Catcher Wang Yu-Hsiang's Game-Calling Leads Taitung to Third Place in Hualien Junior Baseball Tournament

(CNA, New Taipei, June 7, Reporter Hsieh Ching-wen) In the Hualien Junior Baseball Tournament, the Taitung County team won third place, with catcher Wang Yu-Hsiang delivering a standout performance. He was praised for a catching ability beyond his years, and the coaching staff gave him the freedom to call pitches, earning acclaim for his quick thinking. Wang Yu-Hsiang aspires to improve his caught stealing speed and hopes to vie for a spot on the U15 national team again this year.

The third-place game of the 115th Hualien Junior Baseball Tournament saw the Taitung County team defeat the Taoyuan City team 6-1 today. Taitung's starting catcher, Wang Yu-Hsiang, had 4 at-bats, got on base via an error in the 4th inning, and successfully stole a base. His autonomous game-calling was instrumental in guiding the pitchers.

Wang Yu-Hsiang demonstrated exceptional, mature catching skills throughout the tournament. Head Coach Ou Hung-Chi stated that Wang could be considered the best catcher among this batch of ninth-graders, with high standards in on-field leadership, caught stealing, and blocking, adding that he thinks quickly and has excellent on-field strategies.

Wang Yu-Hsiang mentioned, "In the past, the coaches usually called the pitches. Today, I took charge of the pitch-calling for the whole game. I observed the opponents' batting habits and considered our pitchers' strengths. The Taitung pitchers have good control, so today's strategy was mainly based on breaking balls and outside pitches."

Wang also pitched in yesterday's semifinal, saying with a laugh that he was surprised, but still prefers being a catcher. He has national team experience from both his Little League and Junior Baseball stages and was selected for the Asian Junior Baseball Championship national team last year. He said the rigorous national team training taught him what a player should be doing and when.

Recalling his experience playing abroad in a Pony League tournament during elementary school, Wang's impression of non-Asian players is that their offense is very "violent" and they are also very fast. In his own catching, he hopes to improve the speed of his throws to catch runners and aims to be selected for the U15 national team again this year for another chance to compete abroad. (Editor: Chang Ming-Kun) 1150607