PBW: Taiwan’s Tseng won Homerun Derby
Prague Baseball Week continued with a traditional Homerun Derby on Monday. In the end it was dominated by Taiwan’s Yu-Ching Tseng.
The derby started with Japanese Misho Nishikawa who blasted 5 HR in 90 seconds and set the bar high for the rest of the players. Czech national team player Martin Zelenka came after him. He had 2 homeruns, the third ball flying behind the fence was likely the longest hit in Homerun Derby, however, it flew in the foul territory.
Left-hander Yu-Ching Tseng, representing Taiwan, came after Zelenka. He was able to send the ball far and finished with 7 homeruns. And that was without the last 15 seconds he had. This also meant we would not see Martin Zelenka in the finals.
“It was better than All Star Game at Tempo, but what’s done is done. It didn’t work out the way I wanted. Perhaps it’s going to be better next time,” smile the Czech player after the Derby.
German Shawn Larry knew he needed at least 5 homeruns to get to the finals and he started quickly, with 2 HR after 20 seconds. However, he then ran into issues with the power and finished with 3 HR.
Nishikawa and Tseng met each other in the finals. The final was shortened to 60 seconds and it was opened by the Japanese batter. He was unable to continue his momentum and finished with 2 HR. But this was no issue for Tseng, blasted 3 HR without needing the full time range.
“We don’t have big players such as the Czech Republic, or Germany, so we try to hit the balls with power. Mishikawa had 5 homeruns in the first round, so it was slightly stressful for me, but I’m really glad that I beat him. It is my first win in any Homerun Derby,” said the winner of the competition, who then received the award from the player with the most career homeruns in Extraliga, Pavel Budský.
