RAMON ALVARADO

Seoul, Korea is back in the Pony-13 World Series after going 4-1 and becoming the 2017 tournament champions. The Koreans are back to represent the Pony Asia-Pacific Zone once again in the 2018 Pony-13 World Series with their eyes set on becoming back-to-back champs.

“This Seoul P13 team is all fun and active, everyone enjoys playing baseball,” Korea Pony Baseball and Softball Secretary General, Jerry Jang said.

“Their predecessors won the P13 World Series last year. I look forward to winning this year.”

The boys from Korea were a forced to be reckoned with right from the jump of the 2017 P13WS. In their first two games of the tournament, Seoul outscored their opponents 17-2 while racking up 12 hits in each of the games.

In the teams’ third game of the 2017 tournament, Perris, California was able to edge out Seoul in a close and exciting 8-7 ballgame. The Koreans bounced back in the rematch the very next day, though, and advanced to the P13WS championship game.

Seoul, Korea came out of the gates on fire in the championship game at York Field. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Kang San was able to get on base with a ground ball hit up to the center fielder.

The next batter, Cho Tae saw a ball he liked and smacked it into center field for a 2 RBI home run. The Tae home run was the beginning of a 4-run first inning.

Johnstown responded with a single run in the top of the 4th inning, making it a 4-1 ballgame, but Seoul wasn’t done scoring. Another 4-run inning in the 4th from Seoul extended their lead to seven, enough to withstand the late runs from Johnstown.

Seoul, Korea went on to win the game 9-4 and became the 2017 Pony-13 World Series Champions. Now, in 2018 the Seoul team is ready to go for a second consecutive championship.

“I hope we enjoy America and put on good games for them,” Jang said. “I hope that the World Series will be a very pleasant memory for this Seoul team.”

Seoul begins their quest for back-to-back championships against the Whittier host team Friday, July 27 at York Field. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m.