Nat'l baseball team enjoys 4th consecutive scrimmage win in WBC prep
Kim Do-yeong of South Korea celebrates after hitting a home run against the Samsung Lions in a scrimmage ahead of the World Baseball Classic at Kadena Baseball Stadium in Kadena, Japan, Thursday. Yonhap
KADENA, Japan — The national baseball team posted its fourth consecutive scrimmage victory Thursday in its buildup toward next month's World Baseball Classic (WBC).
Managed by Ryu Ji-hyun, South Korea pounded the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) 16-6 at Kadena Baseball Stadium in Kadena, located in the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa.
KT Wiz outfielder Ahn Hyun-min and Kia Tigers infielder Kim Do-yeong launched back-to-back home runs as part of South Korea's 16-hit day.
South Korea will open its WBC action against the Czech Republic next Thursday at Tokyo Dome, the first of four games in Pool C in the Japanese capital. Japan (March 7), Chinese Taipei (March 8) and Australia (March 9) will be up next. The top two teams from the group will advance to the quarterfinals, scheduled to begin in Miami on March 13.
South Korean starter So Hyeong-jun gave up two runs in the opening inning on two hits and a walk, but his teammates rallied for four runs in the bottom second and another run in the bottom fourth.
Then South Korea exploded for 10 runs in the bottom fifth. Moon Hyun-bin and Park Dong-won hit consecutive two-run doubles, and then Ahn launched a grand slam. Kim followed with a solo shot.
Moon's RBI single pushed South Korea's lead to 15-2.
The Lions had a couple of two-run home runs in the top of the eighth inning but still lost by double figures.
After So allowed two runs on six hits in three innings, Hanwha Eagles right-hander Jeong Woo-joo tossed three perfect innings in relief.
South Korea will play its final scrimmage in Okinawa against the Wiz on Friday and then travel to Osaka to prepare for two official pre-WBC tuneup games there -- against the Hanshin Tigers at noon Monday and then the Orix Buffaloes at noon Tuesday, both at Kyocera Dome.
Ryu said he was heartened to see his squad improve with each passing game.
"When a game plays out like today, then the manager doesn't have to do anything," he said. "The whole team is building up nicely, and we will try to keep this up in Osaka and Tokyo."
The manager said he was especially pleased with Kim's home run, which came after he'd grounded out in his first two at-bats and then hit a sharp single earlier in the fifth inning.
Kim was the runaway winner of the 2024 KBO regular-season MVP award after hitting 38 home runs and stealing 40 bases. However, he was only limited to 30 games in 2025, as he suffered three separate hamstring injuries.
Kim's last KBO action came Aug. 7, but he has shown so far this camp that he is fully back healthy.
"The Kim Do-yeong that we all know is back," Ryu gushed about the 22-year-old.
Ryu inserted Kim into the No. 3 spot behind Ahn, the 2025 KBO Rookie of the Year whose combination of power and on-base skills -- he led the KBO with a .448 on-base percentage and ranked third with a .570 slugging percentage in 2025 -- makes him dangerous high up in the lineup.
Makoto Kaneko, bench coach for the Japanese national team, scouted Thursday's game and said Ahn was one of the players he was watching closely.
Ahn homered twice against Japan in an exhibition game at Tokyo Dome last November.
When informed of Kaneko's presence, Ahn cracked, "Maybe I shouldn't have homered today."
"I didn't swing the bat well in earlier at-bats, and he probably took note of those," Ahn added with a smile. "It had been a while since I last got an extra-base hit, and so I need to do better. At least I hit one out today."
Ahn said he was happy with his timing on fastballs but added, "I still need to work on a few more things, but if I can address those, I should be fine in Tokyo."