Long road to first win for Chinese Taipei
Chinese Taipei’s players boarded a plane Wednesday near their homes in Taoyuan County, to begin the long journey to Washington.
It took almost 24 hours of traveling, including two connecting flights, but they arrived Thursday night preparing to win the first Pony League World Series title for Chinese Taipei since 2009.
The Asian Zone champions had to wait until Saturday night to play their first game and the road was not easy. Chinese Taipei had to open the series against Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, which scored 17 runs against Houston Friday night, and the 12-hour time difference left the players groggy.
It showed in the first inning when second baseman Wu Chih-Lung struggled to handle a routine fly ball, allowing it to drop in shallow center field. From there, however, Chinese Taipei played flawless baseball.
Starting pitcher Lee Cheng-Chen tossed a complete game with nine strikeouts, the defense converted two double plays and right fielder Ho Yi-Lung hit a two-run homer to lift Chinese Taipei over Puerto Rico, 6-2, at Lew Hays Pony Field.
Chinese Taipei advances to face Bay County, Mich., Monday at 5:30 p.m., and Puerto Rico will play the loser of today’s Houston-Johnstown game Monday at 10 a.m.
“At first, you could tell we were nervous,” Chinese Taipei manager Huang Wei Chih said. “We did not do well during the first few plays, but the double plays in the middle of the game shifted momentum toward us.”
Cheng-Chen allowed just six hits and was helped by his defense. After Kenneth Folch hit a one-out double in the fifth inning and stole third, Kennen Irizarry hit a line drive into the glove of Chinese Taipei third baseman Lin Chun-En, who caught Folch leading off and tagged the base for the inning-ending double play.
Puerto Rico’s Erick Rivera hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to narrow the deficit to two runs, but ran to second base on a fly out by Jafnel Rivera and was thrown out by Chinese Taipei left fielder Yu Wen-Hsun for the double play to end the threat.
“That was very fundamental because we were in a tight situation,” Puerto Rico manager Juan Pitre said. “That stopped our rally. It was a very precise moment for us.”
The routine fly ball in the first inning allowed Juan Pitre Jr. to reach first base on a fielder’s choice and he later scored on a balk to give Puerto Rico a 1-0 lead. Chinese Taipei answered quickly.
Chou Shih-Che shot a single over the head of Puerto Rico first baseman Dylan Gonzalez, and one pitch later Yi-Lung hit a fastball on the outside corner over the right-field fence for two-run home run and the 2-1 lead.
Cheng-Chen took over from there, forcing Puerto Rico hitters to chase curveballs in the dirt and mixing speeds throughout the game. He retired seven straight and was aided by his defense, which tracked down fly balls in the gaps.
“I stuck to my routine. I did what I do at home,” Cheng-Chen said. “The trip was tiring, but I managed to do the same thing. It was huge to leave with a win.”
Chinese Taipei added to its lead in the fourth inning when Lin Chun-En singled to left field and a throwing error allowed Yu Wen-Hsun to score from second. Wu Chih-Lung then laid down a suicide squeeze bunt to score Chun-En for the three-run advantage.
After a double play to end Puerto Rico’s threat in the top of the sixth inning, Chinese Taipei added two more runs in the sixth on a wild pitch and a bases-loaded walk. Cheng-Chen struck out the side in the seventh to end the game.
“(Cheng-Chen) was perfect. He did what he was told, even though that was a very good team,” Huang said. “He was able to finish and getting a win tonight is huge. This team is very balanced this year, more balanced than last year.”