*This content was translated by AI.
The awful 'first game jinx' was no longer there. Korean baseball won its first World Baseball Classic (WBC) game in 17 years since the 2009 tournament. South Korea, which opened with Moon Bo-kyung's cool grand slam, completely broke the chain of defeat in the first round for the past three consecutive tournaments by destroying the mound of the Czech Republic with Shay Witcombe's consecutive hits.
The Korean national baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun, beat the Czech Republic 11-4 in the first Group C match of 2026 WBC at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 5th. He led 6-0 but allowed a chase, but ran away again to catch the game.
With this victory, South Korea occupied an advantageous position to advance to the quarterfinals and at the same time completely escaped from the "WBC atrocities" that have plagued the national team. It has been 17 years since the 9-0 victory over Taiwan in 2009. He laughed in the first game in four tournaments since losing 0-5 to the Netherlands in 2013, 1-2 to Israel in 2017 and 7-8 against Australia in 2023. At the same time, he clearly gained the upper hand in the possibility of advancing to the quarterfinals, which is given up to the second place in Group C.
Korea is Kim Do-young (designated hitter, KIA Tigers)-The lineup was formed in the order of Germay Jones (left fielder, Detroit Tigers), Lee Jung-hoo (center fielder, San Francisco Giants), Ahn Hyun-min (right wing, KT Wiz), Moon Bo-kyung (first baseman, LG Twins), Shay Witcom (third baseman, Houston Astros), Kim Hye-sung (second baseman, LA Dodgers), Park Dong-won (catcher, LG) and Kim Joo-won (striker, NC Dinos). The starting pitcher is Soh Hyung-joon.
In response, the Czech Republic formed the batting order in the order of Milan Prokov (designated hitter), Martin Chervinka (third baseman), Terrin Babra (striker), Martin Chervenka (catcher), Marek Schlupp (middle fielder), Martin Mujik (first baseman), Boytech Mensik (second baseman), William Escala (left fielder) and Max Freida (right fielder). The starting pitcher was right-hander Daniel Padisak.
The bat of the Korean national team started fire from the first inning.After the leadoff batter Kim Do-young's walk, Jones stepped down with a straight hit to left field, but Lee Jung-hoo's right-handed hit and Ahn Hyun-min's walk loaded the bases. Here, Moon Bo-kyung hit a flat 81.5-mph slider (about 131.2km) in the middle of Padisak, who was driven to the center in a ball count of 2 balls-1 strikes, to hit the wall in the middle. He took the lead by scoring four runs in the first inning alone.
In the bottom of the second inning, South Korea made first and third bases with no outs with leadoff hitter Park Dong-won's double on the left-field line and Kim Joo-won's hit. Here, Kim Do-young was out with a fly ball to the first base, but the next Jones hit a ground ball to shortstop. In the meantime, Park Dong-won homered and Jones drew a safe decision at first base. South Korea's 5-0 lead. With no runners after one out in the bottom of the third inning, Witcom hit a changeup in the middle of a 3 ball-1 strike and crossed the left-center fence to run 6-0.`
However, in the top of the fifth inning, the Czech Republic also launched a counterattack. Third pitcher Jung Woo-joo dedicated a hit ball to the side of leadoff batter Freida. He struck out Milan Prokoff next, but he got a hit by Checvinka and was in the top scoring position at first and second base. Here, Barbra hit Jung Woo-ju's 5 pitches (92.6 miles, 149km fastball) in a 3 ball-1 strike to shoot a three-run shot over the right-center wall.
At the end of the fifth inning, Korea did not stay put. After one out, Moon Bo-kyung went out with a ball that hit his body, and Witcom hit a ball that fell outside off the ball count of one strike and crossed the left-center fence. It was Whitcomb's consecutive home run and the score was even wider at 8-3. After the leadoff hitter Ahn Hyun-min's hit in the bottom of the seventh inning, second base Jinro and Moon Bo-kyung made a timely hit, and Witcomb's sacrifice fly and Kim He-sung's ground ball made it 10-3. Jones' wedge solo shot in the bottom of the eighth inning was added.
Starting pitcher So Hyung-joon pitched well with four hits, one walk, two strikeouts and no runs in three innings. In the bullpen, Noh Kyung-eun, Jung Woo-ju, Park Young-hyun, Cho Byung-hyun, Kim Young-kyu and Yoo Young-chan threw one inning each. Except for Jung Woo-joo, who allowed two hits and three runs in one inning, and Yoo Young-chan, who allowed one run in one inning, he did not lose a point.
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*This content was translated by AI.
