Noh Si-hwan (22-Hanwha Eagles) has become one of the most consistent No. 4 hitters in Korean baseball.
The 22-year-old went 2-for-5 with two RBIs, including a leadoff double, to lead Korea’s offense in the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) 2023 final against Japan at the Tokyo Dome on Monday.
With runners on first and second in the top of the third inning, Noh took advantage of Japan starter Tatsuya Imai’s first-pitch slider up the middle and pulled it hard for a two-run double to left-center field.
The two runs were the only runs Korea scored in the regular innings, as Japan scored a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth innings to send the game to extra innings.
Noh made his presence felt again in the top of the 10th inning.
With two outs and a 3-2 lead after Yoon Dong-hee 안전카지노사이트 (Lotte Giants) singled, he pushed a Kojiro Yoshimura fastball over the plate to put runners on first and third. However, no follow-up hit was forthcoming.
South Korea conceded two runs to Japan in the bottom of the 10th inning to fall to 3-4.
Noh is now 7-for-18 with a home run and four RBIs in four games.
He struggled in the center field as Kang Baek-ho (KT WIZ) was sidelined with an injury.
Noh Si-hwan led a Korean batting lineup that struggled early and often in the tournament.
He went 3-for-5 with a home run and an RBI in the first game of the tournament against Australia, a game in which the team left 12 on base.
Against Japan, he went 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored, and against Chinese Taipei, he drove in the game’s first run with a clean single with runners on first and third.
Once Noh opened the floodgates, the Korean bats pounded out a team-high 10 hits in the 6-1 win over Chinese Taipei.
Noh carried his hot bat from last month’s Asian Games in Hangzhou (7-for-16, 6 RBI) to Tokyo, Japan.
It’s a return to form for the No. 4 slugger after the retirement of “Korea’s No. 4” Lee Dae-ho.
This year, Noh Si-hwan shed the label of “next generation” by hitting career highs in Korea.
At just 22 years old, Noh hit 31 home runs and 101 RBIs in the 2023 season, leading the league in home runs and RBIs.
He is only the third player in KBO history to lead the league in home runs before the age of 23, joining Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop (21 in 1997) and KBO talent donor Jang Jong-hoon (22 in 1990).
Noh is also the second-youngest player in KBO history to achieve 30 home runs and 100 RBIs, joining Lee Seung-yup, who hit 32 home runs and 114 RBIs at age 21 in 1997.
This year, Noh’s blistering hitting has taken place in Korea, China, and Japan. 카지노사이트