Taiwan wins JLWS baseball championship

2014-08-19

Taichung City-based Chung-Shan Junior High School baseball team won the Junior League World Series Aug. 16 at Heritage Park in Taylor, Michigan, the second consecutive year a Taiwan team has captured the title.

Chung-Shan beat U.S. Oil Belt League champions Corpus Christi, Texas 9-1 to clinch the title, following the success of Taoyuan County-based Hsin-Ming Junior High School last year.

“Taking this trophy home is a dream come true,” Chung-Shan manager Lan Wen-chueh said. “Once again it shows that Taiwan’s junior league baseball has made a lot of progress and can take on strong opponents.”

Starting pitcher Gu-Lin Ruei-yang’s remarkable performance helped Taiwan nail the championship. With 5.1 innings on the mound, he allowed only one walk, struck out six and yielded just four hits. He gave up only one earned run to the U.S. Southwest Region champions.

On the offensive, Taichung’s batters belted 14 hits, stole seven bases and scored in five of the seven innings.

2014 marked the 34th year Taylor hosted the JLWS for players aged 13-14. Taiwan was represented in the last five series, winning three titles during the period. This year five international sides were pitted against five U.S. teams in an eight-day tournament.

Chung-Shan’s previously appeared in the championship in 1994, when they finished third. Head coach Lan Wen-chueh was on that team, and this victory, 20 years in the making, is proof that hard work pays off.

“The kids worked really hard to get here. It’s truly a great honor to represent Taiwan in the world series, and we look forward to getting that opportunity again,” he said.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=220741&CtNode=413)