Japan stuns Taiwan, claims Pony crown

Hurler Shogo Iha displayed awesome form as Japan shocked Chinese-Taipei, 2-0, yesterday to top the 30th Asia-Pacific Zone Pony Baseball Championship at the Rizal Memorial Ballpark and earn the right to represent the region in the World Series.

Hideaki Tara belted a single to centerfield and brought home Shogo Shimabukuro and Tsubasa Koja for the decisive runs that sent the Japanese to a fourth Pony World Series appearance set Aug. 15-27 in Pennsylvania, USA.

But it was Iha, who didn’t see action in his team’s 2-8 loss to Chinese-Taipei in the preliminaries Thursday, who made the crucial plays for the Okinawa-based All-Japan champion.

The smaller and leaner Iha outdueled the taller and heftier Chih Yang Sheng at the mound as he struck out seven batters he faced while allowing only four hits to dethrone the Taiwanese.

"I trust him a lot. He’s a small guy but he has very good ball control," said Japan coach Satoshi Ishikawa of the 5-foot-4 Iha through an interpreter.

The power-pitching Chih, the losing pitcher, was actually on his way to the tournament’s first perfect game after fanning out 10 batters in six innings. But disaster struck the fancied team in the seventh and final inning. — Joey Villar