Unbelieveable comeback win against Dominican Republic keeps Korea in Super Round race

World No. 6 Korea erased a 6-0 deficit to defeat No. 12 Dominican Republic, 9-6, and stay in the race for a Super Round spot in the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS.

Korea took advantage of a costly defensive error to start a comeback that even the raucous fans sitting above their dugout believed was unlikely.

Dominican starting pitcher Franklyn Kilomé cruised through five innings, using just 57 pitches and allowing only one hit.

"This loss is hard to take," commented Dominican manager César Martin. "Kilome did a wonderful job. He left with a 6-0 lead and would have deserved the win. We thought our bullpen could save the win for him. We had our best arms rested. Of course, we made a costly error. But I think going to the bullpen was the right move. I would do it again. Still, it didn't work tonight."

The Dominican Republic outhit Korea 14-9, but the hit count was 13-1 in the middle of the sixth. From that point on, Korea had eight hits, and the Dominican Republic had one.

"The credit goes to my players," said Korean manager Joong Il Ryu. "How they fought back and grabbed all their opportunities to score makes me proud. It was a great win."

The Dominican Republic had a scoring chance in the top of the first. Leadoff hitter Ricardo Cespedes reached despite a diving attempt by Doyeong Kim. Second baseman Alen Hanson bunted for the hit and took him to second, and Chan Kyu Im could get only the force out at second on a comebacker by Kelvin Gutierrez. With one out and runners at the corners, Im struck out designated hitter Andretty Cordero with an off-the-table off-speed pitch and got Rainer Nunez looking at his fastball.

The Dominicans scored the go-ahead run in the top of the second. Arismendy Alcantara led off with a base hit. Im walked Luis Mieses, and the bases loaded when Frank Rodriguez also walked. A run scored when Michael De Leon grounded into a double play at shortstop. The Korean starter got out of the at-bat when Cespedes popped out to right field after fouling off four offerings on a two-strike count.

The Dominicans opened the score in the top of the fourth. Rainer Nunez hit a lead off fouble on the first pitch he saw and right fielder Arismendy Alcantara got to a 2-1 hanging curveball, turning it into a two-run home run.

Hyeongju So took the mound for Korea but couldn't stop the bleeding. He allowed three more hits, including an RBI single by Hanson that extended the gap to 4-0.

Alcantara did it again in the top of the fifth, when he turned the third offering from right-hander Byeonghyeon Jo into a solo home run to right field.

In the bottom half of the frame, Korea broke Kilome's no-hitter with a two-out single by first baseman Sungmun Song.

Hanson batted in the sixth run with the eleventh Dominican hit of the night and sent Jo to the showers. Seohyeon Kim took the mound for Korea to close the inning.

Korea cut the gap to 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth. Hector Perez took the mound for the Dominican Republic. He allowed back-to-back walks and left for Joelys Rodriguez with runners at third, second, and one out.

The left-hander got second baseman Minjae Shin to come back to the mound with a soft grounder but threw the ball away from the first base bag, allowing two runs. Shin reached third on a play. Korea scored two more runs on back-to-back doubles by Bonghyeong Moon and Dongwoon Park.

Korea took control of the game in the bottom of the eight. Seungyeup Na, who entered the game replacing Doyeong Kim, got to hard-throwing right-hander Robert Corniel with a leadoff single and Dominican manager César Martin called MLB reliever Diego Castillo from the bullpen.

With one out and runners at the corners, Sungmun Song singled through the right side, making it a 6-5 game. Seong Han Park followed with a two-out and two-RBI triple to give Korea the first lead of the night.

"I had a great opportunity to influence the outcome of the game," Seong Han Park said. I knew their pitcher had a very good fastball, so I was looking for a breaking ball. When I saw a breaking ball come, I tried to crush it."

He added, "What's important is not my success but what happened before and after. The credit goes to all my teammates."

Korea made it an 8-6 game when Wonjun Choi doubled off the right-field wall. Victor Lopez took the mound for the Dominican Republic. Leadoff hitter Changki Hong got to his third pitch and turned it into an RBI single, extending the Korean lead to 9-6.

Yeonghyun Park pitched 1.2 innings to earn the win.

"I gave up a hit as I entered the game [in the eighth], said 21-year-old Park, KBO's KT Wiz closer, postgame. "We were trailing 6-4, and I knew we couldn't afford to give up more runs. I fortunately got the runner out at first and could get out of the inning without allowing runs. My teammates did the rest. They scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth, giving me the confidence I needed."

"Park normally doesn't need to get five outs. I think what he did for the team was outstanding," added manager Ryu on a final note.