Geelong Korea, South Korea’s first overseas professional baseball team, is taking a break”Geelong Korea will not compete in the 2023-2024 season,” the Australian Baseball League (ABL) announced on Friday.”While we are sad to see Geelong Korea leave the Australian league, we have made this decision after in-depth discussions with all parties,” ABL Chief Executive Officer Glenn Williams said on the organization’s website, adding that the decision was made for the good of the ABL, its other teams, corporate partners, and fans.Geelong Korea had been in talks with KBO clubs to join the league for the 2023-2024 season. The team has identified more than 50 potential loan players and is in discussions with the clubs about the size of their support.However, there was a hiccup recently when New Zealand-based Auckland Tuatara announced that they would not be participating in the ABL.The ABL, which changed from an eight-even to a seven-odd-team league, was considering how to run the league and decided to drop Geelong Korea, leaving six teams in Australia to compete.The ABL office also reportedly approached Geelong Korea about merging with an existing team, but the organization declined.”We are very disappointed as we were preparing for the 2023-2024 season until recently,” a Geelong Korea representative said in a phone call on the 16th, adding, “We will continue to work hard to create opportunities for Korean prospects to grow.”Geelong Korea was founded in 2018 with the aim of helping Korean baseball prospects develop.The organization assembled a team of KBO League prospects to compete in the ABL every winter.Prospects who have completed their KBO seasons, as well as Korean players in the minor leagues of Major League Baseball, and some amateur players, have made significant strides in the ABL.LG Twins outfielder Hong Chang-ki, LG “Big Boy” Lee Jae-won, and Pittsburgh Pirates Bae Ji-hwan have all played ABL ball with Geelong Korea.Last year, Jang Jae-young (Kiwoom Heroes) showed promise in the ABL and has improved this 스포츠토토링크 season.