The U-18 baseball team, led by manager Jung Yoon-jin, defeated Japan 3-2 in the first game of the 14th Asian Youth Baseball Championship Super Round held at Taipei Dome in Taiwan on the 11th. After defeating Taiwan in the ,,,group stage and securing one win, Korea advanced to the Super Round and secured two wins by defeating Japan, gaining a favorable position to reach the finals. On the other hand, it was a painful defeat for Japan, and Japanese baseball media outlet 'Full Count' Immediately after the game, he said, "Japan's U-18 national team suffered a 2-3 come-from-behind loss to Korea in the first game of the Super Round," and added, "It was a tight contest with just one run contested, but the pitching changes failed, making it difficult to reach the finals. Japan, who scored an impressive 60 points in the opening round three games, seemed to maintain their powerful offense until the early stages, but they scored 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning against Korean starter Park Geun-seo (Seoul Design High School). The Korean lineup began their comeback in the 4th inning with a solo home run by Lee Ho-min (Gyeongnam High School), then leveled the game at 2-2 with an RBI double by Eom Jun-sang (Deoksu High School) in the 6th, followed by another RBI double. Japanese media What drew particular attention was Ha Hyun-seung, who appeared from the 5th inning. He is said to be the top prospect in Korean baseball who declined the New York Yankees' offer of about 3 million dollars (about 4 billion KRW) in a signing bonus and instead decided to enter the KBO League rookie draft. 'Full Count' reported, "Especially since Ha Hyun-seung took the mound from the 5th inning, he allowed no hits in three innings and struck out five batters, perfectly shutting down the Japanese lineup." Even more surprising Just four days earlier, Ha Hyun-seung had already pitched a fierce performance, and according to tournament rules, a pitcher who throws 90 pitches can return after three days of rest. In this tournament, Ha Hyun-seung pitched 82/3 innings against championship contenders Taiwan and Japan, allowing only 2 hits and striking out 17 without allowing a run, achieving an overwhelming record. Both of Korea's wins in those games also went to Ha Hyun-seung.
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