It proved to be a more nerve-wracking qualifier than the hosts initially anticipated, but the reigning Premier12 champions, Chinese Taipei, punched their ticket to the 2026 World Baseball Classic with a 6-3 victory over Spain before a raucous 35,768 fans at the Taipei Dome.
It was a rematch of Friday’s pool play game when Spain ambushed Chinese Taipei with a 12-5 upset. This time around, however, the hosts exacted their revenge, rendering the earlier result meaningless.
Nicaragua clinched its qualification over the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record in pool play, and South Africa was eliminated at 0-3.
Athletics prospect Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang was the starter for Chinese Taipei, while Dominican Ramon Rosso took the mound for Spain.
Po-Hsuan Wang sparked the offense by leading off the game with a single and immediately swiping second to move into scoring position. Later in the inning, captain Chieh-Hsien Chen singled to put runners on the corners.
That set the stage for 2023 World Baseball Classic Pool A MVP Yu Chang, who continued his national team heroics by ripping an RBI double down the left-field line to open the scoring. Nien-Ting Wu followed with an RBI groundout, extending the lead to 2–0.
In the bottom of the first, Spain answered swiftly on a Rusber Estrada RBI single that cut the lead in half. Edison Valerio nearly knotted the score soon after, but right fielder Cheng-Jui Sung saved Chinese Taipei with an inning-ending diving catch.
In the top of the second, Chinese Taipei quickly loaded the bases before Tzu-Wei Lin crushed a fly ball down the right-field line, which was initially ruled a grand slam. The call was overturned upon review, but Lin drew an RBI walk on the very next pitch.
Rosso, who threw 3.1 shutout innings in relief against Chinese Taipei on Friday, recorded just four outs this time, allowing five hits and three earned runs.
Reliever Yuedy Garcia then induced a shallow flyout and caught Yu Chang looking to end the inning. Spain continued to apply pressure in the bottom frame, as Andres Angulo’s sacrifice fly cut the deficit back to one.
Zhuang threw three innings and allowed two runs before being relieved by Wei Chuan Dragons flamethrower Jo-Hsi Hsu.
The score remained 3-2 until the sixth when Wun-Jie Chen led off with a single and stole second. Third baseman Wander Encarnacion then committed back-to-back throwing errors on bunts, bringing in two runs for Chinese Taipei.
In the bottom half, Rusber Estrada delivered a jolt into the Spanish dugout by crushing a 115 mph solo shot to left to make it 5-3.
Hsu departed in the seventh after issuing a one-out walk, and Nippon-Ham Fighters prospect Yi-Lei Sun came in relief. He quickly loaded the bases and fell behind Edison Valerio 3-1, but he rallied to notch two huge strikeouts to protect the Taiwanese lead.
Chinese Taipei added a run in the top of the eighth on a sac fly to extend the lead to 6-3. Sun pitched a scoreless bottom half.
Fubon Guardians closer Jyun-Yue Tseng blew the Spanish hitters away in the ninth, striking out the side to end the game and clinch Chinese Taipei’s spot in the 2026 WBC.
Chinese Taipei once again struggled to cash in on opportunities, going just 3-for-17 with men in scoring position, but Spain also left 11 runners on base. Spain out-hit the hosts, 9-7, but early pitching woes and two untimely errors by Encarnacion in the sixth proved costly.
This is the second consecutive WBC qualifier in which Spain fell short in the final game. Chinese Taipei has never failed to qualify for the tournament.
Colombia, Brazil, China, and Germany will compete in Tucson, Arizona, from March 2 to 6 to determine the final two nations to qualify for the WBC.
