By KYLE ADAMS
Staff Writer
Through all the craziness of the NCAA Tournament brackets, there was another tournament that got swept under the rug: the World Baseball Classic.
The WBC brackets are set up a little differently than what you’d normally expect.
The first round, of 16 countries, consisted of pool play between four pools. The top two teams in each pool advanced to the second round, which consisted of pool play between the two remaining pools. The same rules for advancing applied, as the top two teams in each pool moved on. Those teams were the WBC’s final four. Those countries consisted of the United States, Japan, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico.
In the first round, the U.S., managed by Jim Leyland, went 2–1, defeating both Colombia and Canada. The one loss came to a very good Dominican Republic team, coached by Tony Pena and Jose Cano.
After escaping the first round, the U.S. was faced with a challenging task of playing Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. After capping off a 4–2 victory over Venezuela, Puerto Rico took the second game by a score of 6–5; P.R. remained undefeated in the tournament.
Finally, in a winner-take-all game, the U.S. got their rematch against the Dominican Republic. Led by Giancarlo Stanton, the U.S. took the 6–3 victory and advanced to the WBC semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, the U.S. played an extremely dangerous Japan. The pitching was the story of the game. Tanner Roark started the game for the U.S. and a bunch of closers followed him.
Japan’s pitching was specular, giving up two runs, only one earned, while striking out 12 and only walking one.
The U.S. barely escaped Japan by playing small ball in the eighth inning, which game them a 2–1 lead. Luke Gregerson capped off the save and got his country to the WBC Championship.
To be able to bring the WBC title to the U.S. for the first time ever, Jim Leyland would give the ball to Marcus Stroman and he’d have to get past an undefeated Puerto Rico team. Over six innings, Stroman only allowed two baserunners on a hit and a walk.
The bats of Ian Kinsler and Andrew McCutchen combined for four hits and four RBI’s, leading way for the United States 8–0 win over Puerto Rico, capping off the upset as David Robertson picked up the save.
History was made for U.S. baseball in 2017.
