Defending champions Taiwan thrilled a home crowd with a nail-biting 4-3 comeback win against Panama on Friday, the first day of the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup held in Tainan.

Competing under the name “Chinese Taipei,” Taiwan trailed 3-1 with two outs at the bottom of the sixth and came back to win by one run in the ASPAC Youth stadium.

Panama scored two runs from four hits at the top of the second, off Taiwan starting pitcher Wu Sheng-zhi (???), before both teams scored a run each in the fifth.

With two outs at the bottom of the sixth inning and first and third bases loaded, Taiwan took advantage of a balk to send Gao Pin-han (???) to score on home base and Ou Tzu-chiao (???) to second base.

From there, Chen Rui-xin (???) singled up the middle for Ou to score.

Chen Rui-xin then reached third base before Chen En (??) singled down the left field line for him to score the game winning run for a final score of 4-3.

The fans jumped out of their seats, waving the Republic of China (Taiwan) national flag to celebrate the win as they welcomed back long missed international baseball games that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before the game, Taiwan team manager Lai Chao-jung (???) said he was very happy and honored to lead his team to represent the country.

“In the last edition, Taiwan won the championship and this year we will try our best to defend the world title and keep the trophy in Taiwan,” Lai said.

The 2022 WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup is the tournament’s sixth edition, with 11 teams competing in two groups in the opening round before proceeding to the super round, placement round and final.

In addition to Taiwan and Panama, the other teams are Italy, Mexico, South Africa, Venezuela, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Japan, South Korea, and the United States.

The bronze and gold medal games will be held on Aug. 7.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel