The no. 6 Korea overcame a 6-0 deficit to defeat world no. 12 Dominican Republic, 9-6, and stay in the race for a spot in the Super Round of the 2024 WBSC Premier12 presented by RAXUS.
In the afternoon Group B match at Taipei’s Tianmu Stadium on Saturday, Korea took advantage of a costly defensive mistake to spark a comeback that even the rowdy fans sitting on their bench believed unlikely.
Dominican starting pitcher Franklyn Kilomé cruised through five innings, using just 57 pitches and allowing just one hit.
“This defeat is difficult to accept,” commented Dominican manager César Martín. “Kilome did a wonderful job. He left with a 6-0 lead and would have deserved the victory. We decided that our bullpen could save him the victory. We had our best arms rested. Of course, we made a costly mistake. But I think that resorting to the bullpen was the right decision. I would do it again. Still, it didn’t work out tonight.”
The Dominican Republic outscored Korea 14-9, but the hit count was 13-1 midway through the sixth. From that moment on, Korea had eight hits and the Dominican Republic had one.
“The credit goes to my players,” said Korean manager Joong Il Ryu. “The way they fought and took advantage of all their opportunities to score makes me proud. It was a great victory.”
The Dominican Republic had a chance to score in the top of the first inning. Leadoff batter Ricardo Céspedes reached base despite a diving attempt by Doyeong Kim. Second baseman Alen Hanson bunted for the hit to take him to second, and Chan Kyu Im could only get the force out at second on a hit by Kelvin Gutiérrez. With one out and runners on the corners, Im struck out designated hitter Andretty Cordero with a slow pitch that wasn’t on the table and had Rainer Núñez looking at his fastball.
The Dominicans scored the go-ahead run in the top of the second inning. Arismendy Alcántara opened with a hit. Im walked Luis Mieses and the bases were loaded when Frank Rodríguez also walked. A run was scored when Michael De León grounded into a double play at shortstop. The Korean starter came out of the at-bat when Céspedes flied out to right field after hitting four outs on a two-strike count.
The Dominicans opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning. Rainer Núñez hit a leadoff fumble on the first pitch he saw and right fielder Arismendy Alcántara caught a 2-1 hanging curveball, turning it into a two-run home run.
Hyeongju So took the mound to represent Korea, but was unable to stop the bleeding. He allowed three more hits, including an RBI single by Hanson that extended the lead to 4-0.
Alcantara did it again in the top of the fifth, when he turned right-hander Byeonghyeon Jo’s third pitch into a solo home run to right field.
In the bottom half of the inning, Korea broke up Kilome’s no-hitter with a two-out single by first baseman Sungmun Song.
Hanson drove in the sixth run with the 11th Dominican hit of the night and sent Jo out. Seohyeon Kim took the mound for Korea to close the inning.
Korea cut the lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Héctor Pérez took the mound for the Dominican Republic. He allowed consecutive walks and left the game for Joelys Rodríguez with runners on third, second and one out.
The left-hander brought second baseman Minjae Shin back to the mound with a soft grounder, but he threw the ball wide of the first base plate, allowing two runs. Shin reached third on one play. Korea scored two more runs with consecutive doubles by Bonghyeong Moon and Dongwoon Park.
Korea took control of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Seungyeup Na, who entered the game in place of Doyeong Kim, hit right-hander Robert Corniel with a single to lead off the inning and Dominican manager César Martin called on major league reliever Diego Castillo from the bullpen.
With one out and runners on the corners, Sungmun Song singled through the right side, making the score 6-5. Seong Han Park followed with a two-out triple with two RBIs to give Korea its first lead of the night.
Korea made it 8-6 when Wonjun Choi doubled off the right field wall. Víctor López took the mound for the Dominican Republic. Leadoff batter Changki Hong reached his third pitch and turned it into an RBI single, extending the Korean lead to 9-6.
Yeonghyun Park pitched 1.2 innings for the win.
“I lost a hit when I came into the game in the eighth,” Park, 21, the closer for the KBO’s KT Wiz, said after the game. “We were losing 6-4 and I knew we couldn’t allow any more runs. Fortunately, I managed to get the runner out at first and was able to get out of the inning without allowing a run. My teammates did the rest. They scored five runs in the bottom of the inning. eighth, which gave me the confidence I needed.
“Normally Park doesn’t need to get five outs. I think what he did for the team was extraordinary,” manager Ryu added as a final comment.
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