Korea’s Under-18 National Team, led by Lee Young-bok, was defeated by Chinese Taipei at the World Youth Baseball Championship.
South Korea fell 1-6 to Chinese Taipei in the preliminary round of the 2023 WBSC Under-18 Baseball World Cup in Taichung, Chinese Taipei on Sunday (Feb. 2). Starting pitcher Hwang Jun-seo struggled, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings.
Hwang Jun-seo, a junior at Jang Chung-go who was selected by the Hanwha Eagles with the No. 1 overall pick in the rookie draft, took the mound with one run in the top of the first inning.
However, the leadoff hitter flied out to right field. Right fielder Lee Seung-min made a throwing error. He then laid down a sacrifice bunt and got Lin Chia-wei to fly out to center field before giving up a single to left field to Wang Nianhao.
After getting out of the inning without further damage, Huang got out of the second without allowing a run, but he couldn’t get out of the third. After getting the first batter of the third inning, Li Qiawei, to ground out, he gave up a single to Wang Nianhao.
He gave up a walk to the next batter, Go Qingxien, and then gave up back-to-back singles before handing the mound over to Incheon High School junior Kim Taek-yeon. Kim was unable to get a hit, and Hwang Jun-seo’s run total became “4”.
South Korea added one more run in the fourth inning. With one out, Lin gave up a double to Chai Wei and a walk to Wang Nianhao. She then gave up a walk to Ching Hsien Ko to load the bases and gave up a sacrifice fly to Chiu Hsin to make it 1-5.
While the runs were coming from the mound, the offense was lethargic, failing to score a run after a single by Seoul High junior Yeo Dong-gun in the first inning.
In the fourth and fifth innings, they were unable to bother Taiwanese starter Lin Wei-en and were silent in the third inning. In the top of the sixth inning, they had runners on second and third, but Chungam High junior Cho Hyun-min struck out and Lee Seung-min flied out to left field.
With the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Gyeongbuk High School junior Jeon Mir gave up a hit, a stolen base, and a fielding error to leave the score at 1-6.
South Korea, which is seeking its sixth title in the tournament, will compete with Chinese Taipei, Australia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the 사설토토 Czech Republic in Group A. Group B features the United States, Japan, Venezuela, Panama, the Netherlands, and Spain.
The top three nations in each group advance to the Super Round, with the group and Super Round results combined to determine rankings, and South Korea lost its first game.
The Korean national team, which has been strengthening its organization by holding training sessions in Korea since last month 21, will play its second match against the Czech Republic on Wednesday.