– Last year, no U-23 runners-up were selected
– This year’s U-18 competition selected all countries that advanced to the super round.

The national team produced two best players at the 31st World Youth Baseball Championship, which was marred by the host country’s tricks and WBSC’s neglect.

Kim Taek-yeon (Incheon High School) was selected in the pitcher category, and Sang-jun Lee (Gyeonggi High School) was selected as the BEST 12 in the designated hitter category. The two, who showed outstanding skills in two-hit, performed well as indispensable talents in the national team.

In particular, Kim Taek-yeon’s performance was unrivaled. Kim Taek-yeon, who appeared in 6 games and pitched 16 innings, had 2 wins, undefeated, 1 save, an ERA of 0.88, and a whopping 29 strikeouts. Even though Jang Hyun-seok (LA Dodgers) was excluded due to age restrictions, the majesty of the national team’s right-handed ace was still alive. Those who said that he was seeing the second coming of Oh Seung-hwan (Samsung) by throwing the ball with an expressionless look on the mound showed that they were not wrong at all.

The performance of Lee Sang-jun, who struggled with his batting skills throughout the weekend league but showed good hitting skills on the international stage, cannot be left out. He was selected as one of the best 12 players, participating in all games, recording 7 hits and 4 RBIs in 21 at-bats, and a batting average of 0.333. In this tournament, he alternated as designated hitter and catcher.메이저놀이터

The winning team, Japan, also produced two best 12 players. Pitcher Aoi Higashiona and second baseman Ren Ogata were selected. Both of them are the main players who led Japan to the championship with two-hitters. For Taiwan, Koh Koh-hsien and catcher Meng Chi-hu, who boasted considerable hitting ability throughout this tournament, were selected.

Last year, even though the national team took second place in the U-23 Championship, not a single Best 12 was selected, but this time, it had the distinction of being selected evenly from all countries that advanced to the super round.