World Baseball Classic Day 1: Israel Jumps Ahead in Pool A
By Keaton Moore
It’s here! The 2017 World Baseball Classic begins with Israel defying the odds and besting two of toughest teams in Pool A.
In their first-ever World Baseball Classic, Israel defeated a pair of top-five ranked countries according to the World Baseball Softball Confederation and stand 2-0 in Pool A. Just over 12 hours after beating the No. 3 Korea 2-1 in extra innings, Israel swung away against No. 4 Chinese Taipei, beating them 15-7.
Hometown Team Defeated
Israel coaxed a bases-loaded walk to take a 1-0 lead in the second inning in their game against Korea. When Geonchang Seo evened the score with an RBI single in the fifth, the game remained locked 1-1 through the ninth inning.
Just as the game was tossed into extra innings, Scott Burcham singled in Israel’s game-winning run in the top of the tenth. Josh Zeid returned to the mound for his third inning of work and preserved Israel’s 2-1 lead with a fly out and two strike outs.
“We have some of the best guys in baseball,” Reid said (per mlb.com). “Whether or not they are All-Stars, it doesn’t really matter. We’ve got great people on this team. I went out there and gave everything I had.”
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Israel Blows Away Chinese Taipei
Due in large part to a five-run fifth inning, Israel scored enough runs to outlast Chinese Taipei’s four-run rally in the ninth.
Each of the first four batters scored as Israel took a 4-0 lead over Chinese Taipei in the first inning. Ryan Lavarnway homered in the third inning before Chinese Taipei posted their first hit off of Corey Baker. Through his four-inning start, Baker held Chinese Taipei to three hits and struck out three.
After Chih-Sheng Lin hit a two-run RBI double, Yi-Chuan Lin hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth that cut Chinese Taipei’s deficit to 6-3. However, Israel hit four RBI singles that boosted their lead to 11-3, nearly enacting the WBC’s mercy rule.
According to mlb.com, ”a team is declared the winner of a game if it leads by either 15 runs after five innings or 10 runs after seven.”
Once Nate Freiman homered in the ninth inning and put Israel ahead 15-3, chances of Chinese Taipei coming back all but disappeared. Yet, Chinese Taipei put their opponent on the edge of their seat by scoring four runs in the final frame of the game.
Next: WBC Day 2: Pool B Begins with Cuba Staying Even
What’s Next
As the Kingdom of the Netherlands plays its first WBC game against Korea on Tuesday, March 7, competition in Pool B begins. In the same way Israel began the tournament, Cuba faces Japan and China.