By Oh Sang-jin Reporter= Incheon Seogu Youth Baseball Team (head coach Kim Jong-cheol) defeated Gyeonggi Bucheon City Youth Baseball Team (head coach Kang Jeong-min) 7-1 in the final of the ‘2nd Gapyeong County Wanted National Youth Baseball Tournament’ in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, to win its first title in the strongest league, the Youth Cheongryong (U-13) League, 10 years after its inception.
The tournament, organized by the Korea Youth Baseball Federation, was held over five days, including weekends, from September 2 to 11 at five baseball fields, including Gapyeong Baseball Field, with a total of 97 teams and more than 2,000 players and parents participating.
The tournament was sponsored by Gapyeong County, Gapyeong County Sports Association, Africa TV, baseball equipment company DOMINION, Storm Baseball, Finsport, Waniel-Diamond, Wipan (Gold Bat), Crown Bee, and muscle ligament supplement AminoLigen.
The tournament was organized in a tournament format, with teams competing for a total of six championships, including the Sprout League (U-9), Dreamer League (U-11), Youth League (U-13), and Junior League (U-16).
The finals featured an exciting final matchup between Incheon Seo-gu Youth Baseball Club (U-13), which has only finished as runner-up four times in its 10 years of existence, and Gyeongbuk Bucheon City Youth Baseball Club (coached by Kang Jung-min), which reached the final for the first time in its nine years of existence.
Incheon Seogu Youth Baseball conceded the first run in the first inning by allowing hits to Bucheon City Youth Baseball’s Yoo Yi-chan (Mountain School 1) and Kim Tae-yoon (Mountain School 1) on defense, but in the second inning, Na Hyo-min stole second and third base after a wild pitch and scored on a home steal to tie the game at 1-1.
In the bottom of the third inning, Hwang Ha-gyeom’s sacrifice fly and Noh Eun-chan’s double to right-center field put runners on second and third with the opposing pitcher’s balk to take a 2-1 lead, and after a tense pitching battle, the team scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on three hits and two sacrifice flies, including a two-run home run by Jung Wol, the fourth batter, to win the thrilling championship of the U-13 Cheongnyong for the first time in 10 years.
Cho Bae-sung (Incheon Seo-gu Youth Baseball Club, Hae-won Elementary School 6), who led the team to the title with 11 hits, seven RBIs and a .637 slugging percentage at the plate and four wins as a pitcher, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), while Kim Tae-yoon (Bucheon City Youth Baseball Club, Gyeonggi Province, Sansaek Middle School 1) and Na Hyo-min (Incheon Seo-gu Youth Baseball Club, Gahyeon Elementary School 6) were honorable mentions.
Cho Bae-sung (Incheon Seogu Youth Baseball Club, Haewon-cho 6), who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), said, “I’m so happy to get the strikeout in the last inning, and I feel like the hard work we’ve been doing has paid off with the win. I am very honored to receive the Most Valuable Player award and thank my coach for training me so hard. My role model is SSG’s Kim Kwang-hyun, and it’s nice to have a fastball and a changeup that works so well.”
“This is our 10th anniversary,” said Kim Jong-cheol, manager of the Incheon Seogu Youth Baseball Team, who won the tournament’s managerial award. We have won several championships in lower grade leagues such as the Dreamer League, but this is the first time we have won the strongest league, so it is more meaningful. I would like to thank the players for their hard work and dedication in practicing and training, and the parents for their support and encouragement. I will continue to coach the team to become a better team in the future.”먹튀검증
Lee Sang-geun, president of the Korea Youth Baseball Federation, said, “Among the tournaments in the metropolitan area, Gapyeonggunsubae seems to have the best conditions in terms of facilities and geographical location. It seems to be a favorite tournament for players and parents. I would like to thank Gapyeong County Governor Seo Tae-won and Gapyeong County Sports Chairman Ji Young-ki for their support during the five days of the tournament.”