Pinoy batters lose to Koreans anew, end up 4th

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines settled for fourth place in the XXVIII BFA U23 Asian Baseball Championship after bowing to fancied Korea, 0-15, Sunday at Hsing Chuang Stadium in New Taipei City.

Like in their previous faceoffs in the preliminaries and Super Round, the Filipino batters fought gallantly but the Koreans were simply too powerful and didn’t give an inch in the battle for the bronze and the last spot to the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup.

The Koreans peppered Phl with 16 hits in the nine-inning contest that served as curtain raiser for the championship duel between Japan and host Chinese Taipei. The Filipinos managed four hits but couldn’t convert them into runs.

Korea starter Kim Seon-gi took the win, allowing only three hits, issuing one walk and striking out four batters in a five-inning job, while Phl counterpart Paulo Macasaet, who surrendered six runs off five hits, was the losing pitcher.

Kim Min Hyeok, Lee Seung Min, Choi Min Jae and Oh Sun Woo belted two RBIs each for Korea,  which struck hardest in the bottom sixth with six runs to put the game beyond Phl’s reach.

Japan later edged the home side, 6-1, to cop the gold.

The Japanese, runner-up Taiwanese, and third placer Korea qualified for the 12-nation U-23 Baseball World Cup in 2018.