▲ South Korea manager Lee Kang-chul watches his pitchers during a practice session for the World Baseball Classic at Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona, on Feb. 27, 2023. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) baseball team-travel

(LEAD) S. Korean baseball team's return home delayed after U.S. camp for WBC

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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28 (Yonhap) -- Several members of the South Korean national baseball team, including manager Lee Kang-chul, were grounded in the United States on Monday night due to airplane defects, causing a 12-hour delay to their return home.

The team was scheduled to fly out of Tucson, Arizona, after wrapping up a two-week training camp for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) and land in Los Angeles on Monday before boarding a homebound flight.

However, the plane carrying Lee and 25 other coaches, players and team staffers from Tucson was grounded due to mechanical problems.

A national team official said the group took a bus to Los Angeles instead and was scheduled to arrive there in the early hours of Tuesday.

From Los Angeles, the national team was to travel in two groups, so that all members could fly home business, and land at Incheon International Airport at around 5 a.m. Wednesday. The team has scheduled a workout at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul for Thursday, followed by a scrimmage at the same venue Friday.

Instead, the delayed group is scheduled to arrive back home by around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Though the last-minute change won't affect the training schedule for the team, most of the players will be battling jetlag ahead of Thursday's workout.

The team is scheduled to travel to Osaka on Saturday and will play two official exhibition games there against Japanese clubs before hopping over to Tokyo for the tournament.

South Korea's first Pool B game is against Australia on March 9 at Tokyo Dome.

The disruption in Tucson is the latest bit of off-field drama for South Korea in its U.S. camp. The team had one scrimmage pushed back and another canceled due to inclement weather. Pitchers in particular struggled in dry and unseasonably cold conditions in the desert as they tried to get accustomed to throwing the official WBC ball, which has lower seams and slicker surface than the ball in the Korea Baseball Organization.

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