[Photo Credit to Pixabay]

South Korea was eliminated in the first round of the 2023 WBC (World Baseball Classic); however, among the five countries in Pool B, Japan and Australia with four wins, and three wins and one loss respectively, was able to reach the quarterfinals. 

WBC, the World Baseball Classic, is “an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with MLB (Major League Baseball)” with 20 countries as participants. 

For the 2023 WBC, 20 countries were divided into four different pools, and South Korea, Japan, Australia, China, and Czech Republic were placed in Pool B. 

The matches for the first round for Pool B were held in the Tokyo Dome in Japan. 

KangChul Lee, current manager of Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) team KT Wiz, was nominated as the manager for the national team.

The team was mostly consisted of skilled and renowned KBO players such as KwangHyun Kim (pitcher from SSG Landers), HyeongJun So (pitcher from KT Wiz), WooSuk Go (pitcher from LG Twins), TaeIn Won (pitcher from Samsung Lions), JungHoo Lee (outfielder from Kiwoom Heros), ByungHo Park (infielder from KT Wiz), and Jeong Choi (infielder from SSG Landers),

Due to WBC’s distinctive rules on the eligibility of the players for this competition, Thomas Hyunsu Edman (Tommy Edman), whose mother is Korean, from St. Louis Cardinals joined the Korean national team, making him the first foreigner to join the country’s national baseball team. 

Including Thomas Hyunsu Edman (infielder), two more MLB players were included in the country’s 30-man roster: HaSeong Kim (infielder) from San Diego Padres and JiMan Choi (infielder) from Pittsburg Pirates.

However, due to the club’s medical objection, JiMan Choi was dropped and replaced by JiHoon Choi (outfielder) from SSG Landers. 

Prior to the commencement of the official games, the team had some friendly matches against two Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) teams: Orix Buffaloes and Hanshin Tigers. 

In the first friendly match, which was held on Monday, March 6th, the team lost against Orix Buffaloes by 2-4. 

However, they were able to secure a win against Hanshin Tigers by 7-4 for the second friendly match held on Tuesday, March 7th.

The country’s first game, which she lost by 7-8, was against Australia on Thursday, March 9th.

The first game against Australia was crucial for the country to advance to the quarterfinals as it would have lessened the team’s burden for the future matches and increased the possibility to be placed in the second place in the Pool B. 

The second game was against Japan on Friday, March 10th, which the country lost by 4-13. 

Since the team lost two games in a row, the possibility to move on to the second round, quarterfinals, was reduced. 

However, if Korea won against the Czech Republic and the Czech Republic won Australia, the chance increases. 

Although the team won against the Czech Republic by 7-3 on Sunday, March 12th, the Czech Republic lost against Australia by 3-8, eliminating the team in the first round. 

In addition, at its last game, the team broke the WBC run record by scoring 22-2 against China on Monday, March 13th. 

Due to the tournament’s rule on called games, the game ended after five innings.

Furthermore, Shohei Ohtani being the MVP, Japan won the championship for the 2023 WBC by defeating the United States in the final match on Tuesday, March 21st by the score of 3 to 2. 

With a three-year gap, the next WBC will be in 2026.