Taipei City’s Chung-ching Junior High School baseball squad beat a team from Tyler, Texas to win the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Michigan Aug. 21.
It marked Taiwan’s 18th title at a Little League Baseball Inc.-sponsored tournament and its first since returning to tournament play this year after withdrawing from competition in 1997. Taiwan placed fifth in its last appearance.
Saturday’s championship game began as a close pitcher’s contest, with the winner of the U.S. pool taking a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning.
However, Chung-ching bounced back in the sixth, grabbing four runs thanks to three straight hits coupled with a walk and an error to take a commanding lead. In the seventh, the international pool winner added five more runs to pull ahead 9-1 and seal the deal once and for all.
Chung-ching starter Lin Tzu-wei played a big role in the victory, shutting down the Texas squad’s offense with 10 strikeouts in six and one-third innings of work.
“Never having pitched in front of so many people before, Lin entered the game a little nervous, but he just got better and better as the game wore on,” Chung-ching team manager Liu Ming-guang said afterward.
The Taiwan squad ended the tournament in style, winning all six of its games. It swept through round-robin play by defeating Guatemala 7-2, Ukraine 13-0, Canada 10-0 and Mexico 8-5. It then beat Guatemala again by a convincing 10-3 tally in a rematch in the international pool final before going on to take home the big prize Saturday. (SB)