BASEBALL/Already into Premier12 semis, Taiwan finishes group play in style

Taipei, Nov. 18 (CNA) Knowing that it had already qualified for the Premier12's Super Round in Tokyo, Taiwan made a few changes to its lineup but still managed to whitewash a relatively weak Cuba team 2-0 on Monday night to finish second in its group with a 4-1 record.

Taiwan will now head to Tokyo to play in the tournament's final four against Japan, the top finisher in Taiwan's group, Venezuela and the United States in a round robin format starting Thursday, with the top two teams vying for the title on Sunday.

Taiwan will open the Super Round against Venezuela on Thursday morning, knowing that it will have already achieved its best finish in a Premier12 tournament in the three that have been played to date.

With nothing on the line in the Group B finale in the Taipei Dome on Monday, the hosts decided not to put too much stress on any of their pitchers against the Cubans, and it produced a shutout.

The seven pitchers used by Taiwan combined to allow only four hits and strike out 11 to keep their opponents at bay.

Starter Huang Tzu-peng (黃子鵬) went only 1 1/3 innings, and none of the Taiwanese pitchers were asked to get more than five outs.

Cuba's biggest threat came in the top of the fifth trailing 2-0.

Catcher Andrys Perez grounded a single up the middle just out of the reach of second baseman Yueh Tung-hua (岳東華), sending shortstop Erisbel Arruebarruena barreling home from second.

The Cuban was initially called safe in a close play at the plate, but the call was reversed after replays showed he was tagged out by catcher Dai Pei-fong (戴培峰) just a split second before touching home.

Taiwan's pitchers held Cuba to just one hit after that over the final four innings to preserve the shutout.

The hosts' only runs came early in the game, in the third and fourth innings.

Designated hitter Giljegiljaw Kungkuan drove in Taiwan's first run in the third with a double to deep center field.

An inning later, a ground out by shortstop Chang Cheng-yu (張政禹) with the bases loaded added a run to put Taiwan up 2-0.

Aside from using seven pitchers, Taiwan decided to start all three of its catchers on Monday night, with regular catcher Lin Chia-cheng (林家正) playing first base, Dai catching, and Giljegiljaw serving as the designated hitter.

The Premier12 tourney features the 12 highest-ranked national baseball teams in the world, and divides them into two groups of six teams.

The top two teams from each group advanced to the Super Round to be held in Japan this coming weekend.

Taiwan entered its encounter with Cuba with a 3-1 record in Group B, and even if it had lost to Cuba and tied with South Korea for second in the group at 3-2, it would have won the tiebreaker by virtue of defeating the Koreans on Group B's opening night.

Taiwan's best previous finish in a Premier12 tournament was fifth in the second edition of the tournament in 2019.