Japan Kyushu Selection Team defeats Taipower in baseball exchange final

The Japan Kyushu Asia League Selection Team secured a dramatic 9-8 comeback victory against Taiwan's Taipower Baseball Team in the final game of the 2026 Taiwan-Japan Baseball International Exchange Series held in Tainan.

Taipower initially held a commanding 7-2 lead by the fifth inning. However, the Kyushu selection team, composed of teams from Saga, Kitakyushu, Oita, Miyazaki, and Kumamoto, demonstrated resilience in the sixth inning. Hayato Hirama, a former Yomiuri Giants player and current player-coach for the Kitakyushu Shimonoseki Phoenix, delivered a decisive three-base hit that cleared the bases and allowed the Kyushu team to score five runs in the inning.

The Kyushu team concludes their tour of Taiwan with a 2-1 record. Kyushu manager Yoshihito Kozuki praised the experience and the local cuisine in Tainan, noting that the sweet flavor profiles of the region were similar to those in Kyushu. Taipower manager Cheng Chun-che noted that while the performance was a learning experience for his younger players, recent weather conditions had disrupted their training schedule.