Chinese Taipei defeated Cuba 2-1 on Wednesday, placing fifth in
the play-offs at the 22nd Under 21 World Baseball Championships in
the Jose Antonio Huelga Stadium in the Cuban city of Sancti
Spiritus, 355 kms east of Havana.
Cuba's batters connected eight times, three times more than
their rivals, but could not make an impact faced with the
90-mile-an-hour throw of Chinese Taipei's Cheng Kai-Wen, who was in
perfect form for 12 innings.
Chinese Taipei led the game 1-0 until the eighth inning, when
Caribbean newcomer Rangel Rodriguez hit a double, and after
reaching third base ran on to score by accident.
Cuba's team, in their last Championship game, proved unlucky,
but its pitchers had a good performance: most of all opening
pitcher Frank del Valle, who let through only one run in eight
innings.
Cuba had won five games in a row in the group phase of the
contest, but lost to the United States in the knockout phase of the
competition, and so was excluded from the medals competition.
(Xinhua News Agency September?28, 2006)