Young South Koreans Repeat as Junior Baseball Champion
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
South Korea's junior baseball team won its second straight title at the World Junior Baseball Championship with a 7-0 shutout of the United States in the final game, held Sunday in Edmonton, Alberta.
Korean lefty Sung Yung-hoon tossed a seven-hitter with nine strikeouts, while four Korean batters had multi-hit games.
In a preliminary match, the young South Koreans lost 4-3 against the United States.
Topping the 12-nation competition for the second straight year, South Korea won the event for fifth time, tying the United States for the second most championships at the tournament, behind Cuba, which has won 11 of the 23 titles.
Sung, an 18-year-old, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP) after throwing 27 1/3 innings in four games, including three starts, and giving up four earned runs while striking out 36.
South Korea scored a run apiece in the second and third innings of the final, and sealed the win with a four-run fifth, highlighted by An Chi-hong's two-run triple.
In a third-place match earlier the day, Cuba, which lost to the eventual winner 6-1 in the semifinals Saturday, defeated Australia 6-2.