Day 4 of 9th 18U Asian Baseball Championship

Korea and Japan will meet in the final game

Wednesday, August 31 , 2011 Yokohama, Japan

Group A

Thailand- Hong Kong 7-4

Yokosuka Stadium: Thailand won for the first time in this Championship and advances to their final game for 5th place. Thailand scored 3 runs thanks to a run-batted-in double by Turapa in 1st inning and the 3 additional runs in 4th inning beginning with a walk, sac bunt and 3 hits sealed the deal. Hong Kong made it to first every inning from 1st to 8th innings but was shut the door by tenacious pitching of Ki Aoyama. In 5th inning, Hong Kong scored 3 runs with run-scoring hit of Tsz Him into right field but was scoreless after 6th inning.

Korea - Chinese Taipei 4-3(10)

Yokohama Stadium: Korea, with its elaborate offense and defense, ended the streak of Chinese Taipei with a 4-3 win in extra inning, the first game subjected to the tie-breaker rule in this Championship. With runners on 1st and 2nd with no out under the tie-breaker, pitcher Ham Hyun Hee of Korea quickly handled sac bunt and forced the second runner but subsequently gave a run by Lin Tzu Wei’s hit into left field in the top of 10th inning. In the bottom of 10th , however, Ryu Ji Hyuk of Korea’s skillful sac bunt loaded the bases with no out. Tseng Jen Ho of Chinese Taipei who had been pitching strong innings mishandled the grounder and Korea walked off with 2 runs by his throwing error.

Group B

Sri Lanka - Pakistan 20-0 (6)

Yokosuka Stadium: Sri Lanka scored every inning with 20-0 shutout over Pakistan and advances to their final game for 5th place. The game lasted just 6 innings. Top of the batting order for Sri Lanka did their job such as Krishna recorded 5 RBI’s including 3 base hit and inside-the-park homerun and the 3rd batter, Maduranga, marked 2 hits and 2 RBI’s. Combined pitching of Maduranka and 3 others allowed only 2 hits. A base running error prevented Pakistan from scoring the 2nd run in this Championship following the feat of yesterday. Despite hard work by pitcher Butt, he gave away too many runs.

Japan - Philippines 13-1 (7)

Yokohama Stadium: Japan will advance to Gold Medal game after a 13-1 victory over Philippines, which was decided by the 10-run mercy rule after the 7 innings. Plaza, first batter of Philippines walked followed by hit of Ca Remollo who had missed sac bunt, and scored a run by hit of Cl Remollo, 4th batter, into left field with runners on 2nd and 3rd sent by sac bunt.

After having tied the score, Japan accumulated runs in 2nd and 3rd innings and decided the outcome early. It was a game in which Philippines impressed many people by competing well against heavy odds. Their pitcher Turaray allowed no hit over 3 scoreless innings from 4th . Sharp hitting accompanied by 9 stolen bases featured Japanese mobility.