1 It was a sunny Sunday in Tokyo. More than 40,000 fans filled the Tokyo Dome. Most of them were from Taiwan. They came to cheer for their team, Chinese Taipei.
2 Chinese Taipei was playing against Korea in the World Baseball Classic. Countries from all over the world play in this big tournament. But Chinese Taipei never beat Korea before. Not even once!
3 Cheerleaders danced on top of the dugouts. A band played music. The whole stadium felt like a party. But the fans were nervous, too. Chinese Taipei had lost their first games. If they lost again, they would go home.
4 Then the game began. In the second inning, Yu Chang stepped up to bat. He swung hard and sent the ball flying over the wall. Home run! The crowd jumped to their feet and screamed. Chinese Taipei was ahead, 1-0.
5 "We can do this!" the fans shouted. The team captain, Chen, clapped his hands in the dugout. This game was just getting started.
1 Korea's pitcher, Ryu, kept the game close after Chang's home run. He did not let Chinese Taipei score again for a long time.
2 Then, in the sixth inning, Cheng hit a solo home run. The ball sailed over the wall. Chinese Taipei was ahead again, 2-1! The fans waved their flags and cheered.
3 But Korea's young star, Kim, was not done. He stepped up and crushed a two-run home run. Korea took the lead, 3-2. Some fans covered their eyes.
4 In the eighth inning, Fairchild came to bat for Chinese Taipei. He swung and sent the ball deep into the seats. Two runs scored! Chinese Taipei was ahead, 4-3. The crowd went wild.
5 Then Kim came up again. He hit a double off the wall. A runner scored. The game was tied, 4-4!
6 After nine innings, the score was still tied. The game went to extra innings. Nobody wanted to look away.
1 It was the tenth inning. The score was tied, 4-4. Chinese Taipei needed one more run to win.
2 Chen got on base. He was the team captain. A pitch hit him in the first game of the tournament, and he missed two games. But now he was back, right when his team needed him most.
3 Chiang came up to bat. He did not swing hard. Instead, he tapped the ball softly down the first-base line. It was a bunt. The ball rolled slowly on the ground. Chen ran from third base as fast as he could. He touched home plate just in time! Chinese Taipei was ahead, 5-4!
4 Now they had to stop Korea from scoring. Korea tried hard. One runner tried to score from third base. Wu grabbed a ground ball and threw it home. The catcher, Chiang, caught it and tagged the runner. He was out! Everyone held their breath — was it really out? The umpire checked the replay. Out!
5 The game was over. Chinese Taipei won, 5-4! The players ran to each other and hugged. Some of them fell to the ground. Tears ran down their faces.
6 "At the end of the game, we played as one," said the manager. "And finally we got the win."
7 Chen looked up at the crowd and smiled. "Today," he said, "the Tokyo Dome became our home."