South Korean Baseball Team Visits AHS In Friendly Exhibition Game

ANHAYTE GUAJARDO
SIMEON LAM
Staff Writers

As baseball season approaches, the Alhambra Moors have been preparing for the Almont League through preseason exhibition games. The team looks to begin their quest to defend last year’s league championship. Since baseball is one of the more widespread sports, Yatap High School from Seoul, Korea came to visit the Los Angeles area through the Far East Baseball Exchange. Practicing at Santa Anita Park, they scheduled 15 exhibition games that started on Jan. 23 and will continue through Feb. 22, due to efforts by the Far East Baseball Exchange Director Mike Gin.

In South Korea, baseball is especially competitive with only about 60 high schools, with Yatap High School being among the top baseball programs, according to Gin. Their refined skills have attracted many professional scouts to attend their games out here on the west coast. In fact, a few players have already gone to the professional league, or Major League Baseball (MLB). The 15 teams they played or will play include six 2013 CIF League Champions, six top-100 teams in California and teams in the MLB Urban Youth Academy.

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, Yatap came to visit the Alhambra Moors at Moor Field, recognizing them for their 2013 Almont League Championship that concluded with a record of 20-7.

“It was a good experience, it was the first time most of us have played someone from out of this area,” third baseman/pitcher Christian Maciel said. “This game showed us that we still have some work to do before our first game of the season.”

The game started off with the Moors putting up a fight in the first three innings, tying 1-1 with Yatap in the first inning. It wasn’t until the fourth inning that Yatap was able to strike back with four runs batted in. Due to errors, the Moors were able to score once more before the game’s ending in the 7th inning with a Yatap 8-2 victory. This was Yatap’s fifth win since starting this Los Angeles Tour, losing two games against Burbank High School with a score of 3-0 and Arcadia High School with a 5-3 score.

“I have really enjoyed my time here in America. I’m surprised that it was not raining in Korea we practice in negative 10 degree Celsius weather, so we have enjoyed the warmth here,” Yatap pitcher Yang Junho said.

Although the Yatap High School team has not been exposed to the full American experience, they are looking forward to going to Disneyland as part of their visit to the United States as soon as they finish their last game. Through the great American pastime of baseball, two different cultures were able to work together in order to create an opportunity for international goodwill between both the American and South Korean teams.

Alhambra Head Coach Steve Gewecke enjoyed the competition, especially for the players, as it was a “great opportunity to play against one of the greatest teams in South Korea.” Gewecke, pursing his tenth consecutive Almont League title wa

“Overall, I thought that [Yatap] were a little more fundamentally sound in the five basics of baseball, which is running, fielding, hitting, power and arm strength,” Gewecke said. “I heard that they are coming out and we would definitely like to play them again.”

The Alhambra team hopes to use this event to motivate them to practice harder in order to prepare for the Almont League games, which begin in March.