South Korea launched four home runs to defeat Czechia 11-4 to begin its World Baseball Classic campaign Thursday, getting off on the right foot in its quest toward a knockout spot.
Shay Whitcomb, one of three US-born players of Korean descent, smacked two homers after Moon Bo-gyeong hammered a first-inning grand slam to set the early tone at Tokyo Dome in the teams' first Pool C game. Jahmai Jones added a solo blast in the eighth inning to cap South Korea's explosion.
Starter So Hyeong-jun tossed three shutout innings for South Korea, while six relievers held the opponent to four runs over the final six frames.
For Czechia, Terrin Vavra hit a three-run homer in the fifth that briefly cut the South Korean lead to 6-3 and Jan Pospisil hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth for an inconsequential run.
South Korea's next game is against the defending champion Japan at 7 p.m. Saturday. Czechia will next play Australia at noon Friday. Australia beat Chinese Taipei 3-0 earlier Thursday, while Japan was idle.
The top two nations at the end of pool play will qualify for the quarterfinals in Miami next week.
South Korea is seeking its first trip to the knockouts since 2009, when it lost to Japan in the championship final.
At each of the next three editions, South Korea dropped its first games -- against the Netherlands in 2013, Israel in 2017 and Australia in 2023. (Yonhap)
