Taiwan Stuns Japan To Win Premier12 Tournament
Image credit: (Photo by Gene Wang/Getty Images)
Taiwan pulled off a stunning upset Sunday, beating Japan 4-0 to win the Premier12 tournament championship while Team USA beat Venezuela 6-1 to claim the bronze medal.
Center fielder Chieh-Hsien Chen hit a three-run home run to lead Taiwan’s offense while D-Backs pitcher Yu-Min Lin threw four scoreless, one-hit innings to start off the shutout. Relievers Yi Chang, Kuan-Yu Chen and Kai-Wei Lin combined to hold Japan to three hits over the final five innings.
A line-drive double play ended the game and set off Taiwan’s celebration.
This is arguably the biggest international win in Taiwanese baseball history (the team is called Chinese Taipei in international competitions). Taiwan has won the Asian Games before and even claimed a silver medal in the 1992 Olympics, but this is the first gold medal at a world championship for professional baseball players.
“The result went over what we anticipated. We never expected such an outcome,” Chen told the World Baseball Softball Confederation after the game. “This win will give everybody in our baseball team more confidence and the awareness that we can compete with everybody.”
Chen, Taiwan’s captain, was named the tournament MVP. He hit .625 (15-for-24) with two home runs, five runs scored and six RBIs.
In the bronze medal game, Casey Lawrence threw six scoreless innings for the U.S., holding Venezuela to four hits and no walks while striking out seven. Rays prospects Chandler Simpson and Carson Williams each had a double as part of two hits.
Williams hit a sacrifice fly, and a Colby Thomas hit-by-pitch drove in another run in the third. Simpson’s RBI single scored Pirates prospect Termarr Johnson in the sixth, and Luke Ritter scored on a wild pitch to widen the lead to 4-0.
Williams’ double in the eighth drove in two more runs. An Alexi Amarista sac fly scored Hernan Perez for Venezuela’s only run.
The Premier12 All-World team included four USA Baseball players. Simpson led the tournament with nine stolen bases, Ryan Ward had the most home runs (5) and Matt Shaw led in RBIs (14).
Premier12 All-World Team
- SP: Rich Hill (USA)
- RP: Oddaner Mosqueda (Venezuela)
- C: Shogo Sakakura (Japan)
- 1B: Carlos Jesus Perez (Venezuela)
- 2B: Kaito Kozono (Japan)
- 3B: Matt Shaw (USA)
- SS: Didi Gregorius (Netherlands)
- OF: Chandler Simpson (USA), Chieh-Hsien Chen (Chinese Taipei) and Shota Morishita (Japan)
- DH: Ryan Ward (USA)
Premier12 Batting Leaders
| player | team | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | BB | SO | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chieh-Hsien Chen | TPE | 24 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | .625 | .917 | .700 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Alen Hanson | DOM | 11 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .545 | .727 | .583 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Hernán Pérez | VEN | 15 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .533 | 1.067 | .588 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Alonso Gaitan | MEX | 19 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .526 | .895 | .591 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Didi Gregorius | NED | 22 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .500 | .818 | .500 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Chandler Simpson | USA | 37 | 8 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | .459 | .514 | .500 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| Delano Selassa | NED | 11 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .455 | .545 | .500 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Toshiya Sato | JPN | 11 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .455 | .545 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Sharlon Schoop | NED | 20 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .450 | .750 | .476 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Shogo Sakakura | JPN | 18 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .444 | .667 | .615 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Francisco Arcia | VEN | 14 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .429 | .429 | .529 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Doyeong Kim | KOR | 17 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 10 | .412 | 1.059 | .444 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Matt Shaw | USA | 34 | 7 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 14 | .412 | .706 | .500 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Sabin Ceballos | PUR | 17 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .412 | .882 | .500 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Denzel Richardson | NED | 20 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .400 | .850 | .400 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Jhonny Santos | PAN | 18 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | .389 | 1.056 | .400 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Ray-Patrick Didder | NED | 18 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .389 | .611 | .421 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Kaito Kozono | JPN | 31 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | .387 | .677 | .441 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Alan Trejo | MEX | 13 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .385 | 1.077 | .467 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Dongwon Park | KOR | 16 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .375 | .688 | .375 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Ezequiel Pagan | PUR | 16 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | .375 | .875 | .474 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Carlos Cortes | PUR | 19 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .368 | .474 | .400 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Yadir Drake | CUB | 19 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .368 | .579 | .455 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| Pei-Fong Dai | TPE | 11 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .364 | .727 | .364 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Carlos Perez | VEN | 25 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .360 | .560 | .407 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Ricardo Cespedes | DOM | 14 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .357 | .429 | .400 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Seonghan Park | KOR | 14 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .357 | .500 | .438 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Shota Morishita | JPN | 28 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | .357 | .571 | .459 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Carlos Pérez | VEN | 26 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | .346 | .731 | .400 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Ehire Adrianza | VEN | 12 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .333 | .917 | .429 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Hendrik Clementina | NED | 21 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .333 | .714 | .364 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Jonathan Schoop | NED | 18 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .333 | .611 | .455 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Kungkuan Giljegiljaw | TPE | 15 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .333 | .600 | .412 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Keita Sano | JPN | 28 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .321 | .357 | .333 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Arismendy Alcántara | DOM | 16 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .313 | .688 | .353 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| Chieh-Kai Pan | TPE | 32 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .313 | .438 | .389 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Darryl George | AUS | 16 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .313 | .375 | .421 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Li Lin | TPE | 32 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | .313 | .438 | .343 | 2 | 7 | 4 |
| Ryosuke Tatsumi | JPN | 29 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .310 | .414 | .447 | 6 | 7 | 1 |
| Termarr Johnson | USA | 29 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .310 | .414 | .429 | 6 | 9 | 1 |
| Dwayne Kemp | NED | 13 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .308 | .692 | .400 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ryan Ward | USA | 26 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 11 | .308 | .885 | .406 | 4 | 12 | 0 |
| Roel Santos | CUB | 20 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .300 | .400 | .391 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Kun-Yu Chiang | TPE | 24 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .292 | .542 | .393 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Victor Torres | PUR | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .286 | .429 | .286 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Alfredo Despaigne | CUB | 18 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .278 | .278 | .381 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Bogyeong Moon | KOR | 18 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .278 | .389 | .278 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Kotaro Kurebayashi | JPN | 18 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .278 | .278 | .333 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Sosuke Genda | JPN | 18 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .278 | .444 | .381 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Tim Kennelly | AUS | 18 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .278 | .333 | .381 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
Premier12 Pitching Leaders
| player | team | w | l | era | g | ip | h | r | er | bb | so |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | W | L | ERA | G | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Rich Hill | USA | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| Yi Chang | TPE | 3 | 0 | 0.00 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Shoma Fujihira | JPN | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Antonio Menendez | USA | 2 | 0 | 1.35 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Kuo-Hao Chiang | TPE | 1 | 0 | 1.42 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Zac Grotz | USA | 0 | 0 | 1.42 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Oddanier Mosqueda | VEN | 1 | 0 | 1.42 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Tzu-Peng Huang | TPE | 1 | 1 | 1.50 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| Pedro Fernández | DOM | 0 | 1 | 1.50 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Touki Toussaint | USA | 0 | 0 | 1.50 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Hiroto Saiki | JPN | 1 | 0 | 1.69 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| Yoennis Yera | CUB | 0 | 1 | 1.80 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Casey Lawrence | USA | 1 | 0 | 1.93 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| Kevin Kelly | NED | 0 | 0 | 2.00 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Yu-Min Lin | TPE | 0 | 0 | 2.08 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Jonathan Bermudez | PUR | 0 | 0 | 2.16 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| Chihiro Sumida | JPN | 2 | 0 | 2.25 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 16 |
| Hiroto Takahashi | JPN | 0 | 0 | 2.25 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 16 |
| Ricardo Pinto | VEN | 2 | 0 | 2.61 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Wily Peralta | DOM | 0 | 0 | 2.84 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Osvaldo Berrios | PUR | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Mario Sanchez | VEN | 1 | 1 | 3.12 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| Nivaldo Rodríguez | VEN | 0 | 1 | 3.27 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 14 |
| Jesús Vargas | VEN | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| Koki Kitayama | JPN | 1 | 0 | 3.86 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| Jaime Barria | PAN | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| Shosei Togo | JPN | 0 | 1 | 6.00 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 13 |
| Teddy Stankiewicz | MEX | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Takahisa Hayakawa | JPN | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 |
| Haruto Inoue | JPN | 3 | 0 | 6.75 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 12 |
| Chun-Lin Kuo | TPE | 0 | 0 | 7.50 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Shairon Martis | NED | 0 | 1 | 22.50 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 3 |
