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The semifinal matchups for the 2026 Ulsan-KBO Fall League championship have been determined. Long Beach Coast, which came from a U.S. independent league, secured first place in the preliminary round without a single loss. The Ulsan Whales, the first citizen-owned club in KBO history that topped the Futures League Southern Division in its inaugural season, also aims for the title. The LG Twins and KIA Tigers step up to try to stop them.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced the confirmed semifinal matchups for the 2026 Ulsan-KBO Fall League on the 29th. With all preliminary schedules completed on the 28th, Long Beach finished first with 8 wins and 2 draws (winning percentage 1.000), while Ulsan took second place with 5 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss. KIA and LG followed in third and fourth place, respectively, securing their spots in the semifinals.
The semifinals will be held at Ulsan Munsu Baseball Stadium on the 30th. Long Beach will face LG at 12:00 p.m., and Ulsan will battle KIA for a spot in the final at 6:00 p.m. The winners of both games will clash for the championship at the same venue at 2:00 p.m. on the 31st.
Long Beach is the team drawing the most attention. Participating in the tournament for the first time this year, Long Beach did not lose a single game in its 10 preliminary matches. In particular, a solid pitching staff with a team ERA of 1.50 led their undefeated streak. Long Beach is a club affiliated with the Pioneer Baseball League, a partner league of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States. It was the only overseas participating team to advance to the semifinals. They also relied on strong pitching prowess during the preliminary round. On the 19th, they recorded a 5-0 complete game victory over KIA, and on the 22nd, they beat Samsung 10-1. On the 23rd, they defeated LG 7-1, having already experienced a decisive win by a margin of six runs once before.
LG, facing them, succeeded in a late-preliminary surge. They crushed the domestic independent league all-stars 13-2 on the 21st and defeated NC 6-3 on the 27th. On the final day, the 28th, they beat the Japanese independent league select team 6-0 to secure their spot in the semifinals. In the rematch against Long Beach, the key will be how much they can attack the opposing pitching staff. Having already experienced a decisive loss once, they must reproduce the offensive power shown in the preliminary round to increase their chances of advancing to the final.
In the other semifinal, Ulsan will face KIA. Ulsan is the first citizen-owned club in Korea to participate in the KBO Futures League this year. Under the command of Manager Jang Won-jin (57), they caused a sensation by taking first place in the Southern Division from their inaugural season. In September, they also advanced to the Futures League championship series. Although they fell short of the title, finishing as runner-up after losing 3-8 to the Northern Division champion Sangmu, it was an achievement accomplished by players who gathered to seize another opportunity on the professional stage.
Ulsan has shown competitiveness in this Fall League as well. They won the opening game against LG 5-3 on the 15th, and demonstrated strength in close games with victories over Lotte 2-1, Samsung 3-0, and the Japanese independent league select team 3-2. In particular, in the opening game against LG, Ye Jin-won’s go-ahead two-run double and Kim Seo-won’s RBI hit became the foundation for victory. Although they conceded first in the top of the first inning, they scored four runs in the bottom of the first to take the lead, and added more runs in the bottom of the fourth to secure the win.
The semifinal against KIA is also a chance for Ulsan to seek revenge. This is because they suffered a heavy 4-12 loss to KIA in their preliminary matchup on the 21st. Leading the charge is foreign catcher Alex Hall, who earned the Southern Division RBI title with 70 RBIs. Hall is the first individual title winner in the history of the Ulsan club.
KIA advanced to the semifinals in this tournament by leveraging their offensive power. They defeated the domestic independent league all-stars 13-12 in a slugfest on the 18th, beat Ulsan 12-4 on the 21st, and won against China’s Jiangsu Hughes House 11-5 on the 23rd. On the final day of the preliminary round, the 28th, they secured third place with a 7-3 comeback victory over Samsung. They survived an intense standings battle where five KBO-affiliated teams faced off with a .500 winning percentage.
Now in its third year, the Ulsan-KBO Fall League is an international educational league established to provide real-game opportunities for promising players both domestically and abroad after the regular season ends. Its purpose is to help player development by allowing them to experience different baseball environments and game management styles. This year, a total of 12 teams participated, including eight domestic teams and four overseas teams.
Domestically, LG, Samsung, NC, Lotte, KIA, Goyang Heroes, Ulsan, and the independent league all-stars competed. Overseas, Long Beach, along with Melbourne from Australia, the Japanese independent league select team, and Jiangsu from China, participated.
KBO clubs can register up to seven players separately, regardless of their affiliated team or nationality, and 2027 rookies drafted in last September’s rookie draft are also eligible to participate. In last year’s tournament, NC’s Shin Jae-in drew attention by winning the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award before his professional debut. The winning team will receive a prize money of 20 million won and a trophy, while the runner-up team will receive 10 million won and a trophy.
The Long Beach-LG semifinal at 12:00 p.m. on the 30th will be broadcast live on KBSN SPORTS, and the Ulsan-KIA semifinal at 6:00 p.m. will be aired on KBS Life. The final at 2:00 p.m. on the 31st will be broadcast on KBS Life, and all three games can also be viewed on the official KBO YouTube channel.
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*This content was translated by AI.View Original
