BASEBALL/Taiwan finishes 3rd at U-15 Baseball World Cup after big comeback

Taipei, Aug. 26 (CNA) Taiwan beat Nicaragua at the U-15 Baseball World Cup on Sunday in Colombia to win the bronze medal, while one of its pitchers was awarded for having the lowest ERA during the tournament.

Taiwan defeated the Central American country 7-6 at the biennial World Baseball Softball Confederation competition after coming back from a four-run deficit.

It was Taiwan's fifth bronze medal at the U-15 Baseball World Cup and also its third consecutive bronze since 2018.

Down 6-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth in the regulation seven-inning game, Taiwan pulled back a run on an RBI single by starting pitcher Lo Shih-cheng (羅師騁).

Still trailing 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Taiwan scored a run on four straight singles and then two more on a base hit by infielder Su Zi-Jin (蘇子進) that was misplayed by Nicaragua.

Catcher Yang Jun-hao (楊竣皓) then put his team ahead by a run with a groundout.

Still, it took a strong relief effort by Yang Chih-hao (楊至皓), who shut down the Nicaraguans over the final two innings, including the final seventh inning, to clinch the victory.

"I was only thinking to pitch strikes and give my teammates the chance to make the plays," Yang Chih-hao was quoted as saying by the tournament website.

Nicaragua jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of first inning off Taiwan's starter Lo, and then added to its lead with a run in the second off reliever Yu Nien-hsiao (余念孝).

Yu was able to keep the Nicaraguans at bay over the next two innings while Taiwan pulled back to 3-2 with two runs of its own in the bottom of the third.

But Nicaragua added three runs in the top of the fifth, with a run on three hits off Yu, and then a hit, a hit batter and a fielder's choice off Yang Chih-hao that scored two more, setting the stage for Taiwan's comeback.

Taiwan finished tied for second in the round-robin part of the tournament that determined the teams in the gold-medal and bronze-medal games, but it lost the tiebreaker to Puerto Rico.

In the gold medal game, Japan topped the Puerto Ricans 7-6.

Aside from Taiwan winning bronze, Taiwanese pitcher Liu Jen-yu (劉任右) received the tournament's ERA award with a 0.00 earned run average.

Liu did not take to the mound on Sunday, but over the 12.1 innings he pitched at the World Cup, he struck out 15 while giving up eight hits and two unearned runs.