News and Notes....

HS Baseball:
WBT:
*Kao-Yuan won the HS Wood Bat Tourney, winning 2 out of 3 against Ping-Zhen HS.  The championship was Kao-Yuan's first Wood Bat championship (KY HS had won 5 previous tourneys when aluminum bats were still being used).

Kao-Yuan beat Ping-Zhen in game 1 5-2.  Kao-Yuan starter RHP Wei-Chieh Huang didn't become an official roster player until this tourney; he was a non-scholarship/practice squad player previously.

Ping-Zhen won game 2 behind starter LHP Ming-Chieh Lu's 8 K's (1 R, 7.1 IP).

In the third and decisive game, Kao-Yuan came out on top with a 1-0 win over Ping-Zhen.  Kuo-Lin Lo had the game-winning hit while Tzu-Wei Lin preserved the win, closing out the game with 3.1 scoreless innings.  After last summer's spectacular showing in the World Junior Championships, Tzu-Wei Lin has found better success on the mound than at the plate since his return to home from Canada. 


*Ku-Pao beat San-Hsin 3-0 for the bronze medal in the WBT.  San-Hsin ace RHP Kuo-Hua Lo (5 IP- 7 hits) didn't pitch well;   Ku-Pao RHP Chun-Lung Chang pitched well (CG - 12 K's, 0 BB's) but did not show good velocity, stating that he was focusing on his control.  Chang had also been losing weight (from 98kg to 85kg over a period of several months), leading some scouts to attribute that to his drop in velocity (topped out at 138-140 kph in 3rd place game, was previously consistently over 145 kph).

*Nan-Ying defeated Shi-Yuan 3-1 to earn 5th in the tourney.  Nan-Ying RHP Chia-Hao Sung K'd 5 in 3 IP

of relief.   Shi-Yuan starter RHP Chih-Wei Hu 8 IP K'd 5 walked 1 in the loss.

*Hsin-She earned 7th place after a 3-0 win over San-Min.


Elite Cup:
*The tourney kicked off yesterday (23rd) with a record 32 teams participating.  The Elite Cup, based on its single elimination format, will award the champions 500 K NT.

*Nan-Ying eliminated Taichung Gao-Nong 4-2 behind RHP Chia-Hao Sung's CG (5 H, K'd 8).  Sung said that he's tired - he's had 4 CG since late December.


*Ku-Pao won behind RHP Yu-Fan Wen, who became a side-armer not long ago, to move on to the Sweet 16.


*The Atlanta Braves worked out San-Min HS LHP Yi-Hsiang Lin

*The A's are interested in RHP Ren-He Tseng (tops 140 kph) per San-Min HS head coach Che-Sheng Chen.





CPBL:
*The Sinon Bulls are trying not to have any foreign players this year; RHP Chien-Fu Yang turned down

a tryout with Chunichi.

*Bears/Monkeys C Hung-Yu Lin has been working on his ability to throw out baserunners.

*Former NPB'er Sheng-Hsiung Chuang has been working with the Bears/Monkeys pitchers.




MLB/MILB:*Che-Hsuan Lin is scheduled to return to the US on the 31st of this month to attend the Red Sox spring training camp.

*Chia-Jen Lo will report to mini-camp on February 20th.

*The Indians are high on C Chun-Hsiu Chen; he's been in camp since mid-January.







NPB:*Shen-Fu Tsai is on his way to Japan.  Despite not receiving a signing bonus from the Marines, Tsai's contract is incentive laden (his ikusei contract is reported to be worth 2.4 million yen).   He will wear the number 125.

*Giants RHP Kai-Wen Cheng has been practicing at home with the Lions, alongside other overseas ballplayers - Ching-Lung Lo and fellow Nan-Ying alumni: Che-Hsuan Lin, Fu-Lin Kuo, and Yen-Wen Kuo.

*All three Taiwanese Hanshin Tigers players (Wei-Chu Lin, Kai-Wen Cheng, Yi-Chieh Hsiao) are on the team's first team squad for spring training.
 
*The Yokohama Baystar are interested in playing exhibition games in Taiwan.