showed no mercy as they pummeled South Korea 11-1 yesterday and romped over the US 16-2 on Thursday.
Taiwan pitcher Yang Sheng-wei got the win after pitching four innings to limit South Korea to only one run on four hits.
On offense, the hosts pounded out 11 hits, including five home runs, to score three runs in both the third and fourth frames and rounded out the scoring with a five-run burst in the fifth inning.
First baseman Kuo Shu-wei blasted a three-run homer to make it 11-1 in the fifth inning, ending the game due to the 10-run mercy rule.
US starting pitcher Joshua Atomanczyk yesterday had a superb day, leading the US over Japan 6-3.
He chalked up the win by yielding only one run through 5-1/3 innings, but it was his two home runs that made the difference.
Atomanczyk hit a two-run homer in the third inning, followed by a home run in the fifth with two runners on base, accounting for five of the team’s six runs.
“It was a dream come true for me to come to Taiwan to take part in the tournament. I’m happy to have hit five home runs so far, which was a surprise for me, although I had been hitting homers in competitions back in the US,” Atomanczyk said after the game.
“I don’t have enough fine words for Josh,” US manager David Sharp said after the game. “He is a strong kid who wants to win for our country, but I also care to say that this was a team effort.”
Sharp’s team suffered a setback on Thursday in a 16-2 loss to Taiwan, who hit five homers to end the game in the bottom of the fifth inning due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Taiwan pitcher Tseng Yi-wei pocketed that win, relief pitching 3-2/3 innings to limit US batters to only one hit and no runs.
“I enjoyed playing against the American players. They are the team I most wanted to face and get a win,” Tseng said on Thursday.
In yesterday’s other Super Round game, Nicaragua prevailed over Mexico 9-7.
In the consolation round of the bottom six teams, Panama yesterday clobbered the Czech Republic 13-3, while Brazil downed Australia 8-1 and South Africa beat Germany 16-4.
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