Day 3 of 9th 18U Asian Baseball Championship
Korea and Japan Reached Top of Each Group and Advance to 2nd Round
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 Yokohama, Japan
Group A
Philippines - Sri Lanka 4-3
Hodogaya Stadium: Philippines stunned Sri Lanka with a 4-3 walk-off win and secured 2nd place in Group A with 2 wins and 1 loss to advance to 2nd round. At the bottom of 9th inning Miguel of Philippines hit for an infield single, followed by sac bunts triggering errors. With runners on 2nd and 3rd, Horibata hit winning run into center field. Trailing 3 runs, Conge’s 3 base hit tied the score and strong pitching by Caios Alberto with 10 strike-outs led to the walk-off win. Sri Lanka played well. 2 run triple of Viranga in 1st inning was added by one more run in 4th with a walk and 3 consecutive hits. Spirited plays of Sri Lanka kept Philippines at bay which was demonstrated by Catcher Jenusanga who had to retire after crashing hard into fence in 2nd inning.
Korea - Thailand 20-0 (5)
Hodogaya Stadium: In 1st inning Korea scored 6 runs in 1st inning led by run-scoring hit of Kang Koo Sung into centerfield and continued to add runs from 2nd inning onward with Kang Koo Sung, Jang Jin Hyuk and Ryu Ji Hyuk recording 3 RBI’s. Lee Min Ho and 3 other pitchers allowed only 1 hit by Singechomphoo into right field in 2nd inning to Thailand and 22 stolen bases helped to accumulate scores. Thanian alone pitched the whole game for Thailand without getting any offensive support. Thailand finished in 4thplace with 3 losses and no win for the first round.
Group B
Hong Kong - Pakistan 27-1 (5)
Yokohama Stadium: Hong Kong displayed spectacular offense in 4th inning scoring 20 runs with 14 hits including inside-the-park homers by Yan Tsz Him and Li Wing Sing, and defensive errors. 6 batters were at bat 3 times and Na Yau Pang hit all of them in the 4th .
In spite of losses by wide margin, Pakistan showed big improvement compared to 1st game against Chinese Taipei and 2nd versus Japan. In 1st inning, Abdullar of Pakistan hit into left field after 2 outs and the 4th batter Numan hit the first RBI triple into left-center field. Pakistan had two easy outs in 1st inning and managed scoreless in 2nd inning albeit an error.
Hong Kong secured 3rd place with 1 win and 2 losses and Pakistan 4th with 3 losses in Group B of first round.
Japan - Chinese Taipei 3 -1
Yokohama Stadium: Japan narrowly won the tight game and secured top spot in Group B to advance to 2nd round with 3 straight wins. Japan scored 2 runs in 3rd inning, first by hit of Takahashi into right field with runners on 1st and 2nd thanks to a walk, stolen base and defensive error and Azegami hit into right field to send a runner home. In 6th inning, Yada hit into center field and added a run. With runners on 1st and 3rd with one out in 4th, top reliever Noda of Japan struck out two batters in succession. In the bottom of 9th inning, the 2nd reliever Yoshinaga had 2 consecutive strikeouts to end the game. Although Hu Chin Wei of Chinese Taipei pitched well, batters missed the chance to score and the team finished in 2nd place in Group B with 2 wins and 1 loss for 1st round.
