Episode 2, airing Jan. 11, tracks the squad’s all-out push at the 2025 Hangzhou Women’s Baseball Asian Cup ― from grueling prep to razor-thin showdowns on the field.
This year’s roster drew buzz from the jump, led by standouts Kim Ra-kyung, Park Joo-a, and Kim Hyun-a ― all final selections at tryouts for the U.S. Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL). With its strongest lineup to date, Team Korea didn’t just aim to improve on its 2023 bronze ― it set sights on the region’s titans: world No. 1 Japan and perennial powerhouse Taiwan, two teams Korea has never beaten.
The fiercest battles? Japan and Taiwan, hands down. Against Japan, Korea flipped the script ― breaking a long streak of lopsided losses and finally cracking the scoreboard. After years of being stymied by Japan’s airtight defense, Korea’s heart-of-the-order strung together hits to produce a historic first scoring opportunity, rattling the sport’s top-ranked team.
The Taiwan clash delivered pure drama ― a back-and-forth epic rarely seen in women’s baseball. With ace pitcher Kim Ra-kyung taking the mound, Korea weathered unexpected miscues and controversial calls, then roared back behind the bats of Kim Hyun-a and Park Joo-a. A team once mercy-ruled by double digits pushed Taiwan to the brink in a thriller that laid everything bare ― including the players’ unfiltered emotions, shown on camera for the first time.
That fight was forged in preparation. Determined to solve Japan and Taiwan, the national team sacrificed the Chuseok holiday for a six-day intensive camp. KBO legends Kim Kang-min (former SSG Landers outfielder) and Chae Byung-yong (former SK Wyverns pitcher) dropped by for one-on-one clinics and heartfelt pep talks, sharpening the squad for its biggest test yet.
The episode also reveals the final WPBL draft results for Kim Ra-kyung, Kim Hyun-a, and Park Joo-a, following up on their stateside pursuit from Episode 1. Cameras rolled through the live draft stream, capturing the moment a history-making Korean women’s pro baseball player could be born.
"Call Us Crazy: Women’s Baseball" ― a high-energy look at Korea’s quest for Asian Cup glory ― airs Sunday at 11:05 p.m.
(SBS Entertainment News | 강선애)