I finished my last mock test well. Ryu Ji-hyun-ho will happily participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC).

The South Korean national baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun, defeated the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Orix Buffaloes 8-5 in a warm-up match held at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. With this, the national team will play in the WBC with a lighter mind.

This match was an official warm-up match organized by the WBC Secretariat. Ryu Ji-hyun, who tied the Hanshin Tigers 3-3 the previous day (2nd), showed good performance against Orix on the day, raising expectations for WBC’s good performance. Orix was a formidable powerhouse that defeated the Japanese national baseball team 4-3 on the 2nd.

The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the second inning, South Korean Kim Do-young is sharing joy with Germai Jones after hitting a three-run home run with two outs and runners on first and third bases. Photo = Yonhap News 사진 확대 The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the second inning, South Korean Kim Do-young is sharing joy with Germai Jones after hitting a three-run home run with two outs and runners on first and third bases. Photo = Yonhap News The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the fifth inning, Korea's Shay Witcom celebrates after hitting a solo home run with one out. Photo = Yonhap News 사진 확대 The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the fifth inning, Korea’s Shay Witcom celebrates after hitting a solo home run with one out. Photo = Yonhap News The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the second inning, South Korean Ahn Hyun-min hits an RBI double with two outs and runners on first and second bases. Photo = Yonhap News 사진 확대 The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the second inning, South Korean Ahn Hyun-min hits an RBI double with two outs and runners on first and second bases. Photo = Yonhap News At the World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes in Japanese pro baseball at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on Sunday. Korean pitcher Dane Dunning (right) enters the dugout to cheer up Shay Wittcomb and each other after finishing the third inning without allowing a run. Photo = Yonhap News 사진 확대 At the World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes in Japanese pro baseball at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on Sunday. Korean pitcher Dane Dunning (right) enters the dugout to cheer up Shay Wittcomb and each other after finishing the third inning without allowing a run. Photo = Yonhap News

South Korea, which belongs to Group C in the first round of the WBC, will now begin its tournament schedule with the match against the Czech Republic on the 5th. After that, he will have a day off on the 6th and then face Japan, Taiwan, and Australia for 7 to 9 consecutive days. The venue of the game is all Tokyo Dome, and you can play in the second round only if you finish in the top two here.

South Korea, which advanced to the semifinals of the first tournament in 2006 and finished second in the 2009 tournament, was humiliated by being eliminated in the first round in 2013, 2017, and 2023, seeks to regain its status as a “baseball powerhouse” through this tournament.

South Korea, along with pitcher Dane Dunning (Seattle Mariners), Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers, designated hitter)-The starting list was made up of Jeomai Jones (Detroit Tigers, left-handed pitcher), Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco Giants, center fielder), Ahn Hyun-min (KT Wiz, right-handed pitcher), Moon Bo-kyung (LG Twins, first baseman), Shay Witcom (Houston Astros, third baseman), Kim Hye-sung (LA Dodgers, second baseman), Park Dong-won (LG, catcher), and Kim Joo-won (NC Dinos, shortstop).

In response, Orix established the lineup with Yuma Mune (third baseman), Ryoma Nishikawa (designated hitter), Gotoaro Kurebayashi (striker), Ryo Ota (second baseman), Bob Seymour (first baseman), Daishi Hirooka (right fielder), Keita Nakagawa (left fielder), Ryoo Sugisawa (middle fielder), and Sho Fukunaga (catcher). The starting pitcher is Raiku Katayama.

The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. Park Dong-won of South Korea hits an RBI single in the top of the second inning with one out and the bases loaded. Photo = Yonhap News 사진 확대 The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. Park Dong-won of South Korea hits an RBI single in the top of the second inning with one out and the bases loaded. Photo = Yonhap News

It was up to South Korea to gain the upper hand. In the top of the second inning, Park Dong-won hit a timely RBI left-handed hit with the bases loaded with one out, which led to Ahn Hyun-min’s hit and Moon Bo-kyung and Kim Hye-sung’s walk. With the bases loaded with one out, Moon Bo-kyung homered by Kim Joo-won’s grounder to the second base.

The firepower of the Korean batters, which had been ignited once, was hardly expected to cool down. With two outs and runners on the first and third bases, Kim Do-young scored a three-run shot over the left-center wall fence. It was the moment when a home run was made in two consecutive games following a solo shot against Hanshin. After that, Ahn Hyun-min hit an RBI double in the left field with two outs and runners on the first and second bases, complete with Jones’s pitch, second base stolen base, and Lee Jung-hoo’s walk.

The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the second inning, Korean Kim Do-young is celebrating after hitting a three-run home run with two outs and runners on the first and third bases. Photo = Yonhap News 사진 확대 The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the second inning, Korean Kim Do-young is celebrating after hitting a three-run home run with two outs and runners on the first and third bases. Photo = Yonhap News The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the second inning, South Korean Ahn Hyun-min is celebrating after hitting an RBI double with two outs and runners on first and second bases. Photo = Yonhap News 사진 확대 The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the second inning, South Korean Ahn Hyun-min is celebrating after hitting an RBI double with two outs and runners on first and second bases. Photo = Yonhap News

A crisis has also arrived. In the bottom of the third inning, Fukuna, Mune’s grounder to shortstop, and Kim Hye-sung made mistakes on the grounder to second base, respectively, creating first and third bases with no outs. Fortunately, Dunning turned Nishikawa (second baseman fly), Gurebayashi (striker fly), and Ota (striker ground ball) neatly.

However, he failed to avoid a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Song Seung-ki (LG), who took the mound after Dunning, was shaken. With Bob’s walk, Hirooka’s hit to the middle, Nakagawa’s fly to right field, and Sugisa’s pitch, he gave up a timely two-run hit to Mune with the bases loaded with two outs. With the bases loaded with two outs completed by Nishikawa’s walk, Ko Woo-seok (Detroit), who took the mound in relief, dedicated a walk to Gurebayashi.

The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. With the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, South Korea's Ko Woo-suk, who finished the inning with a walk to the opponent, is heading to the dugout with a regretful look. Photo = Yonhap News 사진 확대 The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. With the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, South Korea’s Ko Woo-suk, who finished the inning with a walk to the opponent, is heading to the dugout with a regretful look. Photo = Yonhap News The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the fifth inning, Korea's Shay Witcom celebrates after hitting a solo home run with one out. Photo = Yonhap News 사진 확대 The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the fifth inning, Korea’s Shay Witcom celebrates after hitting a solo home run with one out. Photo = Yonhap News

After being hit, South Korea resumed its scoring streak again in the top of the fifth inning. After one out, Witcom drew a left-center solo arch.

Orix, who had been silent, also pressured South Korea again in the bottom of the seventh inning. Tomoya Noguchi, Koji Oshiro’s walk, and Ryoma Yamanaka’s infield hits made it one out and loaded the bases. However, Yusuke Mugitani and Haruto Watanabe struck out and retired with a straight hit to shortstop, respectively, and failed to score.

Orix, who was looking for a chance, started chasing in the bottom of the eighth inning. Ryo Ishikawa’s heavy hit, Shota Hiranuma’s walk, and Ryoto Kita fired a sacrifice fly to center field with one out and the second and third bases connected by the foil of the Korean battery. In the following two outs and second base, Noguchi hit an RBI timely hit to the right.

The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the second inning, South Korean Ahn Hyun-min hits an RBI double with two outs and runners on first and second bases. Photo = Yonhap News 사진 확대 The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. In the top of the second inning, South Korean Ahn Hyun-min hits an RBI double with two outs and runners on first and second bases. Photo = Yonhap News

Korea wasn’t just watching either. In the top of the ninth inning, leadoff hitter Ahn Hyun-min hit a solo shot that easily crossed the left fence. That’s how Ryu Ji Hyun-ho headed to WBC in a good mood.

South Korean starter Dunning pitched three innings of three hits, one strikeout and no run. Song Seung-ki (3 runs in 0.2 innings), Ko Woo-seok (1.1 scoreless innings), Kim Young-kyu (NC, 1 inning scoreless), Cho Byung-hyun (SSG Landers, 1 inning scoreless), and Yoo Young-chan (LG, 2 runs in 0.2 innings) took the mound to check their condition. After that, Japanese independent league pitchers who decided to support the national team were responsible for the rest of the innings. Kim Do-young, Ahn Hyun-min, and Witcom showed off their good batting skills, making them look forward to their performance in WBC.

The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. South Korean Dane Dunning, who finished the bottom of the second inning without losing a point, is making a high five with Lee Jung-hoo. Photo = Yonhap News 사진 확대 The World Baseball Classic warm-up match between the Korean national team and the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball league took place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 3rd. South Korean Dane Dunning, who finished the bottom of the second inning without losing a point, is making a high five with Lee Jung-hoo. Photo = Yonhap News

[Lee Hanjoo, MK Sports Reporter]