Taipei Municipal Fulin Elementary School on Thursday got off to a successful start in Taiwan’s first appearance at the Little League Baseball World Series since 2015, topping an Italian team 2-0 on a one-hitter by five Taiwanese pitchers.
Representing Taiwan for the first time in the series, the team from Taipei Municipal Fulin Elementary School are hoping to end the country’s championship drought this century after having won the tournament 17 times from 1969 to 1996.
They got off to a quick start in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to the delight of a healthy contingent of Taiwanese supporters in attendance.
Photo: AP
In the top of the first, Shen Li-chen, son of former professional player Shen Yu-chieh, ripped a line drive single into center field to bring home Liao Yuan-shu and put his team up 1-0 against Emilia Romagna Little League from Bologna, who won the Europe-Africa region.
Taiwan added one more run in the top of the fourth, on consecutive doubles by Liao and Tseng Yi-che with two outs to extend their lead to 2-0.
That was plenty of cushion for Taiwan’s deep pitching staff, who allowed only two baserunners in the first five innings on walks, and were still flirting with a no-hitter one out away from victory in the bottom of the sixth.
Photo: AP
That was broken up on a ground ball that Emanuele Arcieri threaded between Taiwan’s shortstop and third-baseman, but no further damage was done.
“The ball is not as fast as we’ve seen in the past and maybe some players are not used to it,” the Williamsport Sun-Gazette quoted Tseng as saying after the game. “I just want to make sure when I strike, the ball is in front of the swing.”
Taiwan’s next game is to be against the winners of the Curacao-Panama game on Tuesday morning Taiwan time.
Photo: AP
The tournament’s bracket format means that if Taiwan win their next two games, they will advance directly to the International Championship.
A loss would send the team to the loser’s bracket, where another loss would mean elimination.
Fulin head coach Chang Tzu-chien told reporters after the game that he was not thinking about a no-hitter against Italy, but simply wanted to rotate pitchers to give them a chance to get used to the mound.
His biggest challenge was dealing with three interruptions in play due to thunder and rain, Chang said, adding that all he could do was let the players rest and make sure they stayed warm.
Fulin won the Asia-Pacific Region after beating a South Korean team in the regional qualifier final.
Taiwan had been unable to get past South Korea in regional qualifying from 2016 to 2019 after having made it to Williamsport six times in seven years from 2009 to 2015.
“Everybody’s always looking forward to coming to Williamsport,” Liao told the Williamsport Sun-Gazette after the game.
“Every year there’s a lot of expectation — and for two years because of the [COVID-19] pandemic, it’s even more exciting just to be here,” he added.
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