BASEBALL/Taiwan wins 10th Junior League Baseball World Series title

Taipei, Aug. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's Hsin Ming Junior High School won the Junior League Baseball (JLB) World Series in the United States on Sunday, defeating a team from the host state of Michigan to secure Taiwan's 10th JLB World Series title.

The Taoyuan school, whose name was listed as "Shing Ming" on the tournament's website, defeated the Taylor North Little League team 5-0 behind a complete-game shutout by seventh grader Fan Chen-jun (范宸竣).

It was also Taiwan's third consecutive JLB World Series title, and the sixth title for Hsin Ming Junior High School in eight appearances at the tournament.

Fan was the team's star, giving up only two hits over the regulation seven innings and striking out three against the Michigan school team.

The young pitcher previously earned the nickname the "Young Ohtani" while playing for Taoyuan's Guishan Elementary School at the Little League World Series in 2023 because of his ability both on the mound and at the plate and his number 17, the same as LA Dodgers' star Japanese pitcher Shohei Ohtani's.

The team's manager Huang Wei-chih (黃湋志) said his young players were resilient in dealing with pressure and remained poised against their opponents throughout the tournament, but he saved his greatest praise for Fan.

"[He] has pitched his best since entering Junior High," Huang said. "I hope he puts in the work to continue to grow."

The team reached the tournament by defeating Japan 10-0 on July 2 to win the regional Asia-Pacific tournament and represent the region in the JLB World Series against five other international contenders and six U.S. teams.

The Taiwan team opened the tournament with a 5-2 win over a team from Nicaragua representing Latin America, then whipped a team from Canada 13-0 before defeating the Nicaraguan team again 4-0 in the international final for the right to play for the World Series title.

The tournament was run by Little League Baseball, which also runs the better known Little League World Series that opens on Aug. 14 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Taiwan will be represented in the tournament by the team from Guishan for a second year in a row. It finished third in last year's tournament, and opens play this year against a team from Canada on the afternoon of Aug. 14 U.S. time.