Korea defended their title at the World Junior AAA Baseball Championship in Edmonton, Canada on Sunday, shutting out the USA 7-0 in the final. Cuba finished in third, after beating Australia 6-2. The European Teams Netherlands, Italy, Czech Republic and Russia were ranked ninth to twelfth in the final standings.
Korea’s Yung Hoon Sung struck out nine in a complete game seven-hit shutout to lead his team to the championship. They took the lead in the second period and blew the game wide open in the fifth through four runs. Ju Hyeon Jung and Chihong An each drove in two. Sang Su Kim scored twice and Kun Woo Park went three-for-four. Nolan Fontana had two hits for the Americans. Matthew Purke allowed eight hits, six runs and a walk in four-plus innings to take the loss. He had seven strikeouts.
Cuba scored five runs in the first four periods en route to a 6-2 victory against Australia. J. Camero went three-for-four with two RBI. Yasiel Puig also had three hits and scored three times. Erluis Blanco struck out ten in a complete game victory. Nathan Driesen took the loss after two-plus innings. James Linger hit a solo homerun and scored both runs for the Aussies.
Results August 3:
For Fifth Place:
Taiwan – Canada 11-4, Box score
CAN 100 002 001 4 10 3 TAI 000 351 20X 11 16 2
For Seventh Place:
Mexico – Puerto Rico 2-0, Box score
PUE 000 000 000 0 3 1 MEX 100 000 10X 2 8 1
For Third Place:
Australia – Cuba 2-6, Box score
CUB 211 100 100 6 11 1 AUS 100 010 000 2 8 2
Final:
Korea – USA 7-0, Box score
USA 000 000 000 0 7 1 KOR 011 041 00X 7 12 1
Final Standings:
- Korea
- USA
- Cuba
- Australia
- Taiwan
- Canada
- Mexico
- Puerto Rico
- Netherlands
- Italy
- Czech Republic
- Russia