Tokyo: South Korea launched four home runs to defeat Czechia 11-4 to begin its World Baseball Classic (WBC) campaign Thursday, getting off on the right foot in its quest toward a knockout spot. Shay Whitcomb, one of three U.S.-born players of Korean descent, smacked two homers after Moon Bo-gyeong hammered a first-inning grand slam to set the early tone at Tokyo Dome in the teams' first Pool C game. Jahmai Jones added a solo blast in the eighth inning to cap South Korea's explosion.
According to Yonhap News Agency, starter So Hyeong-jun tossed three shutout innings for South Korea, while six relievers held the opponent to four runs over the final six frames. For Czechia, Terrin Vavra hit a three-run homer in the fifth that briefly cut the South Korean lead to 6-3, and Jan Pospisil hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth for an inconsequential run.
South Korea's next game is against the defending champion Japan at 7 p.m. Saturday. Czechia will next play Australia at noon Friday. Australia beat Chinese Taipei 3-0 earlier Thursday, while Japan was idle. The top two nations at the end of pool play will qualify for the quarterfinals in Miami next week. South Korea is seeking its first trip to the knockouts since 2009, when it lost to Japan in the championship final.
At each of the next three editions, South Korea dropped its first games -- against the Netherlands in 2013, Israel in 2017 and Australia in 2023. South Korea didn't mess around from the start. After two walks and a single against starter Daniel Padysak loaded the bases, Moon hammered a grand slam to right-center field for a quick 4-0 lead and knocked Padysak out of the game. Moon crushed a middle-middle slider and sent it 428 feet at 110.7 miles per hour, with a launch angle of 25 degrees.
Czechia tried to respond right away in the top second, loading the bases with a couple of singles and a walk issued by So. The right-hander dug deep and retired Max Prejda on a flyout to left field. A fielder's choice groundout by Jahmai Jones in the bottom second stretched South Korea's lead to 5-0. Shay Whitcomb then made it a 6-0 game with a solo home run off Jeff Barto in the third inning.
With South Korea seemingly on its way to an easy win, however, Terrin Vavra had other ideas for Czechia in the top fifth, blasting a three-run shot off reliever Jeong Woo-joo to cut the deficit to 6-3. Whitcomb helped South Korea breathe a bit by smoking a two-run home run in the bottom fifth, pushing the team's lead to 8-3. As its bullpen settled things down, South Korea tacked on a couple more runs in the seventh inning, with Moon picking up his fifth RBI of the night with a single and Kim Hye-seong cashing in the team's 10th run with a groundout. Jones then made it an 11-3 game with a solo home run in the bottom eighth. Czechia got a run back in the ninth, though the game was well out of reach at that point.
Despite the lopsided score, South Korea only outhit Czechia by one, 10-9. The Czechs put at least a runner on in seven of their nine innings.