Venezuela beat Korea in extras, earn shot at World Championship game

Alexandra Ladera hit a bases-loaded hard grounder in the bottom of the seventh to lift World No. 6 Venezuela over No. 5 Korea, 5-4, at the end of a hard-fought game at the Super Round of the VII WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup.

Venezuela earned the right to play in the medal round on Sunday, 6 August. Whether they compete for the U-12 World title or a bronze medal will depend on the outcome of the night game between Chinese Taipei and the United States.

Korea missed on a scoring opportunity in the top of the second. Despite three consecutive one-out singles by Junhyeong Park, Minyeong Yoon, and Dongkyu Lee, they could not score. Catcher José Castillo picked off Park at third for the second out, and Dennis Quintero got out of the jam striking out Jinhwi Kim.

Venezuela took the lead in the bottom of the third. Xavier Cafrè reached on an error and advanced to second on a groundout. Left fielder Angel Rondon got to starter Nawon Kim with an RBI double to right field.

In the bottom of the fourth, Venezuela blew a scoring opportunity. Centre fielder Willy Rodriguez and pitcher Dennis Quintero hit back-to-back singles off reliever Hanjun Kim. First baseman Juan Conde pushed a perfect bunt to third base and reached the first base bag that no Korean infielder was covering. Rodriguez went over third base, and Dongkyu Lee got him with the throw to Jeongwoo Moon, who had moved to the bag from his shortstop position.

With one out, Korea handed the ball to Uijeong Kim, who got out of the inning when Moon turned a line drive by right fielder Cafrè into a double play.

Venezuela got to Uijeong Kim in the bottom of the fifth. The right-hander allowed a walk and hit a batter. Ezequiel Zamora and Jose Castillo got to home with a pair of deep flies which extended Venezuela's lead to 4-0.

Korea got to Quintero in the top of the sixth. Sangmyeong Yang hit a leadoff double, and Jeongwoo Moon followed with an RBI single.

Venezuela handed the ball to Angel Rondon. The right-hander's first offering was a wild pitch. On his second pitch, left fielder Jinwoong Lee singled to make it 4-2, forcing another pitching change.

Ender Acosta took the mound and got the first out thanks to a fine running catch by Willy Rodriguez on a line drive by Daehyon Lee.

With two outs, Korea brought the potential tying runs into scoring position with a double steal. It took one pitch to pinch hitter Taewoong Yoon to tie the game with a two-RBI single to left field.

In the top of the seventh, Korea advanced the tie-break runners with a sacrifice bunt. They attempted to execute a second sacrifice bunt but ran into an inning-ending double play.

In the bottom half of the frame, Venezuela also dropped a bunt to advance the tie-break runners. Uijeong Lee intentionally walked Zamora to load the bases, and Ladera followed with a walk-off hard grounder to the left side of the infield.