News Briefs...

*The Asian Little League Championships (12 and under) will kick off tomorrow in Kurashiki, Japan.   Taiwan earned the easier draw as it was grouped with China, Indonesia, and Thailand.   Group B consists of Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Pakistan.
The LL NT will play:
12/24 vs. China
12/25 vs. Thailand
12/26 vs. Indonesia
The top 2 teams from each group will play on the 27th (1 vs. 2 format), with the semifinal winners meeting in the championship game on the 28th.



*Speaking of little league baseball, the Chu-Lo Mountain Cup LL Tourney in Chiayi has a record number of teams participating (120 total with 12 teams coming from other countries - 7 from Japan) this year.   Last year, 117 teams were involved in the tourney.  To help protect young arms, a pitch count restriction will be implemented.



*CPBL News: 
The Elephants have released a total of 9 players from this past season's roster to help make room for some of their new draft picks.

The Bears inked last year's top pick, RHP Chu-Kuan Lee to a 2.5 million NT signing bonus (~$84 K USD).

The President Lions hired new hitting (Terushi Nakajima) & pitching (Makoto Kito) coaches from Japan.






*Amateur lefty Kuan-Yu Chen had a tryout on Tuesday with the Yokohama BayStars.  He topped out at 84 mph.



*RHP Chun-Lin Kuo was clocked at ~92 mph recently in the collegiate tourney (12/22 loss vs. CCU).  Kuo, who currently plays for Taiwan Sports University, was a member of the 2010 world champion junior NT.

A's Offer Rejected?

The Oakland A's were rumored to have offered Shi-Yuan RHP Chun-Lin Kuo $70K.   Kuo was on the 2010 junior NT and is best known for his 18 K's against the Dutch junior NT. 
The supposed offer was rejected. 



*Chien-Ming Wang was clocked in the mid 80's in his instructional league outing.



*Astros farmhand Chia-Jen Lo was clocked at 92 mph in a recent outing.

Taichung City Wins Yu-Shan Cup....

Taichung City defeated Kaohsiung County 5-2 in the championship game of the Yu-Shan Cup.   The team will form the backbone for the junior NT that will represent the country at the 2010 World Junior Championships.  
The team roster is composed primarily of players from Shi-Yuan HS and Gao-Nong HS, headlined by young slugger Chin-De Chang (cleanup hitter, was 2-3 with an RBI in the championship game).   Tourney MVP Hung-Yi Chen started and won the championship game (6 IP, 2 R/1 ER, 3 H, 0 K's, 4 BB's).  
Taoyuan County defeated Taipei County - Banchiao 6-2 in the 3rd place game.

Taichung City Team Roster:* denotes lefty
1)RHP Che-Wei Kao  195 cm/90 kg  16 (Gao-Nong)
2)RHP Chih-Wei Hu  184 cm/85 kg  16 (Shi-Yuan)  - '09 Youth NT/'09 Pony League WS
3)OF Yao-Chieh Pan 180 cm/78 kg  17 (Gao-Nong)
4)IF Ching-Fu Lin 172 cm/74 kg  17 (Shi-Yuan) - '08 Youth NT
5)IF Chin-De Chang 180 cm/88 kg 17 (Gao-Nong)* - '06 Little League NT
6)IF Chun-Kai Liao 176 cm/76 kg  18 (Shi-Yuan) - '08 Youth NT
7)RHP Chun-Han Lin 175 cm/75 kg  17 (Gao-Nong)
8)OF Yao-Tsung Ou  177 cm/70 kg  18 (Gao-Nong)
9)IF Kun-Yu Wen 178 cm/85 kg  17 (Shi-Yuan)* - '09 Youth NT
10)IF Nian-Che Chang-Liao 173 cm/70 kg  18  (Shi-Yuan) - '05 Pony League WS/ '08 Youth NT
11)OF Meng-Chieh Kan  172 cm/80 kg  17  (Shi-Yuan) - '05 Little League Rep/'07 Pony League WS/'08 Youth NT
12)C Ting-Yen Lin  173 cm/75 kg  17  (Shi-Yuan) - '05 Little League Rep/'07 Pony League WS/
13)OF Yu-Chien Lin  176 cm/72 kg  18 (Shi-Yuan)* - '05 Pony League WS/'08 Youth NT
14)RHP Chun-Lin Kuo  175 cm/72 kg   18 (Shi-Yuan) - '08 Youth NT
15)OF Chia-Ching Lin  180 cm/78 kg   18  (Shi-Yuan)* - '05 Pony League WS
16)RHP Ho-An Hsu  180 cm/75 kg  17  (Shi-Yuan)
17)RHP Hung-Yi Chen  180 cm/78 kg  17  (Shi-Yuan)
18)RHP Wei-Ti Weng  182 cm/85 kg  18  (Shi-Yuan) - '08 Youth NT



*MILB:Former Indians farmhand Sung-Wei Tseng has signed with the LA Dodgers.  Tseng was playing earlier this year in the Golden Baseball League and was released prior to to signing with the Dodgers.   He's currently in XST with the Dodgers.



*NPB:LHP Yao-Hsun Yang hit 96 mph on the gun in his last outing.   He hit 94 mph in his appearance today.
The Hanshin Tigers are calling up OF Wei-Chu Lin to the parent club.

Hitting the 148 Mark.....

Ta-Tung Cup:
*Shi-Yuan defeated San-Min 8-3 on Wednesday. Shi-Yuan starter Chun-Lin Kuo hit 148 kph (92 mph) on the radar gun, matching a tourney high alongside San-Hsin RHP Kuo-Hua Lo.
Kuo's line: W, 7 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 5 K's, 3 BB's.

*Hsin-She won 7-1 in Wed.'s other game.