Taipei, July 22 (CNA) Taiwan rallied to beat South Korea 4-3 Thursday in Taipei to win the 2010 Pony Baseball's Bronco League Asia-Pacific Zone tournament and a berth in the Pony Baseball World Series next month.
Trailing 3-2 in the sixth inning, the home team from the central city of Taichung took advantage of a South Korean nervous breakdown to score two runs to secure the title.
Liang Chia-feng's leadoff single kicked off Taiwan's rally in the bottom of the sixth as Taiwan scored the tying run on three wild pitches by Korean pitcher Jeong Jae-hyeok, and added the go-ahead run with a steal and a base hit.
Taiwanese left-hander Chen Shih-peng, who had 10 strikeouts in the game, shut out South Korea's final hope in the top of the seventh. A packed crowd of more than 1,000 fans at the Youth Park Baseball Field gave the home boys a standing ovation after the win.
Thirty minutes earlier, it had looked like South Koreans would walk away with an upset win after Lee Jae-kyeong blasted a two-run single off the middle with bases loaded to help South Korea take a 3-2 lead.
Now Taiwan will be looking for a redemption in the 12-and-under World Series, which will take place from Aug. 5-12 in Monterey, California. It has failed to win any World Series titles since 2000, finishing with four silvers, two bronzes and a fourth place.
The title was another confidence-booster for Taiwan's youth baseball, which has been doing well this summer in general. Taiwan national baseball teams won the titles of both the 2010 Asia-Pacific Junior League Baseball Tournament and the 2010 Little League Baseball Asia-Pacific Regional Tournaments earlier this month.
The only setback came when the 14-and-under national team failed to defend its title in the Pony's Asia-Pacific championship in the 13-14 age bracket in the Philippines Monday.
In other games Thursday, Japan blanked the Philippines 18-0 to win third place in the seven-team tourney. Hong Kong defeated Indonesia 6-4 for fifth place, while Vietnam, fielding a team in Pony baseball for the first time, finished last. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J