U-18 National Baseball Team Dominates Singapore 15-0, Racing Toward Group Leadership

The South Korean national under-18 youth baseball team cruised to a two-game winning streak by crushing Singapore via a mercy rule in the group stage of the Asian Youth Baseball Championship.

Led by Manager Jung Yoon-jin of Duksoo High School, the national team defeated Singapore 15-0 in a four-inning mercy rule game during their second Group A match of the 14th Asian Youth Baseball Championship held at the Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City, Taiwan, today (Sept. 8).

Having defeated tough opponent Taiwan 2-0 the previous day, South Korea has significantly boosted its chances of advancing to the Super Round as the top team in its group.

South Korea settled the match early by exploding for 12 runs in the first inning alone.

Adding three more runs in the third inning to make it 15-0, South Korea sealed the victory by shutting out Singapore in the top of the fourth inning.

In this tournament, a mercy rule is declared if the lead is 15 runs or more through four innings, or 10 runs or more after five innings.

Today's match served as an opportunity to evenly test the pitching form of key hurlers and the batting touch of position players.

Starting pitcher Park Geun-seo of Seoul Design High School showed great condition with five strikeouts and no runs allowed over two innings, while Yoon Ye-sung of Inchang High School, who took the mound in the third inning, fired fastballs exceeding 150 km/h and struck out all three batters he faced.

In the fourth inning, Kwak Do-hyun of Busan Technical High School and Han Gyu-min of Daejeon High School pitched in relief to secure the win without allowing a run.

The batting lineup, which featured changes to the starting roster, also performed its part.

Starting shortstop Ahn Woo-seok of Gyeongnam High School, along with cleanup hitter Lee Ho-min of Gyeongnam High School and eighth-batter Jang Min-je of Chungam High School, displayed strong batting form with two hits each.

Continuing their smooth sailing in the group stage, the national team will play its final group match against Thailand on Sept. 9.

(Photo courtesy of Korea Baseball Softball Association, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.