Chen Sheng-ping yesterday led Taiwan to a 3-1 victory over Mexico to earn bronze in the WSBC U-23 Baseball World Cup.
In the late game, Japan beat South Korea 3-0 to take home gold, all thanks to Masashi Maruyama, who hit a three-run homer in the third inning.
Both of the tournament’s final games were at Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei, where rainy conditions forced the Taiwan-Mexico game to be delayed by half an hour.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Mexico scored in the first inning, when Camacho Rodriguez hit a single, then after two sacrifice bunts, advanced to third base. Facing Mexico’s fourth batter, right-hander Lee Chen-hsun threw a change-up in the dirt and was charged with a wild pitch, allowing Rodriguez to come home from third and give Mexico a 1-0 lead.
Second baseman Chen Sheng-ping equalized for the hosts in the second inning when he hit a colossal double off Mexico starter Nestor Anguamea that bounced off the right field wall and drove in the runner from second to level the score at one apiece.
With two outs in the third inning, Chen came up to bat. The bases loaded, and he came through with a clutch hit through to center field off lefty Erubiel Armenta, resulting in two runs.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
After giving Mexico their only run, Lee then settled down, giving up three hits and one walk, on four strikeouts. He was only relieved in the sixth inning by right-hander Chuang Hsin-yen. The U23 tournament has seven innnings.
Chen, who was named Most Valuable Player, was born in Taitung County. He is an Amis who played in Taoyuan and Hsinchu while at school.
He said he felt a lot of pressure going into the contest, and really wanted to prove his worth, as he is the only infielder on Taiwan’s U23 roster who is playing abroad.
He is playing in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ farm system after being signed by scouts in 2019. This year he is on the roster of the Hillsboro Hops, a minor league affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“There was a lot of attention on me, and more pressure today as Taiwan was battling for third place, and I did not really perform well in the other games during this tournament,” Chen said.
“I want to thank the coaching staff for their trust in me, and my teammates for getting on base, so I could contribute with hits to drive them home,” he said. “It is a great feeling ... winning this game and the bronze medal is the best way to finish off this U23 World Cup.”
Meanwhile, in pro baseball, the CPBL is to enter the post-season next weekend, with the Wei Chuan Dragons taking on the CTBC Brothers in the first-round playoff series.
With the CPBL regular season winding down, the post-season match-up was decided on Friday, when the CTBC Brothers were beaten 2-0 at home by the Dragons.
The loss meant the Rakuten Monkeys gained a berth to the Taiwan Series final next month, where they are to face the winners of the first-round playoff series.
In the other results, the Fubon Guardians beat the Uni-President Lions 5-3 on Friday, while Rakuten and the Dragons drew 5-5 on Saturday.
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