The Korean youth baseball team lost 1-7 against Japan in the first round of the 2023 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup at Tienmu Stadium in Taipei, Taiwan, on the afternoon of the 7th.
South Korea continued its match against Puerto Rico on the morning of the 7th as suspension was declared due to heavy rain in the third inning the previous day (6th). South Korea beat Puerto Rico 8-1 to advance to the super round with second place in the group (4 wins and 1 loss). He then played a double header until the first game of the super round against Japan on the afternoon of the 7th.
South Korea was completely defeated by the mound and defense against Japan, which took a day off on the 6th. South Korea allowed three runs at once due to overlapping errors in the second inning. He put the leadoff hitter on base with a strikeout not-out, and an infield hit drove him to first and second bases with one out. It was the first baseman’s error-prone defense. Starting pitcher Bae Seung-chan’s wild pitch came out and became second and third base. Chibana allowed a two-run triple and gave up his third run on an infield grounder.
It was hard to find a clue in the attack. He had only one hit until the fourth inning. After two outs in the fifth inning, Cho Hyun-min’s heavy hit and Lee Yul-ye’s walk gave him a chance to first and second base, but Lee Sang-joon failed to score with a fly ball to center field.
After one out in the top of the sixth inning, Lee Chung-heon got on base with a hit, and Yeo Dong-gun’s left-handed hit made it to first and third bases with two outs. Park Ji-hwan recovered one point from a timely hit to the left. With two outs and runners on first and second base, pinch hitter Kim Tae-hyun stepped down with a grounder to third base. 스포츠토토
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Bae Chan-seung allowed a solo home run to leadoff hitter Shuya Yamada. The score widened to 1-4. Jeon Mir came up as a relief pitcher, and he was driven to first and third base with one out with a hit, a send bunt, and a walk. With two outs and runners on second and third base, Chibana allowed a two-run timely hit, and then allowed another run to make it 1-7.
Starting pitcher Bae Chan-seung recorded four hits, seven strikeouts, and four runs (two earned runs) in five innings. Jeon Mir had three hits, one walk and three runs in one inning. Japan waited for the results of South Korea and Puerto Rico earlier in the day and watched who the opponent team would be in the first round. According to Japanese media Full Count, Japanese coach Shiro Mabuchi told the players, “It’s the same no matter which team you play against.” I wasn’t very embarrassed because I expected Korea to play against Korea in the first round because Korea became suspended at 5-1. Rather, it may have been difficult for Korea,” he said.
Japanese starter Maeda had 47 pitches and one hit and no runs in four innings. The maximum speed was 145 kilometers. Coach Mabuchi said, “We don’t know what will happen if Maeda doesn’t throw that much. It was his pitching,” he said.
“Yamada’s home run was big (in the sixth inning). It was a really big shot because the difference between two and three was completely different in the other two innings. If the top batting order is not possible today, it has become a good form in the form of connecting from the bottom to the top batting order. It was an ideal way to win,” he said.
