A clutch hit from Chiu Hsin in the bottom of the seventh inning on Saturday propelled defending champions Taiwan to a 2-1 victory over Italy in their WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup Group B opener in Sarasota, Florida.
Taiwan started strong, loading the bases on a single and two walks in the bottom of the first inning, but Italian starter Alessandro Ercolani pitched a timely strikeout to keep the runners at bay and allow his team to exit the inning unscathed.
Aside from a few wild spells early in the game, Ercolani had an excellent tournament debut, with just five hits in four innings, while giving up only one run in the fourth.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association via CNA
His solid performance was eclipsed by CPBL top draft pick Huang Pao-lo, who struck out seven and gave up only one hit over five innings.
Taiwan kept the opposition scoreless until the top of the sixth inning, when Italy capitalized on Huang’s walk with a single off reliever Lin Po-chun to tie the game 1-1.
In the bottom of the seventh, a lead-off double from third baseman Huang Chieh-hsi and the intentional walk of pinch hitter Zheng Jun-wei put runners on first and second. Chiu then sent a line drive to right field to bring home Huang Chieh-hsi and secure the win for Taiwan.
Taiwan, who won the tournament in 1983, 2010 and 2019, tallied seven hits to Italy’s three.
Closer Lin Sheng-en was the winning pitcher despite allowing two walks in his 1-1/3 innings on the mound.
Taiwan are now second behind Japan in Group B, which also includes Mexico, Panama, Italy and Australia, who Taiwan was to play yesterday.
Group A consists of Brazil, the US, Canada, South Korea, the Netherlands and South Africa.
After a round-robin first round, the top three sides from each group advance.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The horn sounded on Wednesday night to signal a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, as the Florida Panthers celebrated merely by hopping over the boards and several heading over to congratulate goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. It was a subdued celebration seemingly more befitting a regular-season win for the reigning Cup champs. “I remember a few years ago, it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at one point,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said, adding: “It’s all business and we’ve got a bigger goal in mind.” The Panthers closed out the Carolina Hurricanes in five games, with a 5-3 victory in