With Sang-woo Cho’s 0-2 fastball that breezed past the United States’ Kyle Martin for the final out of the championship game, South Korea became the first ever champions of the inaugural WBSC Premier12 baseball tournament.

The World Series, ending on November 2 this year, often signifies the unfortunate end of the season for baseball fans. However, for the first time ever, the World Baseball Softball Confederation held the Premier12 tournament. The twelve teams at the tournament represented the twelve different countries from around the world with the highest ranked baseball teams.

Much like famous global tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup for soccer and the ICC World Cup for cricket, the Premier12 tournament format included games within two separate six-team groups that were followed by elimination rounds and a championship match. Group A included Cuba, Chinese Taipei, the Netherlands, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Italy, while Group B consisted of Japan, the United States, the Dominican Republic, South Korea, Venezuela, and Mexico. The games, taking place in host countries Taiwan and Japan, gave the global community the first taste of an international baseball tournament since the World Baseball Classic’s final year in 2013.

Going into the tournament, the favorites and top seeds were Japan and the United States, both of whom were in Group B with a dark horse – 8^th seeded South Korea. In the initial round of group play, South Korea got off to a shaky start, losing to Japan 0-5 on the first day of the tournament, but later managed to right the ship at a final group play record of 3-2, the two losses coming in that same game against Japan and a narrow 2-3 loss to the United States. This record was enough for third in the group, with an undefeated Japanese team in first and a 3-2 United States team, ranked ahead of South Korea by way of a head-to-head tiebreaker between the teams. Meanwhile, in Group A, Canada finished undefeated to claim first place, followed by Cuba and the Netherlands, both of whom were 3-2.

The quarterfinal round followed with the arrival of a classic elimination format, with the top four teams in each group advancing to the playoff. Canada, the champions of Group A, surprisingly lost to a Mexican team that was a mediocre 2-3 in group play. The win resulted after the Mexican offense which had been held to just one run over the first seven innings erased a two run deficit and erupted for three runs to give Mexico a 4-3 victory. The other quarterfinal games unfolded as expected, as they involved Japan, the United States, and South Korea winning against Puerto Rico, the Netherlands, and Cuba, respectively.

In the semifinals, the United States took on Mexico while South Korea went up against the powerhouse Japan. The American pitchers held Mexico to just one run while the offense scored six, punching the United States’ ticket to the championship game of the tournament. In the latter game, Japan jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning; for eight innings, the Japanese pitching staff held the South Korean batsmen to a single hit. It truly looked like Japan would advance to the finals until the underdogs shined on the world stage. The Japanese defense that had so solidly shut the Korean offense down gave way to an offensive deluge in the final inning. In that ninth inning, the South Koreans added five hits, none of which was bigger than Dae-ho Lee’s single; his hit brought two runners home and changed a one-run deficit to a one-run lead for South Korea, stunning a once ecstatic home crowd at Japan’s Tokyo Dome. These four runs would prove enough to edge the Japanese out in a thrilling 4-3 victory and propel South Korea to the finals.

The 3rd place game and the finals brought about shows of absolute dominance for Japan and South Korea, respectively. Japan coasted by México with a 11-1 score for the bronze medal, while Korea drubbed the United States with a score of 8-0 to reach the gold. The United States, despite this dismal finish, managed to win the silver.

The tournament involved a great turnout from fans of all the countries as people dressed and painted in many different colors passionately cheered for their respective countries. Japanese fans were by far the most common group, as much of the tournament took place within Japan. Still, countries like South Korea and Chinese Taipei had sizable fan bases present. South Korea’s fans even went to the length of going to the airport in Seoul, South Korea to greet their returning champions; flocks of fans stormed the team, clamoring for autographs.

Clearly, from the way the fans supported the teams and the level of baseball at the tournament, the WBSC Premier12 will likely grow larger than its start in its inaugural year. Many people still do not know of this tournament, but that will likely change.

David Edward ’17 remarks, “I was not aware that the WBSC Premier12 existed, but as baseball is one of the world’s largest sports. I believe that the tournament will eventually become one of the big sports events that many people watch.”

Meanwhile, Ayesha Gurnani ’16, comments, “The WBSC will most definitely grow in the future, because it has the appeal of spreading a popular sport like baseball across the world.” In the eyes of baseball fans at Ridge, things are looking up for the WBSC Premier12 tournament.

While this tournament by no means garnered the kind of popularity that the Super Bowl or World Cup commands, the inaugural WBSC Premier12 Tournament was truly a success, as it delivered entertaining baseball on an international stage. The tournament will undoubtedly grow in the future.