Huanan Cup Baseball: Jindalu Maibute's Walk-Off Single Sends Taitung to Semifinals

(CNA, Xindian, June 6, by reporter Hsieh Ching-wen) In the Huanan Junior Baseball Championship today, Taitung County, in a loser's bracket rematch against Taipei City, demonstrated resilience. After trailing by three runs, they tied the score in the bottom of the sixth and, thanks to a walk-off single by Jindalu Maibute in the bottom of the seventh, clinched a 4-3 victory to advance to the semifinals.

The loser's bracket final of the 115th Huanan Financial Holdings Cup National Junior Baseball Championship, originally scheduled for yesterday, was postponed to this morning at the Sanchong Baseball Stadium due to rain. Taitung County and Taipei City had previously faced off on the first day of the preliminaries, with Taitung winning 8-6. They met again today in the loser's bracket.

Taipei City scored first in the top of the second inning and added two more runs in the top of the sixth. Trailing 0-3 after the top of the sixth, Taitung County mounted a comeback in the bottom half. Wang Yu-hsiang led off with a single, followed by a double from Chen Te-cheng. A sacrifice fly brought in the first run. Then, with a walk, an infield single by Jindalu Maibute, and a groundout, they scored again. Lai Yu-hao added another single to help the team tie the game.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Taitung County's Lai Pin-jui led off with a single. After successive walks loaded the bases with two outs, Jindalu Maibute became the hero with a walk-off single, clinching the win and advancing the team to the semifinals.

Taitung County's head coach, Ou Hung-chi, stated that this group of players has experience from last year's selection tournaments and is quite stable. He described Jindalu Maibute as a good two-way player who handles pressure well and delivers in clutch moments. Jindalu Maibute had three hits and the game-winning RBI today.

After securing the win, Taitung County is set to face New Taipei City in the semifinals this afternoon. Ou Hung-chi noted, "New Taipei City is a very resilient team. If you let them build momentum, they are hard to stop, so we need to be especially cautious." (Editor: Chang Ming-kun) 1150606