BASEBALL/Taiwan wins first gold in world-class national team level baseball

Tokyo, Nov. 24 (CNA) Taiwan's national baseball team made history on Sunday when the squad won its first gold medal at the world-class national team level after beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the WBSC Premier12 Championship Game at the Tokyo Dome.

In a rematch of a game the night before, Team Taiwan took an early 4-0 lead thanks to two home runs in the top of the fifth inning -- one solo by catcher Lin Chia-cheng (林家正) and another three-run homer by team captain, center fielder Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) -- against Japanese starter Shosei Togo of the Yomiuri Giants.

Meanwhile, facing the defending champions, Taiwan's starter Lin Yu-min (林昱珉), a 21-year-old Arizona Diamondbacks prospect who started 19 games at Double-A and finished the season at Triple-A, cruised through four scoreless innings Sunday night, giving up only one hit, three walks and striking out three.

Taiwan's three relievers were able to contain the Japanese batters for the rest of the game to seal the historic win.

Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, had a total of 11 hits against Japan's four.

"We've pulled off a miracle," Chen said after the game.

"I would like to thank all our teammates. We have really done this together," Chen said with tears in his eyes.

Chen has also been named the 2024 Premier12 MVP due to an explosive 0.625 hitting percentage with 14 hits in 24 at bats, including two homeruns.

Taiwan was rated second to last by Japanese media before the Premier12 tournament began and was widely considered an underdog.

Sunday's championship game was the first time since the 1992 Olympics that the Taiwanese national baseball team had advanced to the finals of a world-class national team-level baseball event.

Before Sunday's gold medal finish, the team's best record was a silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Taiwan and Japan faced each other three times during the 2024 Premier12 with Taiwan losing both matches before Sunday's game.

Taiwan's triumph on Sunday also marked the end of the Japanese team's 27th consecutive international victory.

The 2024 WBSC Premier12 is the third edition of the baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world. It is organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the world governing body for the two sports.

Taiwan finished ninth in 2015 before advancing to the Super Round in 2019 and finishing fifth.

Earlier Sunday, Team USA beat Venezuela 6-1 to take the bronze medal.

The United States won silver in the 2015 Premier12 and finished fourth in 2019. Meanwhile, fourth place was Venezuela's best result ever.