Japan won the first game of the Samurai Japan Series 2025, presented by RAXUS, against Korea, 11-4, while the second game resulted in a 7-7 tie. A packed Tokyo Dome hosted the two-game series. Korea and Kapan competed with rosters filled with WBSC Premier12 alums.
Superstar Sho Nakata, a WBSC Premier12 2015 All-World Team member, threw the ceremonial first pitch before Game One.
The Orix Buffaloes left-hander Ryuhei Sotani pitched three perfect innings, using only 44 pitches.
Korea, ranked fourth in the world, took the lead against reliever Daisuke Moriura when Hyun-min Ahn (two runs) and Seong-mun Song (one run) hit back-to-back home runs.
World No. 1 Japan tied the game in the bottom half of the frame and took the lead with a six-run fifth on their way to an 11-4 win.
Yukinori Kishida provided the go-ahead runs with a two-out and three-RBI double.
Japan took a 7-6 lead into the bottom of the ninth in Game Two, with Taiki Ishikami leading the offence with three runs batted in and seven Korean pitchers allowing a combined 12 walks. In the bottom of the ninth, Juwon Kim won the duel between WBSC Premier12 2024 alumni with pitcher Taisei Ota and homered to tie the game.
“I didn’t want to be the last batter, so I focused and stepped up to the plate, and luckily I was able to hit a bad pitch,” commented Kim.
“There are some issues,” the Kyodo News Agency quoted Samurai Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata. “We’ll look to get prepared by March, taking those things into account.”
“The whole team remained focused and determined not to lose until the end, which led to the result,” commented Korean manager Ji-hyun Ryu. “However, there were a lot of walks today, so we would like to improve that. We would like to thoroughly watch video footage of the strike zone and prepare accordingly.”
The two-game series served the Asian powerhouses to test the World Baseball Classic rules that differ from their domestic pro leagues.
“I think we have adapted to the new rules,” commented Ibata. “So next year we will focus on playing against other teams.”
AloJapan.com