Taiwan successfully defended its title at the 2025 U-15 Asian Baseball Championship, defeating Japan 3-0 in the final in Tainan yesterday.
The two teams went toe-to-toe for most of the final, scoring no runs in the first five innings.
Taiwan then broke the stalemate in the top of the sixth when centerfielder Chen Rui-xin (陳瑞鑫) and pinch hitter Hu Kuan-wei (胡冠威) scored two runs, on a hit by batter Chen Bo-you (陳泊佑).
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
With the score at 2-0 in the final inning, second baseman Huang Tzu-chi (黃子齊) secured another run at the top of the seventh from a hit by batter Jiang Jin-cheng (江金澄) putting Taiwan into a 3-0 lead.
Chen Bo-you was later named the MVP after Japan failed to keep pace with Taiwan in the bottom of the seventh.
Another key player for Taiwan was starter Ko Shao-chieh (柯邵捷) who pitched a full game.
Ko had a shaky start to the game, sending Japanese batter Yusei Niwa to first base with a walk.
The young Taiwanese pitcher did not find his footing until he loaded all three bases in the bottom of the first, at which point he prevented Japan from capitalizing with pitches that forced batters Soichiro Okada and Tatsunori Nakashima off the field before striking out Renshin Koyama.
The Taiwanese pitcher then kept up his momentum in the second and third innings with consecutive strikeouts, his best performances in the game.
Speaking with the press yesterday, Ko attributed his lackluster performance in the bottom of the first to nerves due to it being a title defense and the size of the crowd at the home game.
Over 5,000 spectators attended the game at the Asia- Pacific International Baseball Training Centers, giving the Taiwanese team homefield advantage.
The victory saw Taiwan win its second consecutive title at the U-15 Asian Baseball Championship following a 2023 victory over Japan in the 11th edition of the game in China.
Taiwan has now won a tournament-record eight U-15 Asian championships and reached the final in every edition of the event since it was first held in 2000.
Taiwan and Japan both secured spots in the 2026 U-15 World Baseball Championship scheduled to be held in Italy in 2026.
Kylian Mbappe struck from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat a dogged CA Osasuna 1-0 on Tuesday to make a winning start in Spanish La Liga under new coach Xabi Alonso. The France striker, last season’s European Golden Shoe winner, scored early in the second half, after he was fouled in the area by Osasuna defender Juan Cruz. It was enough to seal the points in Alonso’s first game in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Madrid now unbeaten in their opening fixture of a league campaign since 2008. “You can see that Kylian wants to do even more
Spanish champions Barcelona opened their Spanish La Liga campaign on Saturday with an island cruise as they played almost an hour against nine men on their way to a 3-0 victory in RCD Mallorca. Barcelona’s second-half stroll did not please coach Hansi Flick. “They’re three important points, but I didn’t like the match,” he told broadcaster Movistar. “After going two goals up and following Mallorca’s two red cards, I think the team only gave 50 percent, and I didn’t like that,” he said. “Playing at 50 or 60 per cent is not possible against nine players.” Two of Barcelona’s Ballon
Manchester City signaled their intent to take back the English Premier League title as Erling Haaland struck twice in a 4-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday to begin their campaign. After four consecutive titles, City finished a distant third last season as Pep Guardiola’s men failed to win any trophy for the first time in eight years. New signings Tijjani Reijnders, who was the star of the show at Molineux, and Rayan Cherki were also on target to give Guardiola hope his side would be back in the title race this season. “We knew he is a top signing
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
RSS