Chinese Taipei, Venezuela mirror each other on field
MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Chinese Taipei starting pitcher Liu Wei-Heng throws on Monday at Volunteer Stadium against Aruba.
JARED FREED/Associated Press Venezuela's Juan Reyes rounds third base during the second inning of a baseball game against Japan at the Little League World Series on Monday at Volunteer Stadium.
MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Chinese Taipei starting pitcher Liu Wei-Heng throws on Monday at Volunteer Stadium against Aruba.
JARED FREED/Associated Press Venezuela's Juan Reyes rounds third base during the second inning of a baseball game against Japan at the Little League World Series on Monday at Volunteer Stadium.
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If players from Barquisimeto, Venezuela and Taipei, Chinese Taipei were to watch one another play in games, they may think for a moment they were simply watching themselves on a replay.
Great pitching.
Nearly flawless defensive players in the infield and outfield.
Offenses that can spark at any moment.
Which team is that describing? Well, both Chinese Taipei and Venezuela actually.
Wednesday's International semifinal between the Asia-Pacific Regional champions and Latin America Regional champions is like looking in the mirror and the two teams are extremely similar to one another in all aspects.
"The next opponent will be Venezuela and I studied how they play," Chinese Taipei manager Lai Min-Nan said. "They play very similar to us, so what I'm thinking is we have to maximize our pitcher's performances and what we can do on defense well so they don't get too many runs from us. We are using defense as offense."
There's little doubt that Volunteer Stadium will be packed with fans to watch Wednesday's showdown between Chinese Taipei and Venezuela.
Venezuela has its second-best arm available in Andres Reyes Quereals to throw after having thrown ace Juan Reyes for six innings on Monday. For Chinese Taipei, the Asia-Pacific Regional champions likely will go with Lin Chin-Tse, the hard-throwing ace who can reach 80 miles per hour.
"We are playing off our pitching staff. We know we have tough games, but we have confidence to go out and face every challenge we have," Venezuela manager Luis Bermudez said.
Pitching is king when it comes to the Little League World Series. Depth is important, perhaps more so than having a talented offensive lineup. And Chinese Taipei and Venezuela both know they have plenty of arms, and are not worried at all about pitching management and matchups.
"We have several pitchers, all the way from Taiwan championship through Asia-Pacific championship, our pitching has been very satisfying. It's complete," Min-Nan said. "This is probably the most complete pitching staff I've ever had."
And the same can be said for Venezuela. Reyes became the first pitcher in Venezuela history at the Little League World Series to throw two complete-game shutouts at a single tournament. While he can't throw on Wednesday, it speaks to the talent Venezuela's pitching staff has.
"Since the first day, one of the strong suits of our team is our pitching staff," Bermudez said. "A pitching staff can go a long way in this tournament."
That it can, and both Venezuela and Chinese Taipei are the latest examples of that being an important statement.
What also sticks out in this upcoming International anticipated matchup is the fact that both defenses are not yielding much.
Against Japan on Monday, Venezuela allowed just three singles and won in a shutout 4-0. It marks the third shutout for Venezuela while at the Series. The Latin America Regional champions defeated Puerto Rico in their first game, 5-0, before posting a 4-0 win against canada in Game 2. Add it all together, and Venezuela has allowed just eight hits over three games, and not one for extra bases.
"Next to pitching, we work hard on defense. We only made one error in three games, so we have good pitching with good defense behind them," Bermudez said.
"I thank God first of all. All my pitches ere going good (in first two games) and I'm happy with the results I've been getting," Reyes said after throwing complete-game shutouts over Puerto Rico and Japan.
The same can be said for Chinese Taipei too.
The Asia-Pacific Regional champions opened the Little league World Series with a 3-0 win against Mexico where Chinese Taipei's Chin-Tse (nine strikeouts), Chang Chun-Po (one strikeout) and Chen Qi-Sheng (one strikeout) combined in a three-hit shutout, allowing only singles.
Against Aruba on Monday, Chinese Taipei threw Liu Wei-Heng (11 strikeouts) for 4 2/3 innings before Lin Chin-Tse and Chen Qi-Sheng came in for the final 1 1/3 innings to close the game out.
"I only focus on the batter, so I don't really focus on who is on base," Wei-Heng said. "All I want is to make sure I take care of the batter."
"It just happens these two games we had a good pitching staff, so because of good pitching, it's a lot easier for the defense these two games," Min-Nan said. "Hopefully when we get to the semifinal, hopefully -- or final -- not just the pitcher but the whole defensive team can pick it up."
Wednesday's game should be an absolute thriller between two of the best teams at this year's World Series, and they should both give fans a great show.