Narrow 4-3 Win Over Dominican Republic Amid Lack of Timely Hits
3 Runs in 9th Inning for Comeback... Rematch with Israel
The national baseball team made a miraculous comeback. They dramatically defeated the Dominican Republic and advanced to the second round of the knockout stage.
Led by manager Kim Kyung-moon, the team won 4-3 in a come-from-behind victory thanks to Kim Hyun-soo's walk-off hit in the 9th inning during the first round of the knockout stage against the Dominican Republic at Yokohama Stadium in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on the 1st. They narrowly escaped a losing streak and advanced to the second round of the knockout stage. Their next opponent is Israel, whom they defeated 6-5 on the 29th of last month. The match will take place at the same venue tomorrow (the 2nd) at noon. If they win this game and also defeat either the United States or Japan, they will advance to the final where the gold medal is at stake.
The team struggled throughout the game against the opposing starting pitcher Raul Valdez. The 44-year-old Valdez’s fastball velocity was only in the 130 km/h range, but he effectively used corner walks on both sides. He threw a changeup as his finishing pitch, often inducing swings and misses from the national team’s batters. He pitched well until one out in the 6th inning, allowing 7 hits, 5 strikeouts, and 1 run. The team was able to break through Valdez in the 1st inning. Park Hae-min (Samsung) and Kang Baek-ho (kt) hit consecutive singles, and Lee Jung-hoo drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. However, they only managed to score one run on a sacrifice fly by Yang Eui-ji (NC). Both Kim Hyun-soo and Oh Jae-il struck out afterward. Similar patterns repeated throughout the game. They kept putting runners on base every inning but suffered from a lack of timely hits.
Even after Valdez left the mound, the momentum did not change. In the 6th inning with two outs and runners on first and second, Oh Ji-hwan (LG) struck out, and in the 7th and 8th innings, they again put runners on base but faced a drought of follow-up hits. In the 9th inning, when defeat seemed imminent, the team revived their fading hopes with Choi Joo-hwan’s (SSG) infield hit. Park Hae-min (Samsung) followed with a clutch hit to center-left, scoring one run, and then Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom) hit a double down the left field line with one out and a runner on second to tie the game. The game was turned around by Kim Hyun-soo’s bat. With two outs and a runner on third, created by Yang Eui-ji’s (NC) advancing hit, Kim delivered a walk-off RBI hit over the right fielder’s head. The players, who had been desperately hoping for a hit in the dugout, rushed out to celebrate the victory. Manager Kim Kyung-moon also shared high-fives with the players, unable to hide his joy.
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