South Korea defeats China 9-2 to reach Asian Games baseball final

By Yoo Jee-ho

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea overcame an early deficit to defeat China 9-2 and reach the baseball gold medal game at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday, now a victory away from its fifth consecutive title.

Starter Choi Min-seok tossed seven innings of one-run ball, and four players picked up at least two hits for South Korea in the teams' second Super Round game at Toyohashi Municipal Baseball Stadium in Toyohashi, some 85 kilometers southeast of Nagoya.

Japan stands in the way in Sunday's final, a chance for South Korea to avenge a 5-0 loss in the opening Super Round game Friday night.

A team made up of stars of the Korea Baseball Organization, South Korea managed just four hits against the Japanese team of amateurs. The bats then woke up Saturday to the tune of 14 hits, after the start of the game was delayed by about an hour due to rain.

Choi allowed an RBI single to Luan Chenchen in the top of the first inning to put South Korea in a 1-0 hole, but South Korea answered with two runs in the bottom first, thanks to a Chinese error.

Kim Ji-chan doubled home a run and then scored on a groundout for a 4-1 South Korean lead.

A single by Kim Ju-won made it a 5-1 game in the bottom sixth, before Kim Do-yeong was hit by a pitch to push in another run.

South Korea tacked on two runs in the seventh and another in the eighth.