HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 16 (acn) South Korea eliminated Cuba in the quarterfinals of the WBSC Premier 12 by beating it 7-2 in a match held at the Intercontinental Stadium in Taichung City, Chinese Taipei.
The Asian squad guaranteed victory with bunch of five runs in the second inning, when the Cuban starter Frank Monthiet allowed three consecutive hits, including triple by first baseman Park Byung -Ho.
Livan Moinelo, Norberto Gonzalez and Miguel Lahera, in that order, were the Cuban relievers in that fateful inning that failed to contain the inspired South Korean batters, who scored a total of five runs and six hits in that productive inning.
Cuba scored two runs in the fifth, driven in by Stayler Hernandez and Yunieski Gourriel, but the South Korean side added two runs in the eighth, one of them by solo homer of catcher Yang Eui-Ji off Jonder Martinez.
South Korean starter Won Chang Jun allowed four hits and two earned runs in four innings and two thirds, although the win went to Lim Chang Min, while Frank Monthiet took the loss after allowing four hits and three runs in just one inning.
Catcher Yang Eui-Ji offensively stood out for the winners by hitting 3 for 3 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored , while Stayler Hernandez and Yunieski Gourriel highlighted for Cuba with an RBI per capita.
After eliminating Cuba –which finished sixth in the tournament, South Korea will face in the semifinals the undefeated team of Japan, which defeated 9-3 Puerto Rico today.
In addition, United States won 6-1 over Netherlands and will play the other semifinal game against Mexico, team that gave the big surprise of the tournament by defeating 4-3 the until today unbeatable side of Canada.
The semifinals of the WBSC Premier 12 will take place on November 19 and 20 at the legendary Tokyo Dome stadium in the Japanese capital, venue also of the matches for the gold and bronze medals on Saturday 21.
Nos reservamos el derecho de no publicar los comentario que incumplan con las normas de este sitio