Koreans Complain of Pro-Japan Bias at Premier 12

South Korea finished the tournament with an 8-2 record and avenged losses against Japan, rallying from three runs down in the ninth inning, and the U.S.in the semifinal and final.

Kokubo sent Takahiro Norimoto (1-1) out for a second inning of relief and the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles ace starter didn't record an out, kick-starting a four-run outburst that resulted in Japan's first loss of the tournament and South Korea heading to Saturday's final of the inaugural Premier12. McBride crossed the plate as the ball rolled into shallow right, but Pastornicky was ruled out on an interference call, wiping out what would have been the first USA run.

The United States will face South Korea on Saturday morning at 5:00 AM ET, which is Saturday at 7:00 PM in Tokyo, Japan as the finale will be played at the Tokyo Dome.

Following seven strong innings from Japanese pitcher Shohei Otani, the Koreans trailed 3-0 before their final three at-bats, when leadoff man Jeong Keun-Woo doubled to spark a stirring comeback from the visitors in front of 40,000 at the Tokyo Dome.

As of press time, the U.S.-Mexico game had yet to finish. "We won against Japan and sometimes in baseball a strong team loses to a weaker one".

South Korea earned its most memorable victory over Japan in nine years on Thursday, as Lee Dae Ho brought his team from behind with a two-run ninth-inning single in a 4-3 Premier 12 semifinal upset.

Juan Perez accounted for Mexico's only run with a solo homer in the sixth inning off Japan pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano.

"It was more thrilling that I hit a home run in the past", said Lee Seung-yeop, who retired from the national team in late 2013, though he is still playing with the Samsung Lions.

"We had to win this game and we lost it", Japan manager Hiroki Kokubo said.

The scoring in the decisive five-run fourth inning started with left fielder Kim Hyun-soo's two-RBI double down the right-field line.

"If you don't give up this is what can happen", South Korea manager Kim in Sik said. "I haven't had a chance to set specific plans for my future because I wanted to concentrate on the Premier 12", he said. The next two batters walking to first base, put Korea one run behind Japan.

"The players performed better than expected and we enjoyed a big victory", Kim said.