China and Korea took to the Wukesong Baseball Field for an abbreviated contest today as they completed their game from day two, which was suspended due to rain. The crowd got more action than they had bargained for as the two teams battled until the eleventh inning, when Korea took advantage of the ‘extra innings rule’ to finally break the deadlock and walk off with a 1-0 victory.Â
The teams were embroiled in a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth inning when they were called off the field for the final time three days ago. The game was picked up from where they left off and the pitchers continued to dominate, with neither team able to string more than one hit together. As the third out was recorded in the bottom of the ninth inning, attention immediately turned to the controversial ‘extra innings rule’ that would come into play if the game remained tied after the tenth inning. Korea had a glorious chance to bypass the new rule when Hyunsoo Kim reached third base with one out in the bottom of the tenth; however the potential game-winning run was left stranded.
China hoped to capitalize by jumping ahead with the first opportunity to drive home their two runners in the eleventh. After advancing the runners to second and third base on the first out, China looked certain to finally break the run of zeroes on the scoreboard. Perhaps being overanxious, they ended up with nothing after chancing their arm on a flyout to centrefield. Lingfeng Sun tagged up and raced to home plate, only to be beaten by the throw to record the third out of the inning.
They never recovered from this missed opportunity. Korea came to bat with two men on and needing just one run to win the game. Jongwook Lee was brought home in quick measure to finally bring the game to a close.
The result means that Korea join Cuba as the only teams to remain unbeaten after completing their first four games. Both have now all but secured their places in the semi-finals. Japan and the United States currently hold the other two spots, but their 2-2 records still leave them vulnerable from a late attack by one or two of the trailing teams.
Day six preview
With that in mind, tomorrow’s games could be pivotal. Japan and the U.S. are both playing teams who could draw level with them with a victory. Japan have the harder task on paper, playing a good Canadian team who have been a touch unlucky so far. The U.S. will be hoping to beat China and to create a bit of breathing space.  Korea will face Chinese Taipei, while Cuba take on the Netherlands.
