Haarlem, Netherlands · Saturday, June 27, 2026 · Matt Tallarini, Chief Correspondent
HAARLEM, Netherlands — It came down to a bunt. Chinese Taipei pushed across the winning run on a 10th-inning squeeze to beat Curaçao 3-2 in the international tiebreaker at Pim Mulier Stadion, surviving a two-run Curaçao rally to open the 2026 Honkbalweek Haarlem with a win before 2,050 fans.
And the man who ended it was the same one who started the scoring. Chih-Yu Chen, who had reached base to set up Chinese Taipei’s first runs in the third, dropped a squeeze bunt back to the mound in the bottom of the 10th to plate pinch-runner Tai-Lin Tsai and win it.
Min-Sih Chen Opens the Scoring — and the Tournament
The game was scoreless with two outs in the bottom of the third when Chih-Yu Chen reached on a dropped-fly error by Curaçao left fielder Ericson Leonora. First baseman Min-Sih Chen made it sting, launching a two-run homer to deep left — the first home run of the entire tournament — for a 2-0 lead. Because the rally began on the error, both runs were unearned.
Chinese Taipei starter Li-Meng Hung made them stand up for a while, spinning six scoreless innings on four hits with three strikeouts. When Curaçao finally broke through in the eighth, reliever Ding-Hong Guo gave up the run but slammed the door behind it, snaring a line drive and turning it into a double play to escape further trouble.
Curaçao Claws Back
The visitors wouldn’t go quietly. In the eighth, Donovan Anthonia cut the deficit to one with a solo homer to deep left, 2-1. Then, around a weather delay in the ninth, Curaçao tied it: Raysheandall Michel — a 3-for-4 afternoon — led off with a double down the right-field line, moved to third on a balk, and scored on a single through the left side by Leonora, the same man whose third-inning error had handed Chinese Taipei its runs. 2-2, extra innings.
Curaçao starter Nelmerson Angela deserved a better result. He worked six innings and allowed no earned runs — both Chinese Taipei tallies charged to him were unearned — striking out three. “It was a good game, we battled it out,” Angela said. “I felt good on the mound. Tough loss for us.” He pointed to Anthonia’s homer as the spark: “That home run boost us, gave us more confidence to go to bat and a chance to tie the game.”
The Tiebreaker
With the score level after nine, the game moved to the WBSC tiebreaker, runners placed on base to start the 10th. Curaçao stranded a pair in the top half. In the bottom, Chinese Taipei moved pinch-runner Tai-Lin Tsai to third on a Hsiao-Yun Chen sacrifice bunt, and Chih-Yu Chen finished it, pushing his squeeze back to the pitcher to bring Tsai home for the 3-2 win. Wang Cheng-Hao earned the win with two innings of relief; Siamani Boekhoudt took the loss.
The Path to the Majors
The international thread ran underneath the whole afternoon. Through an interpreter, the Chinese Taipei camp credited the discipline and detail that carried the program to the 2024 WBSC Premier12 title over Japan, and spoke of the inspiration they draw from their countrymen now in the big leagues — a nod to Houston’s Teng Kai-wei and Detroit’s Hao-Yu Lee, who on June 15 became the first Taiwanese pitcher and batter to face each other in a Major League Baseball game. For these players, it is proof the path runs all the way to the top.
A Curaçao Summer
For Curaçao, the loss landed in the middle of an extraordinary stretch for the island. Just months earlier, Andruw Jones — born in Willemstad — became the first Curaçao-born player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and his name was on the lips of players in both dugouts this week. “It means everything,” Angela said of Jones’s election. “When I was a child, I was looking up to Andruw Jones playing on TV for the Braves. Because of him, he made a path for us to play on the bigger stage.”
Chinese Taipei, ranked No. 2 in the world, moves to 1-0. Curaçao, No. 29 in the WBSC rankings, looks to bounce back as the round-robin rolls on toward the July 4 final.
Matt Tallarini is reporting from Haarlem throughout Honkbalweek 2026. Video via Honkbalsoftbal.tv. Schedule, stats and box scores via the Koninklijke Nederlandse Baseball en Softball Bond. For more international baseball, visit worldbaseball.com.
