South Korea Crushes Thailand 18-1 to Reach Asian Games Baseball Super Round

South Korea advanced to the Asian Games baseball Super Round in emphatic fashion Wednesday, defeating Thailand 18-1 and completing the group stage with three consecutive victories.

The four-time defending champions controlled the Group B game from the opening inning at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Baseball Stadium in Okazaki, Japan. South Korea scored three runs in the bottom of the first, beginning with a sacrifice fly from Roh Si-hwan before Moon Bo-gyeong added a two-run home run.

The advantage widened sharply in the second inning when Park Jae-hyun hit a grand slam to make it 7-0. South Korea added three more runs in the third and then broke the game open with an eight-run fourth inning. Park Jun-soon supplied the biggest blow of that frame with the team’s second grand slam of the day.

Thailand scored once in the top of the fifth, ending South Korea’s run of two straight shutouts at the tournament. The game nevertheless ended after five innings under the competition’s mercy rule, which stops play when one team leads by at least 15 runs at that stage. A 10-run margin after seven innings also triggers the rule.

Starter Oh Won-seok gave South Korea four scoreless innings and struck out seven batters, reinforcing the pitching staff’s strong start to the tournament. Manager Ryu Ji-hyun said the team’s first three games had gone almost entirely according to plan and praised the condition of his pitchers. He indicated that the depth of the staff should give him several options during the more compressed Super Round schedule.

South Korea will use Thursday’s off day to assess players and prepare for the next phase. Its Super Round opponents will be the top two teams to emerge from Group A. Those games are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, with the results determining which teams advance to the medal contests.

The gold medal game is scheduled for Sunday at Toyohashi Municipal Baseball Stadium in Toyohashi, Japan. South Korea enters the next phase seeking a fifth consecutive Asian Games baseball title, with an unbeaten record, two grand slams in its latest victory and a pitching staff that has allowed only one run through three group games.