20 years ago today, the United States was destroyed' 韓전승, WB Korea America won all four games [SHINHWA SEOP'S SPORTS INSIDE]

*This content was translated by AI.

The opponent is the team that won all four games in the first round and ranked first among 20 countries with 13 home runs. He also scored the most points with 41 points. With hitters who hit more than 20 home runs in a season in the U.S. Major League Baseball (ML), they can fill all nine starting lineup.

The mound was also fourth overall with a 2.38 ERA in four games. Christopher Sanchez (30, Philadelphia Phillies), who had 13 wins, 5 losses and a 2.50 ERA in 32 games last season, was predicted as the starting pitcher. He is the top left-hander in the ML, who ranked second in voting for the National League Cy Young Award last year by spraying a fastball with a maximum speed of 159 kilometers per hour.

This is the story of the Dominican Republic's national team, which will play the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinals against South Korea at Rondipo Park in Miami, Florida on the 14th (Korea Standard Time). He must be a tough opponent for South Korea, which advanced to the quarterfinals after a long struggle in the first round.

However, the teams that Korea has met since the second round in all WBCs have always been like that. Not many expected to beat North and Central America and South American countries, which are full of major leaguers.

In the first and second tournaments, when South Korea passed the first round, four teams were in a group in the second round of the quarterfinals, and the first and second places in each group advanced to the semifinal tournament. It was held in round robin in 2006, and in 2009, it was a consolation match and a first- and second-place match in the group.

The result took everyone by surprise. South Korea has never lost to continental American teams in the WBC. He has played against all three countries four times and won all of them. In 2006, he advanced to the semifinals by defeating Mexico and the United States, and in 2009, he defeated Mexico in the second round and Venezuela in the semifinals to reach the final.

In Game 1 of the second round at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, South Korea put Seo as its starting pitcher. The opposing starter was Rodrigo Lopez, who won 15 games for the 2005 ML Baltimore Orioles, the previous season.

The home run came out from the first inning. Lee Seung-yeop drew a superior two-run arch from Lopez with one out and one base, and that became the winning point.

Seo Jae-eung pitched well with two hits and one run in five ⅓ innings, and Koo Dae-sung, Jung Dae-hyun, Bong Jung-geun and Park Chan-ho blocked the rest of the innings without allowing a run. Park Chan-ho, who took the mound in the ninth inning, was driven by Geronimo Hill with a 3 ball-0 strike at the risk of tying the game with two outs and third base, but he ended the victory by one point by striking out swinging.

No. 2 Derek Jeter, No. 3 Ken Griffey Jr., No. 4 Alex Rodriguez, No. 5 Chipper Jones....

It was the batting order of the U.S., which faced South Korea in the second round. The starting pitcher is Dontrell Willis (Florida Marlins), who won 22 games in 2005. They were fearsome superstars just by name.

But the Korean players were not discouraged. Again, Lee Seung-yeop hit a solo shot after two outs in the first inning to gain the upper hand. The U.S. bench sent Lee Seung-yeop to intentional four pitches with two outs and a runner on second base in the bottom of the fourth inning when the team was trailing 1-3.

At that time, national team coach Kim In-sik put Choi Hee-seop as a substitute instead of starting No. 4 Kim Tae-kyun. Choi Hee-seop hit a superior three-run homer off opposing relief pitcher Dan Wheeler (then the Houston Astros) to widen the score to 6-1.

Starting pitcher Son Min-han silenced the U.S. slugging line with three scoreless innings and Koo Dae-sung, who took the mound in the fifth inning, also silenced the U.S. slugging line with three scoreless innings.

I met Mexico again after 3 years. In the game at Petco Park in San Diego, South Korea got off to a shaky start with starter Ryu Hyun-jin giving up two runs first in the top of the second inning.

However, in the bottom of the second inning, Lee Bum-ho's solo shot, Lee Yong-kyu's hit, steal, and opponent's error tied the score 2-2. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Kim Tae-kyun's come-from-behind solo home run hit, and Ko Young-min, who played as a logistical guard in the top of the fifth inning, also hit a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Kim Tae-kyun scored four runs with a timely two-run hit.

On the mound, after Ryu Hyun-jin gave up five hits and two runs in two ⅔ innings, Chung Hyun-wook, Jung Dae-hyun, Kim Kwang-hyun, Yoon Seok-min and Oh Seung-hwan pitched a scoreless iron wall.

South Korea, which suffered a disappointing loss to Japan in the semifinals of the first tournament, has re-challenged Venezuela for the first time in three years.

The lineup exploded from the first inning. The national team, which scored two runs first with Kim Hyun-soo's timely hit and Lee Dae-ho's grounder to the pitcher, led 5-0 when Choo Shin-soo scored a three-run home run from opposing starter Carlos Silva. In the second inning, Kim Tae-kyun hit a two-run shot to the left, and the score was 7-0. Venezuela committed as many as five errors and destroyed itself.

Starting pitcher Yoon Seok-min's good pitching also shone. He stopped six ⅓ innings with seven hits and two runs. Since then, South Korea has succeeded in advancing to the finals for the first time with an eight-point victory by throwing Jung Dae-hyun, Ryu Hyun-jin, Jung Hyun-wook and Lim Chang-yong without losing a point.

The quarterfinals against the 2026 WBC Dominican Republic will be held at 6:30 p.m. local time on the 13th (7:30 a.m. on the 14th in Korean time). Exactly 20 years ago, on March 13, 2006, the Korean baseball team defeated the U.S., the "baseball player." I wonder if I can continue my unbeaten streak against the WBC America team again this time.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.