Two senior members of the South Korean baseball team at the upcoming World Baseball Classic said Tuesday they’re ready to give their all in what could be their last international tournament.

The national team on Tuesday left for Taiwan, the site of its training camp and also its first round play of the March 2-19 WBC.

Slotted in Pool B, South Korea will open its tournament against the Netherlands on March 2 at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, followed by matches against Australia on March 4 and Taiwan on March 5.

The top two nations out of the four will reach the second round, which will take place in Tokyo. South Korea and Taiwan are largely favored to advance from Pool B.

Before the players’ departure, catcher Jin Kab-yong, the national team captain and its oldest player at age 38, said he is ready to leave everything on the field.

“I am 100 percent ready,” he told reporters at Incheon International Airport. “Baseball is a team sport that requires good teamwork. We will come together as a team and post a great result.”

Jin, who plays for the Samsung Lions in the Korea Baseball Organization, said there is not a weak opponent in Pool B and stressed that “every game will count.”

Jin represented the country at the inaugural WBC in 2006, when South Korea reached the semifinals, but missed the 2009 WBC, when it ranked second behind Japan. Jin said the goal is to once again be among the final four this year.

Pitcher Seo Jae-weong, 35, also played at the 2006 tournament before sitting out the 2009 edition. As the team’s second-oldest player after Jin and its most senior pitcher, Seo said he will try to be the leader for younger teammates.

The right-hander was the starter for the Kia Tigers in the KBO in 2012, but he could also be pitching out of the bullpen at the WBC. He said he is ready to take on any assignment.

“Other than the game’s starter, everyone in the bullpen must be ready to pitch at a moment’s notice,” he said. “Since we’ll be put under the pitch count limits at the WBC, we have to concentrate on each and every pitch.”

In the WBC, pitchers can throw a maximum of 65 pitches per game in the first round, 80 in the second round, and 95 in the semifinals and the final.

South Korea is missing its only two Major League Baseball players, outfielder Choo Shin-soo of the Cincinnati Reds and pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have chosen to skip the WBC and attend their teams’ spring training.

Their absences leave Seo as the only national team player with prior MLB experience, having pitched for three teams from 2002 to 2007. Seo said, however, his big league experience doesn’t make him any more special than his teammates, and added it will take the entire team, not just a player or two, to win at the WBC.

Seo also downplayed concerns about the official WBC ball, whose slick surface has reportedly given some pitchers trouble.

“The ball is a bit slippery, but we will have the rosin bag during the games, so it won’t be a big deal,” he said. “If our hands get sweaty, it will be even better.” (Yonhap News)