2023 Asia Professional Baseball Championship

The 2023 Asia Professional Baseball Championship was the second Asia Professional Baseball Championship held in Tokyo Dome, Japan in November 2023. Competing in the baseball portion were  Japan,  South Korea,  Chinese Taipei and  Australia. Participating players needed to be under 24 or to have less than three years of professional experience to compete in this event.

See 2023 Asia Professional Baseball Championship (Rosters) for information on players, managers and coaches.

Games

November 17

at the Tokyo Dome
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Australia	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	7	3
South Korea	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	3	8	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Hai-Young Jung (1-0), Loss: Daniel McGrath (0-1)
Home Runs
Alex Hall (1)
Umpires
HP: Tetsuo Yamaji (JPN); 1B: Chun-Hung Wang (TPE); 2B: Shinichiro Hara (JPN); 3B: Chan-Jung Chang (TPE)
Time of Game: 3:45 Attendance: 3,348

Korea's starter, 20-year-old Dong-ju Moon faced a control problem as he walked Liam Spence and Rixon Wingrove in the 1st inning, then Clayton Campbell's hit gave the Australians the lead. Moon used his high fastball to strike out Christopher Burke to escape the jam. Korea soon answered back: Hyun-Bin Moon reached base on 2B Jesse Williams's error, and Seung-Yeup Na drew a walk. Catcher Hyun-Jun Kim tied it up with a single, and Ju-Won Kim collected another walk. Australia's starter Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis retired the next batter, but he used too many pitches, so he was removed soon. Both sides didn't score in the next two innings, during which Williams committed another two errors, and he was replaced by Luke Smith. Australia finally broke through Moon with last year's ABL MVP Alex Hall in the 6th inning, as he blasted the first homer of this event.

The Australians had another chance to extended their lead in the 7th inning. Spence hit a leadoff infield single, then former MLB player Aaron Whitefield and Wingrove both drew a walk. With the bases loaded, Ji-Min Choi forced Hall to hit an infield fly, then retired Campbell to hold it to a one-run game. Korea tied the game again in the 8th inning, Do-Yeong Kim hit a leadoff double, and Ju-Won Kim hit a clutch single. Korea's Seung-Yong Choi walked two batters in the 9th inning, but he then struck out Wingrove, and Hall also struck out against Hai-Young Jung asAustralia failed to take the lead. In the tiebreaker, Jung extended his good performance; he struck out Campbell and forced Burke to ground into a double play. This year's KBO homer leader Si-hwan Roh then ended this game with a walk-off single in the bottom of the inning.

at the Tokyo Dome
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	4	10	0
Chinese Taipei	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Hakura Nemeto (1-0), Loss: Ruei-Yang Gu Lin (0-1)
Home Runs
Shota Morishita (1)
Umpires
HP: Paul Latta (AUS); 1B: Dong-gyun Moon (KOR); 2B: Ben Nash (AUS); 3B: Jong-kook Kim (KOR)
Time of Game: 3:15 Attendance: 24,288

Taiwan's Ruei-Yang Gu Lin dominated the Japan, and brought a perfect game into the 6th inning. Yuji Akahosi also pitched well, only allowing a pair of singles to Tien-Hsin Kuo and Chieh-Hsien Chen in his 4 2/3 innings pitched. Makoto Kadowaki broke Gu Lin's perfect game in the 6th inning with a double, but the pitcher then retired Yuto Akihiro to end this inning. In the 7th inning, this year's Nippon Series hero, Shota Morishita, finally broke through Gu Lin with a solo shot, and Gu Lin was replaced by Chih-Hsuan Wang. Kai-Wei Lin relieved him in the next inning, and he allowed two singles to Chusei Mannami and Kadowaki. Lin forced Akihiro to hit a infield fly, and retired Yuki Okabayashi to keep it a one-run game.

Jyun-Yueh Tseng pitched for Taiwan in the 9th inning, and he had announced that he would became a foreign free agent after this season; several NPB teams was interested in him. However, he struggled in this game. He retired Kaito Kozono, but allowed three straight singles to Morishita, Shugo Maki and Teruaki Sato. Chieh-Sen Ma's diving play saved a hit by Mannami, but Japan still scored. Tseng then gave up another run with Shogo Sakakura's single, and rookie southpaw Po-Ching Chen relieved him. Chen allowed another run on Kadowaki's single, and he finally ended the inning by retiring Okabayashi. Yakult's closer, Kazuto Taguchi, closed the door for Japan despite walking Kuo in the 9th inning.

November 18

at the Tokyo Dome
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Chinese Taipei	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	6	9	0
Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Pitchers of Record
Win: Chun-Wei Chiu (1-0), Loss: Daniel McGrath (0-2)
Home Runs
Ching-Kai Lin (1)
Umpires
HP: Moon (KOR); 1B: Hara (JPN); 2B: Kim (KOR); 3B: Yamaji (JPN)
Time of Game: 3:11 Attendance: 3,523

This game became a pitcher's competition. CPBL rookie of the year candidate Ke-Yi Chen dominated the Australians with his fine curve, pitching seven shutout innings with only two singles allowed. The Australians only reached second base when Rixon Wingrove drew a walk, after which Liam Spence singled in the 1st inning, and Chen soon forced Alex Hall to ground into a double play. Taiwan had many hits, but they were scattered, so they also couldn't score any runs. Australia's reliever Will Sherriff allowed two singles to Chieh-Hsien Chen and Chi-Hung Liu in the 8th inning, but Cheng-Hua Yueh grounded out, then pinch-hitter Chieh-Sen Ma was retired by Dylan Clarke. Both teams were silent in the regular nine innings, and the Australians needed to play a tiebreak for the second straight game.

Two runners were placed on base in the tiebreaker, and Daniel McGrath was on the mound again. He had thrown 44 pitches in the previous day's game, without any rest. It did not seem like a wise choice, and Taiwan soon proved it. Chih-Cheng Chiu bunted, but McGrath threw too high to first, and everyone was safe. Chieh-Hsien Chen then drove in two runs for Taiwan with a double. McGrath retired Liu but plunked Yueh. The next batter was Ching-Kai Lin who only had one homer in the regular season, and he crushed the first homer for Taiwan in this event. It was a grand slam which destroyed the Australians remaining chances. Chun-Wei Chiu closed the door for Taiwan, and the Australians were eliminated.

at the Tokyo Dome
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
South Korea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	0
Japan	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Chihiro Sumida (1-0), Loss: Eui-lee Lee (0-1), Save: Kazuto Taguchi (1)
Home Runs
Chusei Mannami (1), Whee-Jip Kim (1)
Umpires
HP: Wang (TPE); 1B: Nash (AUS); 2B: Chang (TPE); 3B: Latta (AUS)
Time of Game: 2:43 Attendance: 35,223

Korea's starter was a Blake Snell-like southpaw in Eui-lee Lee, and he quickly walked Yuki Okabayashi. Okabayashi was soon caught stealing, and it was very clutch because Lee then allowed three straight singles to Kaito Kozono, Shota Morishita and Shugo Maki. With the bases loaded, Lee struck out Teruaki Sato, then retired Mannami to escape the jam. Japan had another chance to score when Okabayashi drew a leadoff walk in the 3rd inning. Lee then allowed a single to Kozono and walked Morishita. Although Maki grounded into a double play, Japan still took the lead. Lee then struck out Sato again.

On the other hand, Japan's Chihiro Sumida pitched very well. He remained perfect in the first three innings, and Hye-seong Kim's single broke his perfect game. He allowed another single to Si-hwan Roh, then retired Hyun-bin Moon. That was the only time that South Korea reached scoring position in Sumida's seven innings pitched. Chusei Mannami blasted a solo shot off Lee in the 4th inning to extend Japan's lead to two runs, and both teams were silent until the 8th inning. Sumida was replaced by side-armer Rikuto Yokoyama, and he soon walked Ji-hoon Choi. Hye-seong Kim added a single, but Yokoyama struck out Do-yeong Kim and retired Dong-hee Yoon. Kazuto Taguchi tried to end the game for Japan again in the 9th inning, but pinch-hitter Whee-jip Kim's solo shot prevented Korea from being shut out. Taguchi still struck out Ju-Won Kim, and Japan advanced to the Gold Medal game.

November 19

at the Tokyo Dome
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Japan	1	0	2	1	0	1	3	2	X	10	13	0
Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	0	1	3
Pitchers of Record
Win: Takahisa Hayakawa (1-0), Loss: Jack Bushell (0-1)
Home Runs
None
Umpires
HP: Kim (KOR); 1B: Chang (TPE); 2B: Moon (KOR); 3B: Wang (TPE)
Time of Game: 3:06 Attendance: 37,221

This game was a dead rubber for both sides, so the Australians used 18-year-old Jack Bushell as their starter. As expected, Japan scored first when Kyota Fujiwara hit a leadoff infield single, Yuki Okabayashi walked and Kaito Kozono hit a RBI single. Kozono was then caught stealing second, and Bushell struck out Chusei Mannami and Teruaki Sato. Bushell completed his work as he pitched two innings, and Kieren Hall relieved him in the 3rd inning. Japan didn't stop its scoring path, as Okabayashi hit an infield single, Kozono added another single and Mannami sent them home with a triple. Hall still couldn't deal with Japan's batters, and his teammates' defense also didn't help him. Makoto Kadowaki hit an infield single, Hall walked Fujiwara, and Okabayashi collected his second infield single. With the bases loaded, Hall walked Kozono to extend Japan's lead to four runs, and he finally made Mannami ground into a double play.

On the other hand, Japan's starter Takahisa Hayakawa completed five perfect innings with seven strikeouts, and Kojiro Yoshimura relieved him to bring it to the 7th inning. Japan added three runs in that inning. Teruaki Sato reached on an error, Tomoya Noguchi drew a walk, Yuki Nomura added a hit and Fujiwara collected his third hit of the night, giving him two RBI. Pinch-hitter Kota Ishibashi's single helped Nomura score, and Kozono was retired. When Yoshimura was replaced by Shunsuke Sato, Australia finally prevented a perfect game when Rixon Wingrove drew a walk. Sato then walked Alex Hall, and Clayton Campbell's hit broke up the no-hitter; Sato then retired Luke Smith to end the inning. Australia committed its third error of the night in the 8th inning, then their pitcher walked Yuto Akihiro. Nomura's two-RBI single gave Japan its tenth run, and Matthew Beattie was sent to the mound. He walked Kadowaki and Fujiwara but struck out Ishibashi to escape the jam. Tatsuya Shimizu struck out two in the 8th inning, and Japan won over Australia when the mercy rule was invoked after eight innings.

at the Tokyo Dome
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chinese Taipei	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	2
South Korea	1	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	x	6	10	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Tae-in Won (1-0), Loss: Yen-Cheng Wang (0-1)
Home Runs
Chi-Hung Liu (1)
Umpires
HP: Hara (JPN); 1B: Latta (AUS); 2B: Yamaji (JPN); 3B: Nash (AUS)
Time of Game: 3:29 Attendance: 9,603

The last game of the first round was a traditional East Asia rivalry, and whoever won this game would advance to the Gold Medal game, so the stakes were high. However, Taiwan's Yen-Cheng Wang faced a serious command problem, as he walked Korea's first two batters Hye-seong Kim and Do-yeong Kim. RF Cheng-Hua Yueh's nice throw prevented Kim from advancing to third on Dong-hee Yoon's fly ball, but Wang then sent him to third with a pick-off error. Korea's cleanup hitter, Si-hwan Roh, gave Korea the lead with an RBI single, and Wang walked his third batter of the 1st inning. He finally forced catcher Hyung-jun Kim to ground into a double play to escape the jam with only a 1-0 deficit.

However, the Koreans destroyed Wang in the 2nd inning. Ju-Won Kim hit a leadoff single, and Seung-kyu Park bunted. Catcher Pei-Feng Dai threw too high to second, and both runners were safe. Ji-hoon Choi tried to bunt again, but he hit it too short, and Dai threw to third and got Kim there. Korea still scored twice with Hye-seong Kim and Do-yeong Kim's back-to-back RBI singles, so Wang was finally replaced by Kuo-Hao Chiang. Chiang was also unable to stop Korea's batters, as he walked Yoon, and Whee-jip Kim's double extended Korea's lead to six runs.

Taiwan didn't give up. Their cleanup hitter, Chi-Hung Liu, blasted a solo shot off Tae-in Won in the 4th inning, but this would be Won's only run allowed in this event. Korea added an insurance run with Hyung-jun Kim and Ju-won Kim, then Chih-Hsuan Wang came in to pitch. He walked Hyun-bin Moon, but retired Choi and made Hye-seong Kim ground into a double play. Tzu-Chiang Lee allowed another double to Yoon and walked Whee-jip Kim, but Hyung-jun Kim then flied out. Both sides were silent late in the game, and Korea advanced to the Gold Medal game with the 6-1 win.

Bronze Medal Game

at the Tokyo Dome
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Australia	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	3	7	1
Chinese Taipei	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	7	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Chao-En Lin (1-0), Loss: Coen Wynne (0-2)
Home Runs
None
Umpires
HP: Yamaji (JPN); 1B: Kim (KOR); 2B: Hara (JPN); 3B: Moon (KOR)
Time of Game: 2:56 Attendance: 7,722

Taiwan had used its scheduled starter of this Game Chiang in its last game, so Chun-Wei Chiu got to pitch against Australia. He pitched three shutout innings, and Taiwan scored first thanks to Australia's terrible defense. Tzu-Ting Yeh hit a grounder to the pitcher; Coen Wynne first kicked it and then was unable to find where the ball was, and it became an infield single. Tien-Hsin Kuo then collected a double to send Yeh to third. Chih-Cheng Chiu drove in a run for Taiwan with a grounder, and Chieh-Hsien Chen drew a walk. Wynne then threw a wild pitch, so Kuo came in to score. Chi-Hung Liu reached base on 1B Rixon Wingrove's catching error, and Wynne was relieved by Daniel McGrath after he walked Cheng-Hua Yueh. McGrath gave up a run on Heng-Yu Ho's grounder, and finally retired Cheng-Yu Chang to end the inning, but Taiwan had scored three runs.

Australia answered back soon, Alex Hall hit a leadoff single in the 4th inning, and Christopher Burke sent him home with a double. Chiu retired Mitchell Edwards to end his work for the day, then this year's CPBL minor league ERA title winner, Po-Ching Chen, relieved him. He recorded two shutout innings, but ran into a crisis in the 7th inning. Burke doubled, then Edwards and Luke Smith both singled. With the bases loaded , Tzu-Chiang Lee replaced Chen and forced Alex Skepton fly out, but Liam Spence's double managed to tie the game. Both sides were silent until the bottom of the 9th inning. Cheng-Yu Chang singled and Chin-Wei Lin Wu bunted. Ching-Kai Lin hit a line drive, and SS Spence jumped but couldn't catch it. Will Sherriff was then sent to the mound, but he gave up a walk-off single to Kuo, and Taiwan won the Bronze thanks to the 4-3 win.

Gold Medal Game

at the Tokyo Dome
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
South Korea	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	9	0
Japan	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	4	8	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Kojiro Yoshimura (1-0), Loss: Hai-young Jung (1-1)
Home Runs
Shugo Maki (1)
Umpires
HP: Chang (TPE); 1B: Nash (AUS); 2B: Wang (TPE); 3B: Latta (AUS)
Time of Game: 3:50 Attendance: 41,883

Been Gwak missed the Asian Games due to injury, and Korea's ace finally got another chance to pitch for his nation (having appeared for them in this year's World Baseball Classic). Gwak allowed a double to Chusei Mannami in the 2nd inning, then walked Teruaki Sato and Yuki Okabayashi. He retired Kyota Fujiwara to escape the jam, and Korea broke through Japan's Tetsuya Imai in the next inning. Imai's command was not good in the NPB, and he gave up a leadoff walk to Hye-seong Kim in the 3rd inning. Do-yeong Kim bunted, but Shugo Maki couldn't catch the ball, and Si-hwan Roh's double took the lead for Korea. Gawk allowed a single to Kaito Kozono in the 3rd inning, then walked Shogo Sakakura but Chusei Mannami grounded out. Korea also had a scoring opportunity in the 4th inning when Ji-hoon Choi and Hye-seong Kim hit back-to-back singles, but Imai also retired Do-yeong Kim to prevent Korea from scoring.

Maki atoned for his error in the 5th inning, blasting a solo home run against Gwak. Seung-yong Choi then relieved Gwak in the next inning, but he soon allowed a leadoff double to Mannami. Makoto Kadowaki bunted, and Mannami scored thanks to his speed when Sato hit a fly ball to left field. Both teams were silent in the remaining the innings, and the Gold Medal game went into a tiebreaker. Japan's Kojiro Yoshimura forced Do-yeong Kim to ground into a double play, but Dong-hee Yoon still gave his team the lead with a single. Roh then hit another single, but Whee-jip Kim was retired. Yuto Koga completed a sacrifice bunt for Japan, and Maki was intentionally walked. Shogo Sakakura tied the score with a sacrifice fly, and Korea intentionally walked Mannami. With the bases loaded, Kadowaki saved Japan again with a walk-off single, giving them the Gold for the second straight event.

Awards

• Tournament MVP: Makoto Kadowaki, Japan 2B

All-Tournament Team

• P Chihiro Sumida, Japan
• C Alex Hall, Australia
• 1B Si-hwan Roh, South Korea
• 2B Makoto Kadowaki, Japan
• 3B Teruaki Sato, Japan
• SS Ju-won Kim, South Korea
• OF Chusei Mannami, Japan
• OF Shota Morishita, Japan
• OF Tien-Hsin Kuo, Taiwan
• DH Chieh-Hsien Chen, Taiwan