South Korea forced into late action to secure victory after Great Britain fights back

South Korea 15, Great Britain 5
Amsterdam, Netherlands, September 14

The Great Britain baseball team continued to make its presence felt on the world baseball stage this afternoon with a four-run fightback in the top of the seventh inning which tied the televised ballgame against the World #2, South Korea. Spurred into action, the Koreans hit back with six runs to put the game beyond GB and added a three-run home run in the eighth to help seal a mercy-rule victory in the second round of the Baseball World Cup.

The lop-sided scoreline was a bitter pill for Britain to swallow after battling so hard to get back into the game. The squad may take some comfort from that seventh-inning showing – capped by a 2-RBI double from Sam Wiley – which forced the Olympic Champions to step up their game in the latter stages. It was certainly not as comfortable a victory for the South Koreans as the scoreline suggests.

All in all, it was a frustrating time for GB in a game riddled with errors from both sides. It marked something of a down point on the rollercoaster ride which began on Saturday night with the late, ecstatic confirmation of GB’s qualification for this stage and which reached a peak with the strong performance against the Cuban baseball supremos on Sunday evening. Now the squad has a well-earned day off to recuperate ahead of Wednesday night’s re-match with Nicaragua, one of Britain’s first round opponents.

Promising start

Head Coach Stephan Rapaglia made one change to the lineup personnel from the Cuba game, with centrefielder Alex Malihoudis starting rather than using Evan Romanchuk as a designated hitter. He also jiggled the batting order a little, promoting strong baserunner Chris Falls up to second. Aeden McQueary was handed the ball as starting pitcher.

The game began promisingly for GB as it took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. After Chris Berset had reached on a single, an error and hit batter loaded the bases with two outs. Jason Holowaty then earned a walk from pitcher Hee-Girl Kim to bring in the first run.

In the bottom of the third Eui-Ji Yang singled in the tying run for South Korea followed by Bon-Ki Shin’s 2-RBI double over centrefielder Alex Malihoudis’ head to take a 3-1 lead. When McQueary walked a batter to leave two runners on base in same inning he was replaced by Sam Whitehead who induced a doubleplay groundball to end the inning with no further damage done.

Missed opportunities

Whitehead put in a strong relief performance to keep the game from getting away from GB, allowing no hits and striking out three in the fourth and fifth innings as well as keeping would-be base stealer Hun-Gon Kim pinned to first base in the fourth inning with seven pickoff attempts.

However, poor offensive production was continuing to be an obstacle to GB. Since a five-run inning at the end of the first game against Japan, Britain had only managed to score four more runs over the next three games.

In the top of the sixth GB’s hitters managed to break through Kim’s strong pitching – which had seen him strike out seven in the first four innings – but could not take advantage of getting runners on base. After Brant Ust had singled, Sam Wiley ground into a double play. Berset and McQueary both managed to get on base subsequently but Tom Stack-Babich struck out to end the inning.

Failure to take advantage looked costly when, in the bottom of the sixth, Korea added two runs, taking advantage of an error by third baseman Falls on a throw to first which allowed runners to advance and one to cross the plate. With only one out instead of two, a sacrifice fly could bring in Korea’s fifth run.

GB threatens an upset

But in the top of the seventh Britain’s bats finally got to work with two runners on base and no outs. Matt McGraw singled one in, followed by a perfect sacrifice bunt by Falls which advanced runners McGraw and Holowaty to second and third. Shortstop Ust won a battle with reliever Hyun-June Park to drive in another run and make the score 5-3. Sam Wiley then lofted a two-run double beyond the centrefielder’s glove to tie the game. Other than the five-run ninth inning versus Japan, this was Great Britain’s best offensive inning so far in the competition.

Unfortunately, the excitement was quickly erased as South Korea’s batters stepped it up a gear in the bottom of the inning against new pitcher Stephen Spragg. Young-Hun Cho returned the lead to his side with a run-scoring single which took an nasty hop by second baseman Holowaty.

Spragg loaded the bases with a hit batter and Korea began to knock the ball around with the aid of an error or two, extending its lead run-by-run. Jong-Wook Ko’s huge two-run triple off the centrefield wall made the score 10-5 as Spragg left the game. South Korea had got into a groove while Britain’s hard-working pitching and defence was now looking in need of the impending rest day. The Koreans mopped up through the seventh and eighth, adding five more runs to a somewhat flattering scoreline, including a three-run homer from Hun-Gon Kim.

Box score and play-by-play

Britain’s next game is on Wednesday (Sept 16) at 19:00 CET (18:00 BST) against Nicaragua in Rotterdam.

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