Chinese Taipei advance to the World Championship Final with 3-0 shutout against the Netherlands

Defending world champions Chinese Taipei are back in the World Championship Final of the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup after closing the Super Round with a 3-0 shutout against the Netherlands at LECOM Park to secure a spot in Sunday’s final.

Chinese Taipei’s starter Shao-En Lin pitched five scoreless innings, striking out six while giving up two hits and three walks. The left-hander has tossed 11.2 innings in the tournament with no runs allowed. Yu-Cheng Wu recorded the save pitching two perfect innings, striking out four of the six batters he faced.

World No. 2 Chinese Taipei scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first with a run-scoring single by Chia-Wei Lin through the middle of the diamond. 

The three-time champions added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, with a two-RBI single to left field by pinch-hitter Yung-Chuan Huang to bring in Nian-Hao Wang and Yi-Lei Sun to give Chinese Taipei a 3-0 lead.

Dutch starter Marshall Albertsz was credited with the loss after pitching two innings allowing two hits and one run. 

With this win, Chinese Taipei moved to the World Championship Final and will play for the title of world champion on Sunday 18 September, at 16:00 at Ed Smith Stadium. Their rival depends on the result of the last Super Round game between USA and Japan.

The Netherlands, ranked eighth in the world, closed their participation in fifth place, their best ever finish in the U-18 Baseball World Cup.