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Korea begins lead-up to 2026 WBC with win over Czech Republic

Published: 09 Nov. 2025, 14:01 Updated: 09 Nov. 2025, 14:58

Korea's Kim Ju-won trains at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Nov. 7. [NEWS1]

Korea beat the Czech Republic 3-0 on Saturday at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, starting their tuneup series for the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) with a win.

The Korean national team fielded a lineup of shortstop Kim Ju-won, right fielder Ahn Hyun-min, second baseman Song Sung-mun, designated hitter Roh Si-hwan, third baseman Kim Young-woong, first baseman Han Dong-hui, center fielder Park Hae-min, catcher Choi Jae-hoon and left fielder Kim Sung-yoon.

Pitcher Gwak Been started and threw two scoreless innings, giving up no hits while striking out four.

The offense got going early. At the bottom of the first, Kim Ju-won drew a walk, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Song. In the second, Han doubled, Park Hae-min laid down a sacrifice bunt and Choi hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

Korea went hitless for several innings until Ahn singled in the third and Kim Young-woong broke the drought with a base hit in the eighth. After a Czech error put two runners on, Lee Jae-won doubled to right field to bring in the final run.

Following Gwak, relievers Kim Geon-woo, Choi Jun-yong, Lee Ho-sung, Lee Ro-un, Kim Taek-yeon and Jo Byeong-hyeon combined for seven scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts.

Kim Taek-yeon, who struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth, and Czech pitcher Lukas Hlouch, who threw two scoreless innings with one walk, were named the game’s Most Valuable Players.

The second game of the series was due to take place on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Gocheok Sky Dome.

The 2025 K-Baseball Series, a series of tuneup games ahead of the WBC, pits Korea against the Czech Republic and Japan and lasts through Nov. 16.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY BAE YOUNG-EUN [[email protected]]