Seoul (Korea). Colombia delivered the probably biggest upset of the XXV IBAF 18U Baseball World Championship so far on Monday evening, handing host Korea its first loss in the event in the fourth game. The team from South America scored two runs in the top of the ninth en route to a 3-1 stunner. They are now 2-2, keeping their chances alive to reach the final round.
Colombia already had shocked the fans of the host in the opening frame, scoring the first run by Yair Morelos in the top of the first. Korea answered in the fourth when Seung Ho Kang led off with a triple and came around on a sac fly by Woo Sung Lee. The score remained until the ninth.
Korea seemed to get into the bottom half of the frame quickly, getting two outs on a groundout and a strikeout. But Colombia wasn’t done yet. Alvaro Noriega doubled and moved to third on a throwing error by the pitcher on a pickoff attempt. He profited from another miscue a few moments later, when he crossed the plate on a wild pitch. Carlos Martinez followed shortly with a RBI double down the line to make it 3-1 before a groundout ended the rally.
The host had another opportunity in the bottom of the ninth. With one out Young Jun Yoo and Jun Suk Song reached with back-to-back singles to bring the winning run to the plate. But neither Seung Taek Han nor Seung Ho Kang found a hole in the defense and Korea left the field as loser for the first time in the tournament.
