World No. 1 Japan defeated No.2 Chinese Taipei, 9-6, to complete a perfect run in the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS. The two Asian giants will meet again in the final on Sunday, November 24, at 19:00 (local time).
Samurai Japan won their 27th consecutive international game and will head to the Championship Final undefeated. It will be Samurai Japan's second consecutive Premier12 final.
Japan knew since the end of the afternoon game between Venezuela and the United States that their worst-case scenario would be playing the final as the second-place finisher of the Super Round. Despite that, they took the lead from the third pitch and never surrendered it.
"It was a tough game, but the four runs in the first inning were crucial," commented manager Hirokazu Ibata. "Even though we were caught up during the game, we could pull ahead again and comfortably progress from there."
Ibata had important feedback from players who didn't get much playing time during the Premier12 [like Itsuki Murabayashi, who led off with a home run].
" All the players are improving their condition, so tomorrow, we want to fight as one team."
"We've had a really great momentum up to today," commented Kotaro Kiyoomiyia, "so I want to keep that momentum going and dominate tomorrow [in the final] as well."
Chinese Taipei fell behind 4-0 but never gave up. They made it a one-run game in the top of the fifth and scored their final run in the top of the ninth.
Japanese media asked manager Hao-Jiu Tseng about changing the announced starting pitcher [ Yu-Min Li] and handing the ball to Po-Ching Chen.
"As I said yesterday, the development of the games dictates the pitching choices. In this case, we decided what best suited our needs," Tseng replied.
"Tonight has been fantastic," added the manager. "I want to thank our fans and the Japanese fans from my heart for creating a thrilling environment."
Takahisa Hayakawa threw the first pitch at 19:08. His first inning was perfect.
Chinese Taipei handed the ball to Po-Ching Chen after announcing Yu-Min Lin. The left-hander got started with two balls. On his third offering, second baseman Itsuki Murabayashi homered to left field.
Chen walked Toshiya Sato and hit Ryosuke Tatsumi. After pitching coach Chien-Ming Wang's visit, Shota Morishita drilled a 3-2 pitch along the third base foul line for a two-RBI double.
Chen recorded the first out on a grounded. With Morishita at third, Chinese Taipei called Kuo-Hao Chiang from the bullpen.
The right-hander retired Kotaro Kurebayashi on a line to centre field. Morishita scored the fourth run on a sacrifice fly.
Kungkuan Giljegilaw singled to lead off the top of the second and recorded the first Chinese Taipei hit. He reached second when Hayakawa walked Kun-Yu Chiang but wouldn't advance further.
Chinese Taipei got on the scoreboard in the top of the third. Hayakawa walked Li Lin, and left fielder Song-En Tseng got to his fourth pitch for an RBI double to left field.
Right fielder Li Lin fouled a couple of pitches on a 2-2 count and then delivered an RBI single to cut the gap to 4-2. Hayakawa walked two more batters to make it a one-run game, and Japan called Tatsuya Shimizu from the bullpen.
The right-hander got Chieh-Kai Pan to ground into a double play and struck out Kun-Yu Chiang with a nasty splitter.
Chun-Lin Kuo took the mound for Chinese Taipei in the fourth. He got in trouble in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs and pinch-hitter Shugo Maki at first, Keita Sano singled, and Kuo walked Kotaro Kurebayashi to load the bases. Shugo scored on a wild pitch, and third baseman Kotaro Kiyomiya crushed a two-RBI triple to centre field, extending Japan's lead to 7-3.
Koki Kitaiama stepped to the Samurai Japan mound in the sixth, and Chinese Taipei got to him. Tung-Hua Yueh reached on a one-out single, and Cheng-Yu Chang brought him to third with a double off the centre-field wall. Chih-Cheng Chiu followed with a two-RBI double along the first-base foul line.
Samurai Japan struck right back. With one out and Ryota Isobata at first in the bottom of the sixth, Chinese Taipei called left-hander Chih-Hsuan Wang from the bullpen. Toshiya Sato singled on a blooper in shallow left field, bringing Isobata to third. Chinese Taipei handed the ball to Kuan-Wei Chen. The reliever retired the side in order.
En-Sih Huang took the mound for Chinese Taipei in the bottom of the eighth. He threw a perfect inning thanks to the help of solid defence by second baseman Tung-Hua Yueh and shortstop Kun-Yu Chiang.
Rikuto Yokoyama took the mound for Japan in the top of the ninth. Backup right fielder An-Ko Lin got to his second pitch and turned it into a towering home run to right field. Yokoyama retired the following three batters to end the game.
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