Updated: April 21, 2017
The first Cross-Straits Student Baseball League (CSSBL) kicked off at Tsinghua University in Beijing earlier this month. Baseball players of a total of 17 team across the Straits engaged in a fierece contest for the trophy in week-long games. The XMU team racked up three consecutive victories, ranking 2nd in the Group A.
On April 2, the XMU team first played against Chung Yuan Christian University of Taiwan (CYCU), which was also the opening battle. At the outset, neither side performed very well on the offensive, gaining no scores. During the second half of the second inning, Liu Xin, the N0. 0 player from XMU, broke the deadlock with a double. Following that, Yan Hening and Li Dejian got their hits, scoring 2 runs for XMU. In the bottom of the third inning, Liu Xin found his groove and hit the first home run of the league, notching another 3 runs. However, after losing three innings, CYCU made an explosive comeback and earned a draw with XMU by pulling off 5 straight runs. At this crucial moment, coach Qin put in the senior player Sun Yijun, whose two-run double eventually defused the crisis and sealed XMU's narrow victory of 7-5 over CYCU.
In the second battle against the team of Cheng Kung University from Taiwan, XMU notched a 9-0 victory over the latter. And then XMU kept yet another clean sheet in 6-0 win over TNU in the qualifying session, wrapping up their combat mission in Beijing.
Every XMU player fought hard and played very well this time, especially Li Dejian won the award for Best Home Runner by virtue of his excellent skill. Having been on a winning streak though, the team came in the second place for the reason of the format of the league. Yet their morale and confidence remained unshaken. These young dudes offered in their own way their sincerest blessings and wishes to the96thbirthday of their alma mater.
Edited by Li Zhiruo, Long Jin
