Jiangsu Huge Horses triumph in 2024 Chinese Baseball Championship

TIANJIN - The Jiangsu Huge Horses edged out the Beijing Tigers 8-7 in a thrilling ten-inning instant-classic on July 27 to complete a 2-0 series sweep and take home the 2024 Chinese Baseball Association Championship trophy.

The Guangdong Leopards beat out the 2023 champion Shanghai Golden Eagles in the previous morning's third-place game, rounding out this year's top three.

Jiangsu last won China's most prestigious baseball tournament nearly a decade ago, in 2015, finally winning it all this time around after coming up just short in last year's finals against Shanghai.

Speaking about moving forward from the team's second place finish a year ago, Game 1 hero and Finals MVP Li Ningji said, "We really didn't want to leave this year's tournament as the runners up again. We were out to make a name for ourselves this time."

Li certainly did make a name for himself during Jiangsu's July 26, 3-2 victory at the Tianjin Vocational College of Sports Baseball and Softball Stadium, giving an unforgettable marathon starting pitching performance across eight and one-third innings.

With the normal Chinese Baseball Association 95-pitch limit lifted for the final series, the lefty used 124 pitches to strike out nine batters, holding the power-hitting Tigers scoreless into the bottom of the ninth before finally running out of gas and allowing two runs on a clutch double by Beijing left fielder Zhao Guandi.