Taipei: Taiwan defeated Thailand 18-0 in four innings Tuesday to secure its first victory in the preliminary round of the BFA U18 Asian Baseball Championship in Taipei. The game, held at Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium, marked a significant turnaround for Taiwan after their opening loss to South Korea.
According to Focus Taiwan, the victory improved Taiwan's record to 1-1 in the tournament. The team dominated the game from the outset, scoring an impressive 14 runs in the top of the first inning. This early lead was fueled by seven hits, three walks, and six errors from the Thai team, as well as aggressive base running that saw Taiwan stealing 10 bases. Leadoff hitter Hu Chen-jui exemplified this aggressive approach by making three plate appearances in the first inning alone, as Taiwan sent a total of 19 batters to the plate.
After a scoreless second inning, Taiwan continued to assert its dominance, adding another four runs over the third and fourth innings to seal an 18-0 lead. The game was brought to an early conclusion under the tournament's mercy rule, which ends a game if one team leads by at least 15 runs after four innings.
Taiwan's pitchers, Yang Yao-cheng and Wu Chieh-jui, delivered an exceptional performance, combining for a perfect game with nine strikeouts over the four innings. Yang impressively struck out five batters in the first two innings, while Wu closed the game with four strikeouts in the final two innings, securing the win.
Taiwan demonstrated both offensive and defensive prowess, finishing the game with 11 hits and no errors. In contrast, Thailand struggled, committing six errors and failing to get any baserunners. Looking ahead, Taiwan is set to face Singapore in its third preliminary-round game on Wednesday, hoping to build on their momentum from this commanding win.