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The story
In the Super Round of the U-18 Baseball Asia Championship at Taipei Dome, Japan blew a lead and lost to South Korea 2-3. Third pitcher Ryosuke Sueyoshi allowed a shocking two runs, and closer Shoki Oda — the team’s presumed ace reliever — reportedly still hasn’t taken the mound at all this tournament. The loss leaves Japan’s hopes of an Asian title hanging by a thread. On the 5ch “Geinou/Sports Breaking News+” board, threads raised questions about pitching decisions and roster selection, while the discussion also spiraled into the usual recurring debate over which sport is stronger, baseball or soccer.
[U-18] Japan Suffers Bitter Comeback Loss to South Korea, Asian Title Hopes on the Brink — Third Pitcher Ryosuke Sueyoshi’s Shocking 2 Runs Allowed, Closer Shoki Oda Yet to Pitch Through 4 Games… Super Round
Sports Hochi, September 11, 2026, 16:44
◆14th U-18 Asia Championship ▽ Super Round: Japan 2–3 South Korea (Sept. 11, Taipei Dome, Taiwan)
Source: hochi.news / Original article here
What people said
With only 7 innings you can't get possession, that's why we lose.
Just shows how little future high school baseball has once you go past 7.
High school baseball's just a bunch of scrubs waiting for the other team to self-destruct.
'Possession'? Dude's way too into soccer lol
What's 'possession' even supposed to mean in baseball?
Copying hated soccer and playing pretend 'world tournament,' how humiliating lol
Soccer copies 'Homelander' and does its own XX Derby thing though
Makes zero sense but it's gotta be a joke lol
All the athletic guys go to soccer now
Soccer hasn't lost in years, not even at the youth level
https://image-tm.s2mr.jp/i/original/1789113238021.jpeg
If you know, you know
He's gonna get absolutely demolished by Taiwan's lineup wwwww
RIP to all the Koshien hype boys wwwww
And they lost too, how lame
This tournament's been around for 30 years
I think Sueyoshi was coming back from injury
Arakaki, who was supposed to be the other ace, isn't hurt, but apparently his velocity's way down and something's off with him
Bravo to Team Korea
Shame on Team Japan
They shave their heads bald and grind like crazy, but
If they built youth teams and let big, athletic guys train freely with science-based methods, they'd crush the high-school baseball crowd
And yeah, they're already losing to Korea's smaller, elite squad doing exactly that
Korea and Taiwan peak at this level and don't develop further as pros
That's why they keep bringing in Japanese coaches to try to fix it
It's not about being obsessed, it's just a fact
And soccer itself buried the 60-minute format like some demon spawn
Both baseball and soccer end up letting the stronger side lose once you shorten the game
What is this
Some Yomiuri fanboy?
That's just how baseball's always been
Even a weak team can win something like 40% of the time
That's why in a short series Japan can even beat the US at the WBC
Why not just go with 3rd-years instead of 2nd-years?
I'd get it if that 2nd-year were some standout talent, but…
Probably turned it down for entrance exams or something
Japan's just going through the motions
What a lame excuse
Soccer
Still losing to Korea by double the score in Japan-Korea matches
And they've beaten World Cup teams before, so it's fine
Yeah, made the round of 8 just by farming weak teams at home
Easy sport
Background and Talking Points
This tournament’s Super Round is played over 7 innings, a different format from the 9-inning games of Japanese high school baseball. It’s a well-documented statistical tendency that the fewer innings played, the less a gap in team strength tends to show, making upsets more likely — so while the thread’s use of the soccer term “possession” is a misapplication, the underlying instinct that “shorter games favor upsets” isn’t entirely off base. Sueyoshi is one part of this tournament’s pitching staff, and with several pitchers reportedly returning from injury, it’s also notable that Oda — regarded as the team’s undisputed closer — has yet to get a chance to pitch. Much of the thread’s discussion of the loss drifted into the now-customary back-and-forth over whether baseball or soccer is the superior sport, with relatively little discussion of the actual game itself.
※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (“Geinou/Sports Breaking News+”) thread “[U-18 Baseball] Japan Suffers Bitter Comeback Loss to South Korea, Asian Title Hopes on the Brink — Third Pitcher Ryosuke Sueyoshi’s Shocking 2 Runs Allowed, Closer Shoki Oda Yet to Pitch Through 4 Games.”
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