By Jason Pan, in Chinese Taipei
The team representing Japan’s NPB league has captured the title trophy at the Asian Baseball Winter League (ABWL) with a 5-2 triumph in the final this past weekend.
With a squad of NPB minor league players, Japan defeated the Taiwanese side, CPBL White Team (composed of amateurs, and second-string young players) by riding on starting pitcher Kosugi Yota’s great performance, who cruised into the 8th inning without giving up a run.
For this ABWL final at the central Taiwanese city of Taichung, shortstop Makihara Taisei (belonging to Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) slammed a solo homer in the first inning for the 1-0 lead by Japan.
In the 4th frame, Japan scored 3 runs on 2 walks and 3 hits (including two triples) to go in front 4-0. They got one more run in the 8th to make it 5-0 at that point.
For the CPBL White squad, they were handcuffed by Kosugi Yota (belonging to Yokohama DeNA Baystars) who ended the day with 7 and 2/3 scoreless innings, yielding only one hit on 6 strikeouts and 3 walks.
The Taiwanese side had their offense going only after Kosugi departed, by scoring 2 runs against Japanese relief pitchers in the 9th inning for the eventual 5-2 outcome.
In the post-game interview, Game MVP and winning pitcher Kosugi said, “It’s the first time for me to travel far away to a foreign country for baseball games. I learned a lot of valuable lessons and experience in this winter league. I’m sure it can help me to earn a spot in the first-string pro team next year.”
Much credits go to the Taiwan-based CPBL for organizing and financial-backing of this inaugural Asian winter baseball circuit for amateurs, young baseballers, and farm team players with venues and games to hone their skills, before the start of spring training.
Four teams from three countries took part in this month-long ABWL circuit – Japan, Dominican Republic, and two Taiwanese teams (CPBL White and CPBL Red).
CPBL officials said they will invite a representative team from Korea’s KBO league for next year.
Each team played a 20-game schedule, with Japan having the best record and CPBL White in second place overall for the two top teams to match up in the final showdown.
