Hangzhou 2022: Team Singapore’s baseballers wrap up Asiad adventure

By Jeremiah Ong

With the opening game against South-east Asian counterparts Laos staring them down, Team Singapore’s 22-man baseball squad were confident and raring to go. Still, they started off their debut campaign with a narrow 7-8 loss at the Shaoxing Baseball & Softball Sports Centre on Wednesday (Sept 27).

Team captain and starting pitcher Eleazar Ng was in good condition before the game but was unable to swipe away the nerves in front of a packed stadium.

“During the Laos game, I felt confident and fresh during my warm-up pitching. We have seen them play and we were confident that we would be able to do well based on our past international games we had. However, being in a professional-grade stadium with quite a number of spectators, it was an environment that I’ve never been in before.

“The nerves and anxiety kicked in which affected my performance a lot. It was a disappointing game but a good learning experience,” the 22-year-old said.

The debutant hailed his brief experience in the Asiad as a “real eye-opener”.

“It drives me to want to work even harder. It’s a disappointing debut knowing that I could’ve performed so much better, but I promise I’ll be back stronger,” he added.

Against Laos, both teams were stuck in a 0-0 stalemate in the first inning, with Singapore having three men left on base.

In the second inning, Mohamed Mikhail Ming Tan Sabri took to the pitcher’s mound and Sean Tan capitalised on an error by the shortstop to open Singapore’s account.

Tan slides to safety in Singapore’s opener against South-east Asian counterpart, Laos. (Photo: SportSG/ Weixiang Lim)

As the inning came to a close, and with a pitcher change, Mikhail doubled Singapore’s lead with a run of his own as Kohei Wong, Singapore’s first professional player based in Japan, was thrown out.

The lead, however, did not last long with Laos pulling two back in the next inning.

Singapore looked to be right back in the game by the sixth with runs from Ryota Wong and Tan putting them 4-3, just a whisker ahead.

But a poor defensive inning followed as the team conceded five runs to trail 4-8.

In the next three innings, the team fought hard to limit their opposition and close the gap. But despite not conceding any more runs, it was not enough for the team to get the result, as the game concluded 7-8 with runs from Kohei, Ryota Wong and Naeem Zahrin.

Ryota pitching against Laos in their close-fought 7-8 loss. (Photo: SportSG/ Weixiang Lim)

Drawn into round one with Laos and Thailand, Singapore had to contend for two available spots in the main draw, which consisted of the top six ranked Asian teams, namely Japan, China, Philippines, South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong,

This meant that Singapore faced an uphill challenge in their do-or-die clash with the Thais.

With qualification on the line, Singapore put up a strong resistance against the world 70th Thais, not conceding any runs in four out of the first six innings to stay in touching distance at 0-4 down.

However, they struggled to make any of their own and then came a disastrous seventh inning where they conceded 13 runs. Soon after, Singapore got the chance to play one more inning where they failed to make any runs and the mercy rule was applied with the final two innings canned due to a seemingly insurmountable lead.

The heavy loss meant that Singapore would not advance to the main draw to take on Asian powerhouses like top-ranked Japan, Korea (4), Chinese Taipei (5) in the second stage round robin.

Starting pitcher and captain Eleazar Ng pitching against Laos at the Shaoxing Baseball & Softball Sports Centre. (Photo: SportSG/ Weixiang Lim)

Ng was reflective about the two losses. “Honestly, ever since SEA Games 2019, I’ve not performed so badly and it was a good wake-up call. As our team progresses and makes the cut for bigger tournaments where there are lots of eyes on us, we have to get used to the environment and stress that we would be under.”

“Mental (preparation) is essential for all high-performance athletes and that’s one thing that I could have placed more emphasis on during this tournament,” he said.

However, the journey doesn’t end here for Ng and his team.

He plans to train overseas for a couple of months to gain competitive exposure and to be fully prepared for upcoming competitions such as the East Asia Baseball Cup, where he hopes to bring Singapore medal glory, and the Asian Baseball Championships.

The 19th Asian Games are held in Hangzhou, China from 23 September to 8 October 2023. For the latest Team Singapore coverage and news, follow Team Singapore on their social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) or visit the official Team Singapore website.