Choi Ji-min, who pitched bravely despite boos from Taiwanese fans, pitched two scoreless ⅔ against Taiwan (Taiwan Field)

Nov 13, 2024

The Premier 12 baseball team played against Taiwan at Taipei Dome Stadium in Taiwan on the 13th. Choi Ji-min apologizes after being hit by Taiwanese Lin An-ker in the fifth inning. Taipei (Taiwan) = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2024.11.13/

[Taipei (Taiwan) = Reporter Song Jeong-heon of Sports Chosun] Choi Ji-min, who took the mound after starter Ko Young-pyo gave a shock six runs in two innings, kept the mound scoreless until the second out in the fifth inning.

On the 13th, the Premier 12 baseball team lost its first game against Taiwan 3-6 at Taipei Dome in Taiwan. Ko Young-pyo, the trusted first starter, failed to keep the mound.

Ko Young-pyo allowed Taiwan's Chen Chen Wei to hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the second inning as runners piled up after two outs. Even after that, he failed to finish the second inning. A double to Lin Lin Lin, the next batter. With two outs and runners on second base, Taiwan's Chen Jessien allowed another two-run home run. Ko Young-pyo, who barely finished the second inning, was shocked by two home runs and six runs in two innings.

Manager Ryu Joong-il raised the bullpen from the third inning. In the third inning, left-hander Choi Ji-min took the mound.

The Premier 12 baseball team played against Taiwan at Taipei Dome Stadium in Taiwan on the 13th. Ko Young-pyo allowed a grand slam to Taiwan's Chen Chen Wei in the second inning.

Choi Jimin pitching on the mound in the third inning.

Choi Ji-min cooled down Taiwan's batters, who were hot with three outs in the bottom of the third inning. The national team went on a 6-2 chase in the top of the fourth inning with an RBI double by Kim Do-young and an RBI timely hit by Park Dong-won bringing in Kim Do-young. In the fourth inning, Choi Ji-min also threw out Taiwan's batters.

Choi Ji-min, who also took the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning, hit Taiwan's central batters Lin Lin and Chen Jie-hsuen. After two outs in the fifth inning, he threw a body ball to Linanker and allowed the ball to hit his body.

Choi Ji-min eventually handed over the mound to Kwak Do-gyu with two outs and a runner on first base in the fifth inning. Kwak Do-gyu's ball fell out and was on second base with two outs. There was a risk of losing a point, but Kwak Do-gyu struck out Ju Gi-sen and finished the inning without losing a point.

Choi Ji-min, who took over the mound from the third inning, pitched two scoreless innings without hits in two ⅔.

Choi Jimin pitching hard.

5회 2사 1루. Choi Jimin going down the mound.

Choi Ji-min also contributed to the national team's gold medal by pitching four scoreless innings in four games at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year. He showed poor performance in the team KIA this season, but showed impressive pitching again in the national team, showing strong performance in the international game.

Taiwanese fans booed Choi Ji-min, who was going down the mound after two outs in the fifth inning. It was the booing after throwing a hit ball to Lin Anker, the fourth batter. However, Choi Ji-min showed a confident smile despite boos from Taiwanese fans.

It was impressive to see young Choi Ji-min bravely protect the Taipei Dome mound among the packed spectators who could not protect even the oldest Ko Young-pyo.

Taipei Dome visited during the first full attendance of the Korea-Taiwan qualifying round.

songs@sportschosun.com