ethernetacademy.netSouth Korean baseball will try to win its fourth consecutive World Baseball Classic title as it advances to the finals behind the late-blooming performance of “signature hitter” Kang Baek-ho (KT).
South Korea pounded out 16 hits, including home runs by Kim Joo-won (NC) and Kang Baek-ho, in the second game of the Baseball Super Round at the Shaoxing Baseball and Softball Sports Center 1 in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China on Saturday to defeat the home team, China, 8-1, and improve to 2-1 in the group stage.
With the win, Korea secured second place in the Super Round and advanced to the final, where they will face top-ranked Chinese Taipei for the title at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Korea jumped out to an early lead, scoring three runs in the second inning against China, who have been on a roll of late, including a win over Japan in the tournament. After a leadoff single to right by Kang Baek-ho, Kim Joo-won lined a fastball up the middle from Chinese starter Wang Wei for a two-run home run over the right field fence.
Korea then added a run on back-to-back singles by Kim Hyung-joon (NC) and Kim Hye-sung (KIUM) and a run on a sacrifice fly by Choi Ji-hoon (SSG) to take a 3-0 lead.
Korea added a run in the third inning when Kang Baek-ho took a pitch from China’s second pitcher Wang Xiang for a solo home run with the bases loaded, and then in the fourth inning, Kim Sung-yoon (Samsung) and Choi Ji-hoon (SSG) hit back-to-back singles and Yoon Dong-hee (Lotte) singled up the middle and Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha) scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 6-0.먹튀검증
With the game firmly in hand, Korea capped the scoring in the eighth when Moon Bo-kyung (LG) hit a two-out, bases-loaded double to make it 8-0.
After starting pitcher Won Tae-in (Samsung) shut down the Chinese bats for six innings with three hits, six strikeouts and no runs, Korea’s third pitcher, Jang Hyun-seok (Masan Yongmago), gave up a run in the bottom of the eighth on a two-out triple, but struck out the next batter to prevent any further damage.
Meanwhile, the Korean batting lineup showed off its batting prowess on the day, with Choi Ji-hoon and Kang Baek-ho combining to go 3-for-4, and Noh Si-hwan, Kim Joo-won, and Kim Sung-yoon all recording two hits.