Undefeated Israel beats the Netherlands in World Baseball Classic

Since the classic first began in 2006, millions of people across the globe have gotten exposed to baseball and will continue to become more and more ingrained in the game as time moves forward. Little League World Series powerhouse Chinese Taipei clawed their way back into the game after cutting the lead to 6-3 in the sixth inning.

Israel advanced in the World Baseball Classic with a victory over the Netherlands. Against Chinese Taipei, they collected six extra-base hits, including home runs by Ryan Lavarnway and Nate Freiman, but what made those hits so productive was that 24 of the 50 men they sent to the plate reached base, good for a.480 OBP.

Sunday they finish pool play against Canada which has Kevin Chapman (Astros), John Axford (Oakland) and Freddie Freeman (Atlanta).

In walk-off fashion, the Netherlands caught up with Israel in Pool A with a 6-5 victory over Chinese Taipei. The Dutch are ranked ninth in the world, but are considered a more seasoned team than the Koreans or Taiwanese. However, a lot of them are Classic first-timers – MVPs Buster Posey and Andrew McClutchen, RBI leader Nolan Arenado, MVP runner Daniel Murphy, and two-time NL MVP runner-up Paul Goldschmidt. Although with a berth to the next round already clinched, it will be interesting to see just how serious Netherlands takes this game. Netherlands proceeded to control the matchup of powerhouse clubs, winning 5-0 to open their tournament.

The women I wrote about unfailingly told me every time I asked that they took their responsibility as role models extremely seriously, it was nearly as important as winning, it was their legacy and it was important to them.

Designated hitter Didi Gregorius contributed three doubles, including the game-tying hit in the eighth inning to power the Netherlands’ offense.

Japan built a 7-1 lead through five innings and then withstood a late offensive surge from Cuba to pick up an impressive win in the battle between the traditional baseball powers. However, Israel retired the next seven batters in order after the Dutch scored.

Most of the baseball players representing Israel are Jewish Americans, with only two members of the team possessing Israeli passports. In the ninth, the Netherlands loaded the bases and set the stage for Jurickson Profar. – Anytime you watch a game played in a foreign country overseas, you will notice one thing: the crowd is constantly in the game and always making some sort of noise. However, Netherlands is the more talented team overall and this will be the steepest challenge for Israel yet. Like Marquis, Zeid will not be eligible to pitch against Chinese Taipei in their next game as he threw 49 pitches (still can pitch against Netherlands) as because of the pitch limit rule, he threw more than 30 pitches (here’s the rules to clarify more: http://mlb.mlb.com/documents/2/9/8/215427298/2017_WBC_Rules_and_Rule_Modifications_taqdgzdk.pdf), so that could hurt Israel in their next game. A win will also give Israel a spot in the next round, eliminating the hosts South Korea in the process.