Korea National Baseball Team wins 8-1 in Game 2 of Super Round
Kang Baek-ho, who had been struggling, went 1-for-3 with a home run.
South Korea’s baseball team is one step closer to a fourth consecutive Asian Games title as it advances to the final.
South Korea’s baseball team, led by Ryu Jung-il, defeated China 8-1 in the second game of the Baseball
Super Round at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games on Saturday at the Shaoxing Baseball and Softball Sports Center in Zhejiang, China.
After defeating Japan 2-0 in the first round, South Korea punched its ticket to the final with a 2-1 record.
South Korea will face Chinese Taipei, who beat China 4-1 the day before to claim their second win, in the final at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
While reaching the final secures at least a silver medal, the team has its sights set higher. The Koreans are
looking to win their fourth consecutive title at the tournament, having finished on top in Guangzhou in
2010, Incheon in 2014 and Jakarta-Palembang in 2018.
Having lost 0-4 to Chinese Taipei in the group stage on the previous two days, a win in the final would
give the Koreans the chance to win both the title and the bragging rights.
In the final gateway to the final, China pulled off an upset, beating Japan 1-0 in the group stage of the tournament.
However, South Korea, who had never lost to China in their 10-game international series featuring
professionals, made light work of them.
Starting pitcher Won Tae-in (Samsung Lions) pitched six innings of three-hit ball, striking out six and walking none.
The bats came alive as well. All of the starters had hits and the offense pounded out eight runs on 16 hits.
Joo-won Kim
(NC Dinos) went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, including his second double of the tournament.
Kang Baek-ho (KT Wiz), who had been struggling with his bat throughout the tournament, also went 3-
for-4 with a home run and one RBI. Choi Ji-hoon (SSG Landers) chipped in with four hits, 카지노사이트랭
크 three RBIs and two runs scored.
South Korea pounded the Chinese mound early on.
In the top of the second inning, Kang Baek-ho led off with a single to right and Kim Joo-won followed
with a leadoff double. On a 3-ball-1 strike, Kim took advantage of Wang Weiyi’s five-pitch at-bat to send the ball over the fence.
After a Kim Hyung-jun (NC) single to left, a sacrifice bunt by Kim Sung-yoon, and an infield single by Kim
Hye-sung, Choi Ji-hoon’s sacrifice fly put runners on first and third.
Two batters later in the third inning for a 3-0 lead, Kang Baek-ho robbed China’s Wang Xiang of a solo
arch over the right field fence.
China brought in their third pitcher in the fourth inning, Li Ningji, but the red-hot Korean bats came through again.
Singles by Kim Sung-yoon (Samsung Lions) and Choi Ji-hoon put runners on first and second, followed by a double by Yoon Dong-hee (Lotte Giants) and a sacrifice fly by Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha Eagles) to make it 6-0.
In the top of the eighth, with runners on first and second, Moon Bo-kyung (LG Twins) drove in a run with a two-run double off the right-center field fence.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Jang Hyun-seok (Masan Yongmago) hit an RBI double down the left field line off Lu Yun, but it didn’t affect the game. 섯다
