Guro-gu Youth Baseball Team wins the 9th Storm Bae National Youth Baseball Tournament...MVP, Kim Gunho

*This content was translated by AI.

Seoul's Guro-gu Youth Baseball Team (Coach Kim Deok-hwan) won the 9th Storm Bae National Youth Baseball Competition, which begins this season, defeating Gwacheon Youth Baseball Team (Coach Choi Jung-ki) 12-5 to win the cup.

Organized by the Korea Youth Baseball Federation (Chairman Lee Sang-geun), the competition was successful with more than 3,000 participants, including 130 team players and parents, participating at the baseball stadium in Hoengseong-gun, Gangwon-do, for four days on weekends from the 14th to the 22nd.

The tournament was held in a tournament manner and competed for the championship in a total of six categories, including Sprout League (U-9), Dream Tree League (U-11), Youth League (U-13), and Junior League (U-16). Hosted by Storm Baseball and sponsored by Hoengseong-gun, Hoengseong-gun Sports Council, and SOOP. In particular, the two games, including the youth league (U-13) Blue Dragon final, were broadcast live across the country with commentary from small-cap casters and Ahn Kyung-hyun, a former professional baseball legend, through SOOP.

Seoul's Guro-gu Youth Baseball Team, which won the Blue Dragon in the U-13, the strongest youth league, won 6-4 against the Seoul Jungnang Eagles Youth Baseball Team (Coach Kim Sun-woo) in the first game and advanced to the semifinals by beating the Gimpo Youth Baseball Team (Coach Choi Hoon) 9-0 in Gyeonggi Province.

In the semifinal, the highlight of the tournament, he advanced to the final with a dramatic 4-3 come-from-behind victory in the top of the sixth inning with three points, including a come-from-behind RBI double by sixth batter Hwang Ki-moon in the top of the sixth inning, trailing 1-3 against the youth baseball team of Hwimun Academy (manager Park Young-joo).

The final opponent is the youth baseball team in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, led by Choi Jung-ki, a first-year professional baseball member, and has Cho Hee-joon, a "youth baseball Ohtani."

In the top of the third inning, when the score was 1-1, Kim Gun-ho of the Seoul Guro-gu Youth Baseball Team took the lead with a large left-center solo home run, but he immediately allowed Cho Hee-joon to turn the tables 2-3 with a two-run home run following Baek Seung-heon's heavy hit in the counterattack of the youth baseball team in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do, in the bottom of the third inning.

In the top of the fourth inning of the Seoul Guro-gu Youth Baseball Team's attack, which actually decided the championship, with the bases loaded with one out, Lee Ji-an, Song Joon-ho, and Kim Geon-ho's dune, Kim Gar-ram's two-run double to left-center and Lee Woo-seok's one-run heavy hit made a big inning to score a total of six points to win the game 8-3. After that, the two teams exchanged points and finished the game 12-5, and the victory cup of the spring tournament, which marked the start of the season, went to the youth baseball team in Guro-gu, Seoul.

Kim Gun-ho (Seoul Guro-gu Youth Baseball Team), the main character of the 100m mega home run and three consecutive home runs, won the MVP award of the tournament, while Cho Hee-joon (Gyeonggi Gwacheon Youth Baseball Team) and Kim Gar-ram (Seoul Guro-gu Youth Baseball Team) won the best player award, respectively.

Kim Geon-ho, who was honored as MVP, said, "It's my second win in the Youth Blue Dragon League, but it's a happier win than ever. Moreover, it seems to be a more meaningful competition to win the Most Valuable Player Award. "I think I worked harder because it was a youth game that could be the last time I went to middle school," he said. "I'm also grateful to manager Kim Deok-hwan and Andong City Youth Baseball Team manager Lee Young-joo for guiding me to win." As the captain of the national team, I will work harder to become a good baseball player like Lee Jung-hoo, who is recognized at home and abroad, he said.

Kim Deok-hwan, manager of the Guro-gu Youth Baseball Team in Seoul, who won the manager's award, said, "I think it is a great honor to win the youth blue dragon called the 'Flower of Youth Baseball' at the 9th Stormbae, the first competition in 2026. In particular, the wonderful come-from-behind victory in the last inning against the Whimoon Academy Youth Baseball Team in the semifinals was the most valuable moment of the tournament. We were so proud and deeply moved as a coach to see our players unite and turn the game around without giving up until the end. "It was a possible result because there were players who silently overcame difficult winter training during the cold winter and did their best until the end. I would like to thank my parents for their constant support and love, and above all, I would like to thank my wife for her silent support and support by her side. I will not be satisfied with this victory and will do my best to become a good player with not only children's skills but also personality," he said.

Lee Sang-geun, chairman of the Korea Youth Baseball Federation, said, "I would like to thank CEO Jeong Jae-eun for supporting our young players for nine years despite the difficult youth baseball environment, and I will continue to strive as a happy baseball evangelist by keeping my eyes on the players and parents as I have always done this year for a better present than in the past and for happy baseball."

◇ List of winners of the 9th Storm Cup National Youth Baseball Tournament

● Sprout League (U-9) ▲ Winning – Main Bowl Youth Baseball Team, Songpa-gu, Seoul (Coach Lee Hong-gu) ▲ Runner-up – Paju City, Gyeonggi Province (Coach Kim Min-soo) ▲ Best Player Kim Chan-jin (Songpa-gu, Seoul)

● Dream Tree League (U-11) Blue Dragon ▲ Winning – Gyeonggi Whimoon Academy Youth Baseball Team (Coach Park Young-joo) ▲ Runner-up – Namyangju Yanol Youth Baseball Team (Coach Kwon Oh-hyun) ▲ Best Player Son Ah-gang (Coach Whimoon Academy Youth Baseball Team)

● Dream Tree League (U-11) Hyunmoo ▲ Winning – Jangan-gu Youth Baseball Team (Coach Lee Chul-hee) ▲ Runner-up – Seoul Songpa-gu Main Bowl Youth Baseball Team (Coach Lee Hong-gu) ▲ Best Player Kim Do-hwan (Coach Jangan-gu Youth Baseball Team, Suwon)

● Youth League (U-13) Blue Dragon ▲ Winning – Guro-gu Youth Baseball Team, Seoul (Coach Kim Deok-hwan) ▲ Runner-up – Gwacheon City Youth Baseball Team, Gyeonggi-do (Coach Choi Jung-ki) ▲ Best Player Kim Gun-ho (Kuro-gu Youth Baseball Team, Seoul)

● Baekho from the Youth League (U-13) ▲ Winning – Game Slugger Youth Baseball Team (Coach Moon Kyung-wook) ▲ Runner-up – Songpa-gu, Seoul (Coach Yoon Kyu-jin) ▲ Best Player Kim Ha-joon (Playing Slugger Youth Baseball Team)

● Junior League (U-16) ▲ Winning – Gangwon Pyeongchang Bandavis Youth Baseball Team (Coach Kim Min-beom) ▲ Runner-up – Namyangju Yanol Youth Baseball Team (Coach Kwon Oh-hyun) ▲ Best Player Kim Kang-min (Coach Pyeongchang Bandavis Youth Baseball Team)

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

*This content was translated by AI.