Taiwan beats Japan to reach U-12 Asian Baseball Championship final

Taipei, Nov. 28 (CNA) Taiwan beat Japan 1-0 in the the super round of the U-12 Asian Baseball Championship on Thursday to advance to the championship final, with Taiwan starter Chou Jen-chuan (周震泉) pitching six scoreless innings and recording 10 strikeouts.

In Thursday's game, both teams were unable to score in the first 6 innings, forcing the game to be extended to a seventh inning under the tiebreaker rule. Taiwan's starting pitcher Chou allowed only one hit, two walks, 10 strikeouts and no runs in his 88-pitch outing.

At the top of the seventh inning, Taiwan scored a run when Su Yu-shiang (蘇宇翔) made a sacrifice bunt to advance runners to second and third bases. Lin Wei-yen (林暐諺) then scored an infield hit, which was the only point in the game.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Taiwan's relief pitcher, Sung Yi-le (松以勒), struck out one batter and fielded to prevent Japan from scoring. Sung's performance enabled Taiwan to defeat Japan and earn its second win in the super round.

On Wednesday, Taiwan sealed a 16-0 victory over China. It will play South Korea in the championship final Friday.

Taiwan has successfully qualified for a berth in the 2025 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan. The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) will determine another wild card qualification, which is not limited to teams from Asia.