2022 Asian Games

The 2022 Asian Games (held in 2023 as they had been delayed a year due to COVID-19) were held in Hangzhou, China in September and October 2023. Competing in the baseball portion were  Japan,  South Korea,  Chinese Taipei,  People's Republic of China,  Philippines,  Hong Kong,  Thailand,  Laos and  Singapore, the latter making its debut. The latter three teams would play in the first round, two of them advancing to the main round with the other six squads. They were the 8th Asian Games to feature baseball as a medal sport.

See 2022 Asian Games (Rosters) for information on players, managers and coaches.

Games

September 26

•  Thailand 4,  Laos 1. Siraphop Nadee allows two hits in six, Kevin Kawin Irwin saves it and RF/P Sakai Phraechai has two hits and two RBI in Thailand's opening win. Mung Chuevakham is the losing pitcher, while Laos's run comes in the 7th when RF Yayua Wa drives in P Soulapixa Khounchaleun.

September 27

•  Laos 8,  Singapore 7. Singapore's debut shows they can compete effectively, as they lead Laos 4-3 after 5 1/2 before falling. 2B/P Hue Thor was a two-way star, fanning eight in seven innings for the win and going 2 for 3 with two walks, four steals, two runs and two RBI. SS Naeem Bin Zahrin has two hits, a run and two RBI for Singapore while Eleazar Jie Xian Ng gets the loss after walking 9 in 5 1/3 IP.

September 28

•  Thailand 17,  Singapore 0. The first round ends with the elimination of Singapore. One one day's rest, Siraphop Nadee throws five hitless innings while his offense benefits from 19 walks. LF Jake Jie Ren Chaisonkram goes 3 for 5 with 3 RBI. Eleazar Jie Xian Ng loses for the second straight day. Singapore's lone hit comes from LF/CF Bin Tan Sabri Mohamed Mikhail Ming.

October 1

•  People's Republic of China 15,  Laos 0. The host knocked out Laos in 5 innings. China used 5 pitchers each ate a inning, and Changlong Su got the win with 2 strikeouts. LF YongKang Kou and DH Bin Wang both drove in 3 runs. OF/P Yayua Wa pitched 4 1/3 innings but allowed 7 runs; he was the best of Laos's four hurlers, though.
•  Japan 6,  Philippines 0. Japan easily beat the Philippines with Makoto Hori's 3 shutout innings and 6 strikeouts. Mizuki Kato relieved him with 2 shutout innings and got the win, while Juan Paulo Macasaet allowed 3 runs in 1/3 of a inning and got the loss. 3B Kazuya Shimokawa was 3-for-5 with 3 RBI.
•  South Korea 10,  Hong Kong 0. The reigning Gold Medalists begin with a two-hitter, their five hurlers fanning 15. Ji-min Choi got the decision and 2B Hye-seong Kim (3 RBI) and CF Ji-hoon Choi both had three hits. Hong Kong's hits come from CF Tsz-Yin Jordan Wen and 2B Hoi-Ting Cheng. Chung-Hei Leung lasts just one inning in the loss.
•  Chinese Taipei 12,  Thailand 1. Taiwan's first two innings were not good while Thailand scored due to CF Hao-Wei Shen's error, but they bounced back soon and Li Lin's three-run shot off Taiwan-grown Suppakorn Lin secured the win. Sheng-Feng Wu is the winning pitcher, while Lin pitched 5 innings but he allowed 10 runs and took the loss. DH Sakai Phraechai drives in CF Joe Daru with the only Thai tally.

October 2

•  People's Republic of China 2,  Philippines 0. Weiyi Wang and Romeo Jasmin Jr. trade goose eggs for five innings, Wang not allowing a hit. China gets to Jasmin in the 6th, then Ningji Li closes it out. CF Pei Liang reaches three of four times up and scores a run.
•  Hong Kong 8,  Thailand 0. Chung-Hei Leung, Chi-Kam Kenneth Chiu and Lai-Him Lam combine on a three-hitter and 2B/SS Hoi-Ting Cheng has four hits and three runs from the leadoff slot. Siraphop Nadee takes the loss, while CF Joe Daru reaches twice to lead what offense Thailand managed.
•  Chinese Taipei 4,  South Korea 0. The defending champs suffer the day's third whitewash, Yu-Min Lin, Ruei-Yang Gu Lin and Chih-Jung Liu combining on a surprise six-hitter. RF An-Ko Lin drives in one run and scores another for the victors. RF Dong-hee Yoon has half the Korean hits, with the loss going to Dong-ju Moon.
•  Japan 18,  Laos 0. The day's last shutout was a five-inning mercy rule no-hitter as Kisho Iwamoto and Yoshiki Fuchigami threw a perfect game, fanning nine of fifteen. 2B/SS Hiroki Nakagawa drove in four. Soulapixa Khounchaleun had the decision for Laos.

October 3

•  Chinese Taipei 15,  Hong Kong 0. LF Chen-Yu Yang drives in four and Po-Wei Lai, Cheng-Hao Wang and Wen-Hui Pan team up on a one-hitter in a six-inning mercy rule win as Taiwan finishes pool play unbeaten. Hong Kong tries eight pitchers, with Ka-Ho Sam Leung getting the loss. SS Hoi-Ting Cheng's single is their only hit.
•  South Korea 17,  Thailand 0. 2B Hye-seong Kim scores three times, RF Dong-hee Yoon has three runs and three RBI and CF Ji-hoon Choi drives in four in an expected romp. Gyun-an Na and Young-kyu Kim strike out 11 in a five-inning mercy rule victory. Phoomwut Wutthikorn is the losing hurler.
•  People's Republic of China 1,  Japan 0. The hosts pull off a stunner, as Xiang Wang and four relievers (Chaoqun Zheng getting the save) combine on a two-hitter to avenge their 8-1 loss at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. CF Pei Liang has two hits and drives in 1B Jie Cao with the only run of the game. Shunya Morita takes the loss while Japan's only hits come from 3B Shoji Kitamura and C Ryo Kinami.
•  Philippines 7,  Laos 0. For the second straight day, all four games end in shutouts. Vladimir Eguia, Raymond Nerosa and Joshua Pineda strike out 12 in a three-hitter. SS Clarence Caasalan reaches four times and drives in two to lead the Filipino offense. 3B/SS Bee Sengsoulin and LF/RF Chinu Va each reach twice for Laos, with the decision going to Mung Chuevakham.

October 5

•  Thailand 6,  Laos 0. Phoomwut Wutthikorn, Sakai Phraechai, Anuchat Chanto and Suepsak Somsuai complete a two-hitter. Veteran C Chanatip Thongbai had two hits and two RBI. Yayua Wa gets the loss, and his catcher Soulapixa Khounchaleun reaches all three times.
•  South Korea 2,  Japan 0. Se-woong Park and Shuichiro Kayo engage in a pitching duel, neither allowing a run until the 6th when 3B Si-hwan Roh hit a sac fly to score 2B Hye-seong Kim. Roh singles in Kim in the 8th as well to double the lead, while Ji-min Choi and Yeong-hyun Park complete South Korea's shutout, the 10th straight of the Games. 3B Shoji Kitamura has two hits for Japan.
•  Philippines 5,  Hong Kong 1. The run of shutouts ends at ten when Hong Kong gets their only run off Junmar Diarao as 1B Chun-Yiu Ryan Cheung drives in DH Tsun-Wai Yung. Romeo Jasmin Jr. gets a four-inning save. 2B Adriane Ros Bernardo scores a pair, likely locking up 5th place for the Philippines. Lai-Him Lam gets the loss as Hong Kong's hurlers walk eight.
•  Chinese Taipei 4,  People's Republic of China 1. The two unbeaten teams square off amidst the frequent political tension between Taiwan and China. One out into the game, RF An-Ko Lin's two-run double off Quan Gan gives them all the runs they need and are the first runs allowed by the hosts after three straight shutouts. Lin winds up reaching four of five times. Hao-Chun Cheng, Po-Yu Chen (W) and Ruei-Yang Gu Lin combine to strike out 15, whereas China's hurlers walk 11. 2B Yun Lu reaches three times for China and scores their lone run. Of the first 19 games in the tournament, the winning team allowed more than one run just one time - the Laos/Singapore matchup in the opening round.

October 6

•  Philippines 11,  Thailand 1. CF Johnhil Carreon finishes a homer short of a cycle and drives in three, while six hurlers shut down Thailand (Kennedy Torres getting the win). PH Yuthai Ryoto's single in the 6th scores Naruephol Muangkasem with Thailand's only run. Siraphop Nadee goes to 2-2 for the Games.
•  South Korea 8,  People's Republic of China 1. DH Baek-ho Kang has three hits, including a homer, and CF Ji-hoon Choi adds three more hits for Korea. Tae-in Won throws six shutout innings to beat Weiyi Wang. 3B Yun Lu drives in CF Pei Liang in the 8th to avoid a shutout.
•  Hong Kong 11,  Laos 0. Hong Kong finishes 6th as Ka-Ho Sam Leung and four relievers blank Laos. C Ho-Yin Benny Tam goes 3-for-3 with two runs and three RBI. P/LF Mung Chuevakham is the losing pitcher, but reaches base all three times at the plate.
•  Japan 2,  Chinese Taipei 0. The last game of the super round is fairly meaningless as the medal games were already set. Taiwan takes its first loss as Kisho Iwamoto and Yoshiki Fuchigami team up on a three-hitter to outduel Yan-Cheng Wang. C Takehiro Tsujino and CF Motoki Mukoyama each have two hits for Japan.

October 7

• Gold Medal Game:  South Korea 2,  Chinese Taipei 0. The pitching duel between the two teams' aces in the first round repeated, and 19-year-old Dong-ju Moon got revenge this time. He pitched 6 shutout innings with 7 strikeouts, only allowing 3 hits - all from Taiwan's leadoff batter, SS Tsung-Che Cheng. Yu-Min Lin also pitched well as he pitched 5 innings with only 2 runs allowed, all in the 2nd inning. Since Shaoxing had a heavy rain at that time, Lin's pitching was influenced and he had a wild pitch after 1B Bo-gyeong Moon's double. 3B Tzu-Hao Lin's nice play saved the run, but SS Ju-won Kim's sacrifice fly gave South Korea the lead. C Hyung-jun Kim singled, LF Seong-yoon Kim doubled and another wild pitch from Lin gave up another run. Taiwan's best chance was in the 9th inning as DH Li Lin and RF An-Ko Lin both singled, but Woo-suk Go forced 1B Nien-Ting Wu to ground into a double play to save the Gold Medal.

• Bronze Medal Game:  Japan 4,  People's Republic of China 3. Japan avenged their earlier loss to China as the hosts just missed out on their first Asian Games medal. It was a close affair as the final score indicates. Makoto Hori gave up three first-inning singles - to C Ning Li, 2B Yun Lu and 1B Jie Cao - to put China ahead. After Ningji Li blanked Japan in the first, the islanders scored a pair in the second as C Takehiro Tsujino walked, DH Toshifumi Kaneko doubled and RF Seifu Suzuki hit a two-run single. The lead didn't last long; with one out in the third, CF Pei Liang singled. An out later, LF YongKang Kou went deep to give China a 3-2 lead. Xiang Wang blanked Japan from the 5th through the 7th, while Mizuki Kato, Junichi Tazawa and Shuichiro Kayo were handcuffing the Chinese batters. Japan then struck in the 8th against Wang. 1B Masashi Maruyama opened with a double. After an out, Ryuga Ihara's pinch-hit single tied it. 41-year-old veteran Changlong Su was summoned but he walked 3B Shoji Kitamura and LF Tatsuhiko Satoh singled to load the bases. Backup C Hisaya Nammoku then hit into an error by SS Jin Yang to put Japan ahead for good. Katsutoshi Satake struck out four of six batters he faced for a two-inning save.

Standings

1.  South Korea
2.  Chinese Taipei
3.  Japan
4.  People's Republic of China
5.  Philippines
6.  Hong Kong
7.  Thailand
8.  Laos
9.  Singapore