*This content was translated by AI.
Sejong City Juvenile Baseball Team (manager Jang Jae-hyuk) won the 11th National Youth Baseball Tournament, the first tournament of the 2026 season.
Sejong City Youth Baseball Team defeated the traditional powerhouse Ilsan Giants Youth Baseball Team (Coach Choi Young-soo) 8-2, which produced both Choi Hyun-woo (Kiwoom Heroes) and Lee Min-joon (kt Wiz), at the 11th National Youth Baseball Competition, which represents youth baseball on a total of 12 sides, including the Palduk Baseball Stadium in Sunchang County, Jeollanam-do, for six days from the 25th of last month to March 2.
Organized by the Korea Youth Baseball Federation (Chairman Lee Sang-geun), the competition ended in a great success with the participation of more than 3,000 players and parents from 170 teams, the largest ever. The tournament was held in a preliminary group stage and a final tournament for six days, and competed for a total of seven championships, including the Sprout League (U-9), the Dream Tree League (U-11), the Youth League (U-13), and the Junior League (U-16). It was sponsored by Jeollabuk-do, Sunchang-gun, Sunchang-gun Sports Council, SOOP, and Yasa Knox, a baseball equipment company.
Sejong City Youth Baseball Team, which won the Blue Dragon in the U-13, the strongest youth league, advanced to the final round with three wins in the group qualifying round. In the quarterfinals of the final round, Kim Sung-ha's hard hit, Yoon Chae-hwan and Kim Tae-woo, who had two hits and three RBIs in three at-bats, won 8-0 with a perfect scoreless pitch, and in the semifinals, he advanced to the final with a lucky draw due to rain against Gyeonggi Whimoon Academy Youth Baseball Team (Coach Park Young-joo), which is considered the strongest team this season.
The final opponent was the Ilsan Giants Youth Baseball Team in Gyeonggi Province, where Kim Da-yul, the "Ilsan Ohtani" who is 180 centimeters tall and has strong skills in pitching despite being the winner of the 2025 Youth Baseball Grand Prize and a sixth grader in elementary school.
Until the third inning, it was a tight pitching match due to the scoreless perfect pitching by the ace of both teams, Ilsan Giants Kim Da-yul and Sejong City Yoon Chae-hwan, but in the bottom of the fourth inning, when the pitcher was replaced, the Sejong Youth Baseball Team virtually decided the game by making a big inning in which Lee Dan-woo's double to left field, Yoon Chae-hwan's two-run timely hit, Cho Ha-min's hit to the left, and Lee Hyun-kyu's hit to the left.
In the top of the fifth inning, he allowed an RBI double to Ilsan Giants' Kim Da-yul to score his first run, but immediately sealed the game by running 8-1 with a three-run home run to the left by fourth batter Lee Dan-woo in the bottom of the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth inning, Ilsan Giants Oh Hyun-kyu's dune gave up one point, but Ahn Seo-yul finished perfectly with three strikeouts and held the first tournament trophy of the season in his arms
Yoon Chae-hwan, who played an active part in offense and defense as a central hitter of Sejong City Youth Baseball Team, was honored as the MVP of the tournament, while Lee Jae-yong (Gyeonggi Ilsan Giants Youth Baseball Team) and Lee Dan-woo (Sejong Youth Baseball Team) won the best player award.
MVP Yoon Chae-hwan (Sejong Youth Baseball Team) said, "I would like to thank coach Jang Jae-hyuk, coach Nam Jae-woo, and coach Yang Hee-hyun for guiding our team to win the championship. I want to thank my friends who ran hard with me and my younger brothers who supported me, and I also want to thank my parents who always help me from behind. I will work hard and become the best player like Ryu Hyun-jin, who can throw the ball wherever he wants," he said.
Jang Jae-hyuk, manager of Sejong City Youth Baseball Team, who won the tournament's managerial award, said, "I think I have a deep relationship with Sunchang. For the third year in a row, he won the Sunchang County Cup. I'm happy to get off to a good start by winning the first event every year, the Sunchang Gun Boat. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the parents of our team for creating a glorious moment to win the championship. I also deeply appreciate the officials of the Korea Youth Baseball Federation and Sunchang-gun who helped me to participate in the tournament by creating a good baseball stadium and a good environment. And I'm really proud of our players who didn't give up until the end and came all the way here. This win was possible because of the dedication and passion of the whole team, not just one person. I will continue to challenge and work hard to become a better team in the future. Thank you again," he said.
Lee Sang-geun, chairman of the Korea Youth Baseball Federation, said, "In the first tournament of this season, 170 teams participated, the most in the 16-year youth baseball history. I'm glad that it's the result of working hard to develop various contents to expand the base of youth baseball amid the crisis consciousness stemming from the low birth rate. As always this year, I will try to become a happy baseball evangelist by keeping my eye level at the participating players and parents.
And I think it was possible because there was an upgraded facility investment every year in Sunchang. I sincerely thank Sunchang-gun County Governor Choi Young-il and Sunchang-gun officials for their perfect support for youth baseball and regional development," he said.
● Sprout League (U-9) ▲ Winning = Suncheon Namsan Youth Baseball Team (Coach Park Hyun-jin) ▲ Runner-up = Dobong-gu, Seoul (Coach Kim Jong-jin) ▲ Best Player Kim Yoon-hoo (Coach Suncheon Namsan Youth Baseball Team, Jeollanam-do)
● Dream Tree League (U-11) ▲ Winning = Gimpo City Youth Baseball Team (Coach Choi Hoon) ▲ Runner-up = Sejong City Youth Baseball Team (Coach Jang Jae-hyuk) ▲ Best Player = Choi Joo-won (Kimpo City Youth Baseball Team)
● Dream Tree League (U-11) Baekho ▲ Winning = Ansan City Youth Baseball Team (Coach Sung Yang-min) ▲ Runner-up = Daejeon Seo-gu Youth Baseball Team (Coach Park Sang-gyu) ▲ Best Player = Doo Seung-hyun (Coach Ansan City Youth Baseball Team)
● Dream Tree League (U-11) Hyunmoo ▲ Winning = Muan-gun Youth Baseball Team, Jeollanam-do (Coach Kim Dong-sung) ▲ Runner-up = Nonsan City Youth Baseball Team, Chungnam (Coach Shin Jung-ik) ▲ Best Player = Choi In-ho (Coach Muan-gun Youth Baseball Team, Jeollanam-do)
● Youth League (U-13) Blue Dragon ▲ Winning = Sejong City Youth Baseball Team (Manager Jang Jae-hyuk) ▲ Runner-up = Ilsan Giants Youth Baseball Team (Manager Choi Young-soo) ▲ Best Player = Yoon Chae-hwan (Sejong City Youth Baseball Team)
● Baekho from the Youth League (U-13) ▲ Winning = Seoul Jungnang Eagles Youth Baseball Team (Coach Kim Sun-woo) ▲ Runner-up = Uijeongbu City Youth Baseball Team (Coach Choi Bong-joon) ▲ Best Player = Kim Seung-jae (Seoul Jungnang Eagles Youth Baseball Team)
● Junior League (U-16) ▲ Winning = Seoul Gangnam Dogok Youth Baseball Team (Coach Yoon Jung-ho) ▲ Runner-up = Nonsan City Youth Baseball Team (Coach Shin Jung-ik) ▲ Best Player = Obio (Seoul Gangnam Dogok Youth Baseball Team)
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*This content was translated by AI.
