Tien-Mou/Taipei City. Chinese Taipei overcame a pair of early home runs to defeat Mexico 4-2 in the afternoon game at Tien-Mou Stadium on Sunday. All six runs were scored in the first inning, as the host of the II 12U Baseball World Cup answered two solo shots in the top of the first with four runs in the bottom half. An error on a muffed throw at first base turned out to be crucial.
The game in front of a good crowd got underway with a bang. Omar Ballesteros and Kevin Garcia connected for solo home runs in the top of the first for a quick 2-0 Mexican lead, silencing Tien-Mou Stadium nearly completely.
But Chinese Taipei answered right away. Chun-Hao Ma and Chih-Heng Chiu singled and doubled with one out to put two runners in scoring position. Po-Chun Chen singled to left to put CT on the board. A passed ball tied the game following a ground out for the second out.
A pair of walks put two runners back on. Then Sheng-Hong Wu grounded weakly to the pitcher who threw slightly high to first base, but Sebastian Polo didn’t caught the ball which got into foul territory allowing both runners to score to make it 4-2. In the end Polo’s error turned out to be costly, as Mexico wasn’t able to produce anything despite having plenty of opportunities.
Ching-Chieh Chen settled in after the rocky beginning and went the distance, receiving the win. He allowed five hits, two runs and a walk, while striking out four. Mexico hit several balls hard besides the home runs, but hadn’t much to show for it. At the plate Chih-Heng Chiu led Chinese Taipei with three hits in three at-bats.
Ballesteros and Garcia combined for four of the five Mexican hits. Victor Perez had the other. Perez also started on the mound, conceding eight hits, four runs (1 ER) and two walks in four innings. Martin Olivas pitched in the fifth.
With the loss Mexico dropped to 1-2 in the tournament. In the inaugural edition of the 12U Baseball World Cup in 2011, they had dominated in the preliminary phase, winning all five games. On Monday morning they hope to even their record against the Philippines. Chinese Taipei is now 3-1 and will be off for two days. On Wednesday they will take on the Philippines in the evening game.
