Small ball, big win for Chinese Taipei

Medals are the last thing on French manager Gerardo Leroux’s mind.

That doesn’t mean he hasn’t set goals for his team at the World Junior Baseball Championship in Thunder Bay. Only his are a little less loftier than say, the United States, Cuba and South Koreans.

“We want to win one game,” Leroux said through a translator, “because we’ve never won a game in the world championships, with our senior team or junior team. So won game won and it’s perfect.”

Unfortunately they didn’t hit that goal on Saturday morning, falling 11-1 in seven innings at Baseball Central, the mercy rule taking effect when the differential hit 10 runs.

Despite the lopsided nature of their 2010 WJBC debut, Leroux said there were plenty of positives he can take from the loss to help his team regroup before their Sunday morning contest against the returned Venezuela squad.

“There were a lot of positives on defence, and there was a lot of pressure for the kids. It was their first time in the world championships. We’ve built a new program with new kids for the future. It’s nice to be here, but it’s a lot of work,” Leroux said.

The Chinese Taipei side made easy work of French starter Alexandre Maurette, who surrendered nine of the 11 runs, including three in each of the first two innings.

Leadoff hitter Lin Tzu Wei greeted him with a double in the first. Ko Chih Wei lined a shot to third that Thibault Bondin bobbled. Blondin unleashed a wild throw to first in a desperate attempt to record the out, but it flew wide and Lin Tzu Wei was ordered home by the umpiring crew.

Yang Hong Sheng followed with a double of his own, scoring Ko Chih Wei. A stolen base and a sacrifice fly later and Chinese Taipei owned a 3-0 lead after one.

It was more of the same in the second, where another three runs crossed the plate for the Asian squad, and after Maurette set them down 1-2-3 in the third, they tacked on three more in the fourth. Lin Ting Yen doubled and scored on a Ou Yao Tsung single and a bobble by French leftfielder Luc Didier. Tsung scored on a Sheng sacrifice fly and Ko Chih Wei, who walked with one out, came home on a Lin Chih Heien double that all but finished Maurette for the morning, down 9-0.

It was all Chinese Taipei manager Huang Wu Hsiung could ask for, looking for his team to execute a disciplined game plan.

“In terms of hitting the hitters listed to the direction of the coaches, so I’m satisfied,” he said.

Chinese Taipei starter Chen Ping Hseuh, meanwhile was cruising along. He retired the side in order in the first, gave up a single to clean-up hitter to start the second, and just two more before leaving after four, allowing no runs while striking out eight.

Lefty reliever Peng Shih Ying took over in the fifth, and was victimized by France’s lone run in the sixth, an RBI single off the bat of DH Alexandre Defontaine. A 4-6-3 double play by Blondin ended any further threat, stranding Arthur Paturel on third.

French reliever Benoit Morin, who took over from Maurette in the fifth, was rolling along nicely, having retired six in a row through the first batter of the seventh. However a single, double and a walk set the stage for Tsung, whose single to left ended the ballgame.

World views: WJCH rules state a game is to be called after five innings if a team amasses a 15-run or greater lead. The mercy margin falls to 10 after seven innings. Two of three championship games have seed the rule come into effect.