Seoul: South Korea defeated the Czech Republic 3-0 on Saturday in the first of their two exhibition baseball games scheduled in Seoul. Seven pitchers combined to hold the Czechs to three singles, as South Korea hung on after scoring a couple of early runs before a sellout crowd of 16,100 at Gocheok Sky Dome. The teams will go back at it at 2 p.m. Sunday at the dome.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean team, composed of young up-and-coming stars and established veterans in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), initiated the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Kim Ju-won drew a leadoff walk from Jan Novak and advanced to second on a wild pitch. A flyout pushed Kim to third, and Song Sung-mun drove him home with a single to right field.
In the bottom of the second, South Korea doubled its lead. Han Dong-hee started with a double, followed by a sacrifice bunt from Park Hae-min, moving Han to third. Choi Jae-hoon then hit a fly to shallow center, and Han beat the throw from center fielder Marek Chlup, making it a 2-0 game for the home team.
South Korea faced challenges in maintaining its early momentum, managing just one hit between the third and seventh innings-a third-inning single by Ahn Hyun-min-while failing to capitalize on four walks issued by Czech pitchers during that stretch. Kim Young-woong ended the dry spell with a two-out single in the eighth inning, with his pinch runner, Shin Min-jae, scoring South Korea's third run on Lee Jae-won's double. Lee was then tagged out while trying to take third after a relay throw.
South Korean starter Gwak Been delivered two hitless innings, striking out four of the seven batters he faced, reaching 156 kilometers per hour with his four-seam fastball. Lefty Kim Keon-woo followed with two hitless frames, also striking out four batters. Right-hander Choi Jun-yong struck out the side in the fifth inning.
Willie Escala achieved the Czech Republic's first hit with a single off new pitcher Lee Ho-sung at the start of the sixth, but the South Korean reliever retired the next three batters to keep the Europeans scoreless. Lee Ro-un managed a two-out single in the seventh, before Kim Taek-yeon struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth. Jo Byeong-hyeon pitched a scoreless ninth to secure the win, despite Martin Cervinka and Jan Pospisil making him throw 22 pitches.
These games are part of the K-Baseball Series organized by the KBO. Launched last year, the series offers the national team a chance to compete against other countries during the KBO offseason.