U18 Baseball wins third straight at Worlds, beats Mexico to advance to Super Round

Hwang Jun-seo and Yeon Jun-won.

The Korea National Under-18 Baseball Team defeated Mexico in their fourth game of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) 스포츠토토 World Youth Baseball Championship 2023.

Korea, coached by Lee Young-bok, came from behind to win 2-1 against Mexico in a preliminary round-robin Group A game in Taichung, Taiwan, on Friday (May 5).

With their third straight win, following a 14-1 victory over the Czech Republic on Wednesday and a 3-0 win over Australia on Thursday, South Korea improved to 3-1 and secured at least third place in the group and a spot in the Super Round, where the top three teams in each group advance.

South Korea's second pitcher of the day, Hwang Jun-seo, pitched 5⅓ innings of one-hit ball, 토토 striking out six to set the stage for the win.

On offense, with runners on first and third with the score tied 1-1 in the sixth inning, Cho Hyun-min laid down a smart squeeze bunt to score the game-winning run.

With a comfortable win under their belt, South Korea will travel to Taipei for the final game of the preliminary round against Puerto Rico on June 6, which was postponed due to rain.

South Korea was placed in Group A alongside Taiwan, Australia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the Czech Republic in the 12-nation tournament.

The top three teams in Group A-B will advance to the Super Round, where their qualifying and Super Round results will be combined to determine the final standings.

Having won the tournament five times in the past (1981-1994-2000-2006-2008), 스포츠토토링크 the Korean national team is looking to reclaim its crown after a 15-year absence.