Wednesday Scores & News...

*HS Wood Bat Tourney - Elite 8 Action:
-Nan-Ying defeated Ping-Zhen 4-2. Picking up the CG win was Keng-Hao Chang. In 9 innings, he allowed 2 runs on 5 hits (7 K's, 5 BB's). Teammates: 3B Fu-Lin Kuo was 0-4, DH Wei-Yu Lai was 1-2 with a 2B and 3 RBI, CF Yung-Hsuan Chuang was 3-3 with a SB and a RBI. Ping-Zhen's starter was knocked out after giving up 4 unearned runs over the first 3.1 innings. Reliever Hao-Chun Chiu shut down Nan-Ying's offense over the last 4.2 innings (0 R, 3 H, 5 K's, 0 BB's).

-Shi-Yuan knocked off Chung-Dao from its undefeated perch with a close 1-0 victory. The game featured two of the tourney's top pitchers and they did not disappoint. Po-Chen Chi started for SY and threw 8 shutout innings, picking up the win (0 R, 5 H, 3 K's, 2 BB's). He was clocked in the upper 80's (88 mph). Pitching a CG in a losing effort was Yu-Te He of CDHS. He allowed 1 ER on 7 hits over 9 IP (8 K's, 0 BB's). CD leadoff hitter SS Hung-Hsiang Pan managed 2 of his team's collective 5 hits against Chi.

-Gao-Nong behind a CG shutout and gutty performance by Cheng-Hao Wang (9 IP, 0 R, 9 H, 5 K's, 2 BB's) defeated Qiang-Shu 1-0. Ching-Hung Lee took the loss after allowing 1 unearned run on 5 hits over 7.1 IP (6 K's, 5 BB's). GN 1B Wei-Da Su was 1-2.

-Ku-Pao defeated Mei-Ho 9-2 in 7 innings. After being spotted a 6-run lead, KP starter Kuan-Yu Chen was pulled in his 1 inning of work (3 K's, 0 BB's). Offensively for Ku-Pao: SS Wei-Chen Wang was 2-4 with 2 SB/ 2B Yu-Hsiang Chen was 3-4 with a 2B, 3B, and 2 RBI/1B Chun-Hung Kuo was 2-4 with a 3B and RBI.


*The Lions' top pick from last year, Wei-Hua Lee, has signed with the team after agreeing to a 3 million NT bonus ($89,700 USD). He'll make roughly $3,000 USD/month next year. Lee fared well this past year in the CPBL minors - he was 5-1 with a 1.70 ERA (56 K's in 58.1 IP). The lefty has been clocked at a high of 91 mph.

*More on the HS Wood Bat Tourney - Classic Examples of Overuse:
Despite taking the loss yesterday against Ku-Pao HS, Hua-Lien PE HS RHP Chung-Cheng Chiang was still clocked at a high of 88 mph. Pretty amazing when you consider the fact that he threw 432 pitches over 27.2 innings (5 game appearances) in a 10 day span!
Qiang-Shu's winning starter yesterday, Chi-Hao Yang threw a CG win that required 122 pitches.

*RHP Kai-Wen Cheng is weighing his options right now and may make a decision by next week if he'll play in Japan or the US should he get the right offer.

*The technical college league baseball tourney has kicked off.

*Japan's Meiji University is in Kaoshiung right now. The team will face three local squads: Taiwan Power on the 11th to open the series and finishing on the 14th against the Taiwan Coop Bank.