South Korea powered its way to an 11-4 rout over Czechia with four home runs in World Baseball Classic Pool C play Thursday night at the Tokyo Dome.
Corner infielders Bo Gyeong Moon and Shay Whitcomb led the way, combining for four hits, three homers, and eight RBI.
Korea struck quickly in the bottom of the first. After two walks and a single loaded the bases, Moon crushed a 428-foot grand slam off Daniel Padysak to give Korea an early 4-0 lead, forcing Padysak out of the game. The blast also gave Korea four grand slams in WBC history, the most of any team.
Czechia threatened in the top of the second when it loaded the bases with two outs, but Max Prejda flew out to left to end the inning. Korea extended its lead to 5-0 when Jahmai Jones grounded into a fielder’s choice that brought home Dong Won Park.
Hyeong Jun So started for Korea and pitched three scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out two en route to the win. Korea added another run in the third as Whitcomb launched a solo home run to make it 6-0.
The Czech offense continued to pressure Korea’s defense and finally broke through in the fifth as Terrin Vavra connected for a three-run homer off Woo Joo Jeong to cut the deficit to 6-3.
But Korea responded immediately in the bottom half when Whitcomb hit his second homer of the game after Moon had been hit by a pitch, pushing the lead to 8-3.
In the seventh, Korea added two more runs as Moon delivered an RBI single, and Hyeseong Kim followed with an RBI groundout to make it 10-3.
Jones delivered the final blow in the eighth, launching Korea’s fourth long ball of the night. Czechia got one back in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Jan Pospisil before Yeong Chan You closed it out with two strikeouts.
Earlier in the day, Australia stunned Chinese Taipei 3-0 in the tournament opener, creating early intrigue in Pool C.
Korea, 1-0, will have an off day tomorrow before facing Japan, Chinese Taipei, and Australia on consecutive days to finish pool play.
Czechia, 0-1, will play Australia and Chinese Taipei next, then get two days off ahead of its final matchup against Japan.
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Photo Courtesy WBSC
