The V WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup kicked off at the Tainan Asia-Pacific International Baseball Stadium on July 26, 2019. AIT Kaohsiung Branch Chief Matthew O’Connor was invited to pitch at the opening match alongside Chinese Taipei team catcher Jiang Ting-yi. Netizens were impressed by O’Connor’s professional stance.
The US team consecutively won the second, third, and fourth edition of the World Cup, and has achieved benchmark status in the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup series. AIT Branch Chief Matthew O’Connor, who was invited to open the games, expressed that he enjoys baseball very much; and when his daughters were younger, he would play baseball with them. He is honored to throw out the ceremonial first pitch for the V WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup and looks forward to an exciting game!
Before the actual game began, O’Connor practised with Chinese Taipei team coach Lee Kuo-chiang outside of the field to perfect his opening throw. Lee approved of his strong and accurate pitch. O’Connor also visited the young US athletes and thanked their local hosting school - Kaiyuan Elementary School, for supporting the US team.
O’Connor's first pitch video clip was uploaded onto AIT Kaohsiung Branch's Facebook page and shared with WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup fans worldwide to encourage more people to support baseball and cheer on the young athletes.
Other guests present at the ceremonial first pitch event included Chinese Taipei Baseball Association Chairman Jeffrey Koo, Jr., WBSC Executive Director Michael Schmidt, and WBSC Secretary General Beng Choo Low.