China Cup Baseball

Singapore Senior Boys are Runner Up in The China Cup

The Singapore senior baseball team traveled to Hong Kong for the second straight year to participate in the China Cup; a tournament including Hong Kong International School, The International School of Beijing and The Shanghai American School. Over three days, each team played three games, facing each other once. The result of these games determined the top two seeds that played in the championship on Sunday. Singapore successfully reached the championship game, but lost in a tight game against HKIS by a score of 3 to 2.

Game 1: Singapore 6 - Shanghai 6
On Friday night, Singapore played a good Shanghai team. Shanghai got two runs each in the second and third innings to jump out to a lead. However in the bottom of the third, Singapore tied it up with a four run inning. Michael Chang led off with a double. This was followed by a walk and hit by pitch to keep the inning going. Kwang Oh hit a two run single for the big hit of the inning. However, Shanghai scored once in the fifth and the sixth to go up by two. Singapore was now facing Shanghai’s best pitcher and it looked a bit grim. Time was running short as well and it was clear that the sixth inning would be the last. Singapore came up big in the bottom of the sixth and tied it up. Evan Petty got it started by getting hit by a pitch and Dan Davis provided a two out double to score Evan. The next batter, Matt Lang, hit a single to score Dan. The game ended in a tie at just after 10 pm. It was a long day for everyone.

Michael Szopiak started at pitcher and pitched three innings. Christian Hvide did a great job in relief keeping Singapore in the game until they were able to tie it up.

Game 2: Singapore 11 - Beijing 2
Don't let the score fool you - this one was tight until the very end. Singapore scored two runs in the third and one run in the fourth to go up 3-0. The third run was thanks to a Dylan Howell triple followed by Clint Walling's sacrifice fly. However, Beijing answered in the bottom of the fourth with two runs of their own. Dan Davis started the game and pitched three innings. In the fourth when Beijing scores, Dan has tired in the incredible heat and Singapore brought in Max West and he does a great job keeping Beijing down. Max gets excellent defense behind him and throws strikes through two and 2/3 innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Beijing loaded the bases with two outs. Singapore called on one of their co-captains, Michael Szopiak, to come in and get the last out. Against Beijing's clean-up hitter, he induced a weak ground ball right back to the mound and threw home for the easy force out. In the top of the 7th Singapore broke it open with their biggest inning of the tournament, scoring eight runs. It is highlighted by five straight hits (Walling, West, Szopiak, Chang, and Petty) followed by a big double from Dan Davis. Szopiak had a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to finish it up.

Game 3: Singapore 2 - HKIS 1
In the second game on this brutally hot day, Singapore needed a win to guarantee a spot in the championship. While it would be possible to reach the championship with a loss, it would require certain outcomes in other games and Singapore did not want to take the chance. Fortunately, Singapore got a huge game from Freshman Kwang Oh on the mound. He goes the distance pitching the best game of the tournament. He throws 104 pitches, gives up one hit and strikes out eight. He gave up just one unearned run. It was an amazing performance. Singapore scratched out two runs in the bottom of the fifth for the win. Dan Davis hit a long sacrifice fly to provide the winning run. It was a very well played and exciting game by both teams and it guarantees a rematch in the championship game.

Championship game: HKIS 3 - Singapore 2
The final was another great game with an unfortunate outcome for Singapore. HKIS is deeper in the pitching department and their pitcher has only pitched one inning thus far and is well rested. Singapore needs to call on two of our seniors – Michael Szopiak and Christian Hvide- to carry the team even after they have both pitched quite a bit during the tournament. They come up big and hold a good team to just three runs, only one of which is earned. However, Singapore can’t get their offense going against a good HKIS pitcher. The HKIS pitcher goes the distance and allows only five hits. Christian Hvide lead off the fourth with a double and later scored. In the sixth Dylan Howell bats in Christian with a single. Singapore had a chance for more, but HK made a nice 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. In the seventh Singapore could not get anything going and the game ends for a one run victory for HKIS.

The Singapore boys really battled and had a successful tournament. The competition was stiff and even though Singapore only had a few weeks to prepare, the boys really played well. The Singapore team was led by their two co-captains, seniors Michael Szopiak and Evan Petty. Michael pitched a total of 8 and 1/3 innings over the three days and gave up just two earned runs. Evan led the team with five hits and was on base eleven times in fourteen at bats. Seniors Michael Chang, Christian Hvide, Dan Davis, Dylan Howell and Cody Burkett also provided important leadership and strong play. Singapore has now played in the China Cup for two straight years and has come in first and second respectively. The baseball program looks forward to participating again next year.