Chinese-Taipei halfway through mission

Reaching the World Series is just halfway of Team Chinese-Taipei’s true mission: Win the whole thing.

Lee Meng Che’s steady pitching is one of the reasons why Chinese-Taipei is returning to the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Michigan. (Jon Perez)

Chinese-Taipei’s Juniors team will be defending its title in Taylor, Michigan, while the Big leaguers hope to bounce backafter failing in the International Pool play when they return to Easley, South Carolina.

Both Chinese-Taipei squads, represented by Tai Chung City, went undefeated to rule their respective divisions in the recently concluded 2015 Asia Pacific Middle East Junior, Senior, and Big League Regional Baseball Tournament on Saipan.

Chinese-Taipei’s Juniors team won all of its five matches with three of its victories were shutouts against the Philippines, tournament hosts CNMI, and Guam.

“We’re going back home satisfied after again reaching the Junior League World Series. Our hard work and preparation paid off,” said Junior League manager Lan Wen Chueh, who oversees the military-like training of the team with coaches Ko Liang Chung and Lin Yung Sen.

So dominating was the defending ASPAC champ that it tallied a total of 123 runs, while holding its opponents to seven. Hong Kong scored three times against Chinese-Taipei, while Australia had four runs.

Lan said that they plan to play against teams from other counties as part of their continuous preparation of defending their Junior League World Series crown.

“There’s an 80 percent chance of us defending the World Series title. We’re going back to basic training. The players must be reminded on the basics of playing baseball,” added Lan, who sees the Latin Americans as the big threat to their title defense.

Chinese-Taipei, which swept the International Pool, defeated U.S. representatives Oil Belt Little League of Corpus Christi, Texas in last year’s finals, 9-1.

Meanwhile, Big League manager Huang Wu Hsiung said that they would work doubly hard in trying to scout and get information from their opponents.

“You can’t underestimate the other teams. The Big league is more competitive since the players are in the 18 years old age bracket. The competition level is higher,” said Huang through an interpreter.

Chinese-Taipei was also undefeated after six games in the Big League division of the ASPAC and they enjoyed an average winning margin of 11 runs after blanking the CNMI and Guam in the first round.

The Junior League World Series is set from Aug. 16 to 23 at the Heritage Park in Taylor, Michigan, while the Big League World Series is scheduled from July 28 to Aug. 4 at the Easley Recreation Complex in Easley, South Carolina.