Taiwan improved to 2-1 in the preliminaries of this year’s 18U Baseball World Cup with a 4-2 win over Canada at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung last night.
The night game of the day-night doubleheader that was put in place to make up for the two rained-out days late last week saw the Taiwanese drawing first blood with a run in the top of the first, when Wu drew a walk off Canadian starter Travis Seabrooke, took third on another single and a walk before scoring on a fielder’s choice by Wang Cheng-tang.
The Islanders would increase their lead to 3-0 with a run in the fourth and fifth, before starter Lin Cheng-hsien allowed a pair of unearned runs on two singles and a two-run double to Canada’s Tyler O’Neill that made it 3-2.
Neither team was able to score through the eighth, with Lin and his counterparts standing their ground until Taiwan plated an insurance run in the top of the ninth to seal the victory.
Lin was credited with the win for his six solid innings of play, allowing two runs on seven hits, while the loss was charged to Seabrooke.
DAY GAME
In the day game of the day-night doubleheader, the hosts took advantage of a nine-run first to demolish the Czech Republic in a 16-0 final in five innings, thanks to a brilliant effort by a lineup that ripped eight hits off the Czech pitching in the opening frame and never looked back.
Czech starter Lukas Ercoli was relieved only two outs in the opening frame after serving up eight of the nine runs that the Islanders claimed on six hits. The visitors also committed two errors in the process that did them no favors.
SCORING
Other than a scoreless second, Taiwan managed to cross the plate at least once in all of the innings played, led by Lin Li and Yang Chia-wei, whose six combined RBIs on a 5-for-7 effort highlighted the national team’s slugfest.
Picking up the win on the mound for Taiwan was Tu Chia-ming, who needed only 42 pitches to one-hit the Czechs over shutout innings, while the loss went to Ercoli, who was overpowered by the Taiwanese hitters in a losing cause.
VENEZUELA 7, CANADA 5
Venezeula needed another late-game rally to top Canada in the second contest of the tournament, scoring three in the top of the ninth and holding off the Canadians to escape with a thrilling 7-5 win at the Taichung Municipal Baseball Stadium early yesterday afternoon.
After Canada struck first with three runs in the bottom of the third, the South Americans would answer with three runs of their own in the top of the fifth to knot things up at 3-all, only to find themselves trailing by two in the bottom of the same inning when Canada’s Josh Naylor and Lachlan Fontaine connected on run-scoring hits to give their team a 5-3 lead.
Trailing 5-4 heading into the top of the ninth, Venezuela mustered one final offensive with three straight singles off Canadian reliever Brodie Harkness which scored two runs and added on an insurance run on a balk call against reliever Daniel Propio to claim a 7-5 lead that stood for good.
Other scores:
‧ Japan 11, Mexico 0 (7th)
‧ Colombia 0, South Korea 4
‧ Italy 0, Cuba 15 (6th)
‧ US 0, Australia 1
‧ Venezuela 0, Japan 7
‧ Czech Republic 2, Mexico 12
(7th)
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
RSS