World No. 2 Taiwan on Tuesday narrowly avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time with a 6-3 victory over Spain in a do-or-die qualifier at the Taipei Dome, but while fans celebrated, manager Tseng Hao-jiu apologized.
“Sorry we kept you guys waiting and worried,” MLB.com quoted Tseng as saying after the game. “We did it.”
It was a tense standoff for a team that just three months earlier had won Taiwan’s first World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 title with a nation-unifying victory over world No. 1 Japan.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
However, while in November last year, Taiwan lost just two games in the WBSC’s flagship tournament, this time, they lost two of their first three games on their way to joining the 16 teams competing in next year’s WBC.
“It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12,” said captain Chen Chieh-hsien, who thanked fans for standing by the team and cheering even when qualification seemed out of reach.
Taiwan faced heavy doubts about their ability to qualify after a shocking 12-5 loss to Spain in which they narrowly avoided triggering the mercy rule. While they earned back their confidence with a 9-1 win over South Africa, they suffered a 6-0 drubbing from Nicaragua, who were undefeated in the qualifiers.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
However, Taiwan on Tuesday quickly rebounded from their earlier defeat to the 2023 European Baseball Championship winners to take a 3-2 lead in the first two innings.
The turning point came at the top of the sixth, when leadoff hitter Chen Wun-jie reached second base on a single and a steal with no outs.
Catcher Chiang Shao-hung executed a sacrifice bunt and the 2023 European Championship Most Valuable Player, third baseman Wander Encarnacion, committed a throwing error, letting Chen Wun-jie score.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Adding to Spain’s misery, the scenario seemed to replay itself, as outfielder Sung Cheng-jui also made a sacrifice bunt and a teary-eyed Encarnacion committed another throwing error, allowing Chiang across home plate to put Taiwan up 5-2, as the Taipei Dome erupted in cheers.
A solo home run from Rusber Estrada, his second of the series, helped Spain stay alive in the bottom of the sixth.
However, Spain had a chance to shift the momentum in the bottom of the seventh, when they loaded the bases on two walks and a single with one out.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
That is when 20-year-old fireballer Sun Yi-lei responded with back-to-back strikeouts to hold the line.
Sun, who celebrated his birthday earlier this month, made his debut in a major senior-level international in style, pitching 1-2/3 scoreless innings, while allowing just two hits and a walk.
“The pressure was really there, and really big, because it was a do-or-die game. I’d like to call out to the fans to give our young players more encouragement than criticism,” MLB.com quoted Chen Chieh-hsien as saying. “I want to express my appreciation to these younger players, they did it.”
Taiwan added an insurance run in the eighth before closer Tseng Jyun-yue relieved Sun, striking out Spain’s first three batters in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory.
ELTA TV commentator Tseng Wen-cheng praised Sun for his composure under pressure, while also commending Spain’s performance.
“Spain played really, really well,” he said. “They kept the game at a high intensity, which would have been even higher without those two errors.”
Veteran shortstop Yu Chang, a former major league player who was 7-for-18 and hit a home run in the qualifier, praised Taiwan’s young players.
“We were under tremendous pressure, probably because we had a lot of young players participating in this international tournament,” MLB.com quoted Chang as saying. “I am glad that we were able to focus on this game and ultimately won it. Thanks to all our teammates, as we all were under such pressure.”
After the game, Tseng Hao-jiu said the team learned valuable lessons from its struggles in the qualifiers.
“To prepare for the WBC, our players must stay on guard, because the opponents will only be stronger and better,” he said.
Taiwan join Nicaragua in securing a spot in the WBC, set to take place in March next year.
Meanwhile, China, Germany, Brazil and Colombia are to compete in Tucson, Arizona, for the remaining two slots from Sunday to Thursday next week.
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