Korea U-18 baseball team wins Asian Youth Championship for the first time in 8 years

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jang Hyeon-gu = Korea's U-18 baseball team regained the top spot in the Asian Youth Championship after 8 years.

The national team, led by coach Jeong Yun-jin (Deoksu High School), defeated Japan 2-0 in the final held at Taipei Dome in Taiwan on the 13th, led by a brilliant fight by ace Ha Hyun-seung (Busan High School), who pitched 7 shutouts with 8 strikeouts.

As a result, Korea recorded three wins in the group stage, two wins in the super round, and a victory in the final, creating the legend of winning all six matches and lifting the trophy for the first time in eight years and for the sixth time in total since 2018.

Korea surpassed Japan (5 times) and became the country with the most wins in this competition.

Ha Hyun-seung, who throws a fast ball exceeding 150 km/h and a razor blade slider, is a player who made headlines by rejecting a $3 million offer to join the New York Yankees of the Major League Baseball (MLB) and applying for the 2027 professional baseball KBO League rookie draft to be held on the 21st.

It is highly likely that he will be selected first overall in this draft.

In the first game of the group stage against Chinese Taipei, Ha Hyun-seung led the way to a 2-0 victory with fantastic pitching, allowing only 2 hits and striking out 12 batters in 5⅔ innings.

Then, in the first game of the Super Round against Japan, he took the mound as a relief pitcher and finished off a 3-2 comeback win with perfect pitching with 5 strikeouts in 3 innings.

Ha Hyun-seung returned to the starting lineup in the final match against Japan after two days, and gave up one hit and two walks, but he blocked the Japanese batting line without giving up a single run and earned three wins in this tournament, instantly becoming Korea's next-generation ace.

In Korea, Jang Min-je (Chungam High School), who hit a triple in the second inning, was caught at first and third base, but hit home due to a throwing error by the Japanese catcher, scoring the winning run.

In the 5th inning, with 2 hits and an error, Cho Hee-seong (Yoo Shin High School) hit a timely hit to left-center with one out and runners on second and third base, making it 2-0.

Two runs in a 7-inning game were enough for Ha Hyun-seung to win.

Ha Hyun-seung, who received the only hit of the day after two outs in the sixth inning, remained unwavering and struck out all three batters in the seventh inning, enjoying the joy of conquering the top spot in Asia.