myworldofbaseball

When we reported on the no hitter thrown by Elih Villanueva last week we stated that it was the ninth no hitter thrown in the CPBL. Of those nine no hitters none of them were perfect games. That changed with the perfect game no hitter thrown by the Uni Lions Ryan Verdugo yesterday. He only faced 27 Brothers, striking out eight of them.

To win a no hitter your team has to score runs. That didn’t happen until Kuo Fu-Lin hit a walk off homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Lions a 1-0 win over the Brothers.

The Lions will face the Fubon Guardians in a playoff match with the winner playing the La Miga Monkeys, who won both halves of the CPBL to get a 1-0 advantage in the best of seven series.

For the second consecutive year the La Miga Monkeys have won both halves of the season. It is the first time in CPBL history that a team has won consecutive half-season titles, giving them a 1-0 advantage when the Taiwan Series begins. It also opens up a semi-final five game series between the Uni Lions and the Fubon Guardians, with the winner playing the La Miga Monkeys in a seven game series down 1-0.

Elih Villanueva tossed a no hitter in the Brothers Baseball Club’s 1-0 win over last year’s champions, the La Miga Monkeys. He struck out ten, walked one and hit a batter. It is the ninth no hitter in CPBL history, none of them perfect games.

It was the second no hitter for the Brothers this year. Back in June Nick Addition threw a no hitter against the President Lions despite walking six hitters. The Brothers supported Addition with 11 runs. Catcher Huang Chen-Sheng caught both games to become the first catcher in CPBL history to catch two no hitters.

The Brothers scored their only run in the first inning off Zeke Spruil when he walked Chou Su-Chi with the bases loaded. It was the first CPBL loss for Spruil.

The other no hitters:

July 19, 1991 - Yang Jie-Ren for the Wei Chuan Dragon over the Tigers.

May 21, 1992 - Ravelo Manzanillo for the Brother Elephants over the Dragons

May 8, 1997 - Mark Kiefer for the Sinon Bulls over the Tigers.

March 1, 1998 - Alvin Brown for the Sinon Bulls over the Elephants

May 13, 1999 - Tsao Chun-Yang for the Uni Lions over the Dragons

July 10, 2008 - Pan Wei-Lun for the Uni Lions over the Whales

October 25, 2015 - Pat Misch for the LaMiga Monkeys over the Brothers

June 9 2018 - Nick Addition for the Chinatrust Brothers over the Monkeys.

None of the no hitters has been a perfect game. The above no hitter information courtesy of CPBLstats.com.

The World Baseball and Softball Confederation has come out with their rankings of the top world baseball teams. The rankings go 73 deep but below is the top thirteen. The Top 12 teams are invited to the Premier 12, which is an Olympic Qualifier event.

1. United States (5515 points)

2. Japan (5245)

3. Korea (4534)

4. Cuba (3495)

5. Taiwan (3165)

6. Mexico (2672)

7. Netherlands (2263)

8. Australia (2233)

9. Canada (2142)

10. Puerto Rico (1849)

11. Venezuela (1809)

12. Dominican Republic (1481)

13. Panama (1475)

Japan picked up 146 points on the United States to close the gap on first place. Taiwan earned the most points in 2018. Latvia and the British Virgin Islands sit at the bottom of the rankings with one point each.

The 18 and under World Cup will be played in Gijang, Korea in 2019. The first two qualifiers for that tournament were from Europe, Netherlands and Spain. The Asia qualifiers have finished and the three dragons have advanced.

Korea won the 18 year old qualifiers held in Miyazaki, Japan, defeating Taiwan in the finals 7-5. The game went into extra innings after Taiwan scored a run in the ninth to tie. Japan had to settle for third place after their 14-1 victory over China.

Korea and Japan seem to be leap frogging the 18 and under championships, with Korea winning in 2009 followed by Japan in 2011. Korea took the crown again in 2014 but Japan followed by recapturing the championship in 2016. Taiwan has finished in second place for consecutive tournaments. The last time they won an 18 and under Asian championship was in 2007.

The last time any team other than Korea, Japan or Taiwan has finished in the top two was in 1994 when Australia finished second. That was the first recorded 18 and under championship. Australia now competes in the Oceania region. China, Philippines and Thailand are the teams that fill the fourth spot.

There is some talk of a team from the Australian Baseball League (ABL) joining the China Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan. The first step would be for the ABL team to play in the minor leagues but eventually advance to the major league. It is hoped that negotiations can be completed so that this ABL team can play next year for the 2019 season.

Taiwan has been seeking to add the number of teams to their professional league. Currently they have four teams. Adding one more team would give them an odd number so a sixth team would be ideal to balance the schedule. Another issue to work out is the number of Taiwan players to play on the team and whether the Australian team would have access to Taiwanese players through the draft. Currently three foreigners are allowed to play for each team in the CPBL and for the most part the three players fill the starting rotation.

The ABL has added two foreign teams to their league in the fall. A team from Korea and another from New Zealand will play in the ABL this fall.

Japan shutout Taiwan 6-0 to win the Women’s World Cup in baseball. Ayami Sato gave up six hits in her five innings of work but did not allow Taiwan to score. Akino Tanaka twirled the last two innings to close out the victory. Sato tied for first in wins with three, allowing just one run in her 19 innings of work.

The big bats of Lori Miura and Yuki Kawabata each drove in two runs to lead the Japan offense. Miura led the tournament in RBIs with 12.

In the bronze medal game Canada got some revenge on the United States and beat them 8-5 in 10 innings. Daphnee Gelinas blasted a three run homer in the fifth inning to give Canada a one run lead. Malaika Underwood tied the game with an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh.

Despite being able to place runners on first and second neither team scored for two innings. Canada erupted for five in the tenth inning, Daphnee Gelinas singling up the middle to score the first run of the inning. Ashley Stephenson ripped a two run single to close out the scoring.

The final standings for the tournament:

1) Japan, 2) Taiwan, 3) Canada, 4) United States, 5) Venezuela, 6) Dominican Republic, 7) Australia, Cuba, 9) Puerto Rico, 10) Korea, 11) Hong Kong, 12) Netherlands

South Korea may have earned a spot in the gold medal Asian games. They beat a group of previously undefeated amateur Japanese players with a barrage of three homeruns to take the game 5-1. Kim Ha-Seong hit the first solo shot in the third inning to give South Korea a 1-0 lead. The games are being played in Indonesia and Kim and a few other players from South Korea have come down with the stomach flu.

Two hitters later ex-Twin Park Byung-Ho went deep with his solo shot to up the score to 2-0. It was his second homer of the games. Ex-Giant Hwang Jae-gyun went deep with a solo blast in the fourth inning, his fourth homer of the games.

If Korea can beat China they could find themselves in the gold. Taiwan still needs to play Japan and a Japanese win over Taiwan could throw the Super Round into a three way tie for first. Korea is playing with all professional players from the KBO. Taiwan is player with eight players from the CPBL with the rest amateurs. The Japanese are playing with all amateurs. Taiwan had beaten Korea earlier 2-1 in pool play.

The United States won their game to stay alive, but Taiwan beat Canada to earn their trip to the gold, busting the hearts of the American girls. The United States will have to be satisfied with a bronze medal match against Canada.

Taiwan 6 Canada 4

Both teams erupted for seven runs in the first inning. When the dust settled Canada had a 4-3 advantage. Amanda Asay had the big hit for Canada with a two run double. Canada collected four of their nine hits in the first frame. Taiwan loaded the bases with one out in the second inning but failed to score. They scored a run in the third after a Canadian error to tie the game. Shih-Yun Lee rapped a single to break a 4-4 tie. Taiwan added another insurance run in the inning and held Canada scoreless after the first inning to come away with the victory.

Taiwan loaded the bases again in the fourth but could not score and put two runners on in both the fifth and sixth innings and again failed to score. They ended the day stranding 14 runners in only six innings, four less than the maximum. Chiao-Yun Huang recovered after a disastrous first inning and went the full seven innings to get the win.

United States 8 Dominican Republic 1

The United States scored six runs in the opening frame to glide to their win. All six runs were scored after two were out. The United States collected four of their seven hits in the first inning and had back to back to back hit batters to circle the bases. The Dominican Republic pitchers drilled six batters in the game. The United States countered with only one hit batsman. Kelsie Whitmore gave up an unearned run in the first inning but went four to get the win.

Japan 10 Venezuela 0

A game Japan did not have to win but they won with ease. Ririka Tabata drove in four runs to lead the Japanese offense. Japan used four different pitchers to prevent Venezuela from scoring, limiting the innings pitched so players could be available for the gold medal game.

Japan has clinched a spot in the Gold bracket with their win over Taiwan. The United States has to hope that Canada can beat Taiwan and the United States must still beat the Dominican Republic to send second place into a three way tie. The goal to break the three way tie is to win by as many runs as possible.

United States 5 Canada 1

Jade Gortarez got things started for the United States in the second inning with a booming three run homer to left field to erase an early 1-0 Canada lead. Megan Baltzell led off the top of the third with a blast over the centerfield wall to make it 4-1. The United States added another run in the third and from there cruised to a win, giving Canada their second loss in the Super Round.

Martina Sementelli gave up a run in the first but then shut down the Canadian bats for five innings. Megan Meidlinger closed out the ninth allowing one hit. In the last six innings Canada could only get one runner as far as second base.

Japan 2 Taiwan 1

In a game to clinch a gold medal appearance Japan squeaked out a victory. Chihiro Funakoshi drove in both runs with a single in the third to erase an early 1-0 Taiwan advantage. Asaka Tsuru tossed four innings of shutout relief to secure the win.

Taiwan scored their lone run in the second when Yu-Ying Hsieh tripled to drive in a run. Hsieh later tried to steal home and was caught stealing. Taiwan loaded the bases in the top of the third but failed to score. They also put two runners on in the top of the seventh but squandered that opportunity as well.

Venezuela 12 Dominican Republic 2

In a battle of the winless Venezuela prevailed. Back to back five run innings in the second and third put the game out of reach. Freymar Suniaga drove in four runs for Venezuela. The 8th and 9th hitters in the order Yohelis Colina and Esquia Rengel each drove in three runs.