\n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:”https://twitter.com”,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:550,”contentType”:”rich”},{ “__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”Instead, left fielder Daniel Jiménez ran backwards and jumped toward the wall, robbing Loopstock of his second home run of the night.\n\n\”We’re always We’re talking to close \\(innings\\) and eliminate extra bases,” said Spanish coach Nelson Prada after the victory. \n\”We were down, so we \\(needed\\) to eliminate four bases. That was a great play.\”\n\nThe Netherlands still came tantalizingly close to returning to the final on Sunday. Closer Wendell Floranus retired the first two batters before allowing a single to Omar Hernández and walking Edison Valerio. After the batters advanced thanks to a wild pitch and a stolen base, first baseman Jesús Ustariz came to the plate.\n\nUstariz swung massively and missed on each of the first two pitches. After tying the score, Ustariz hit a hard liner down the third base line. Juremi Profar, Jurickson’s MLB brother, made a remarkable play to knock down the ball, but when the tying run came up to score, he attempted to make a wild, no-look throw to take Ustariz to first base. Instead, the ball got away, allowing the lead runner to return home.\n\n\n”I didn’t know the guy caught the ball; it was a great play,” Prada said. “When I saw the ball on the line, I thought we were going to score the two runs. Then I saw the throw to first base – it was a little off the line – and the third base coach did a good job sending the guy to the plate. \”\n\nThat turned out to be enough for Spain: former major leaguer Rhiner Cruz avoided a walk in the bottom of the ninth, ending the game and sending Spain to the final.”,”type “: “text”},{“__typename”:”OEmbed”,”html”:”
For the FIRST time since 1967, we will have a winner who will not be Holland or Italy.
Spain vs. Great Britain on Sunday pic.twitter.com/Bl1HsQdsow
—Michael Clair (@michaelsclair) September 29, 2023
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21:28 UTC
Tournament baseball can be cruel. If you have a bad tackle, a bad mistake or a decision that doesn’t go well, your team’s chances of winning a gold medal evaporate.
That’s how they got here after Friday’s action-packed semi-final.
Great Britain 8, Germany 4
“Relentless.” That’s the word Great Britain coach Drew Spencer used to describe his team and they’ve shown it on the field. Returning to the 2022 World Baseball Classic qualifier, Britain comes from behind to win eight of their last ten games, including a notable four in a row at the European Championship.
That didn’t change on Friday.
While bold and selfless are two other words Spencer uses to describe GB, “relentless is the word we really hold on to,” Spencer said after the win. “We use it to define ourselves. We had that word in our vocabulary before Regensburg (when the team defeated Spain to get to the World Baseball Classic), we had that word in our vocabulary before we went to Phoenix, and we also had that word in our vocabulary with this team. Relentless: this is what I want to define Great Britain baseball.”
After Germany took a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth, GB tied it on a fielder’s choice by left fielder Kennard Dawson. Germany added another at the top of the seventh, and then Great Britain’s bats came to life, posting a sixth in the bottom of the seventh to extend the lead.
Dawson, who normally lines up behind the plate at Brewton-Parker College, earned player of the game honors after going 2-for-4 with one run and two RBIs.
“For me, being from the Virgin Islands, being able to represent a country as big as this is always a great moment,” Dawson said. “(We lost in the) U-23 against the Dutch. I want to come and show that we can do it.”
Winning the game and heading to the third GB European Championship also means a little more for Dawson and his BVI teammates like Ray Mercer and Shamoy Christopher. Dawson dedicated the game to his former coach and mentor in the Virgin Islands.
“We had a coach, Terrence Chinnery. He died about two years ago,” Dawson said. “Any time we can go out on the field together and play for him, it’s always a great feeling for us. I’m always proud of that.”
For seven innings, the Netherlands looked like the team that had won the last four European championships. For seven innings, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which had outscored its first four opponents 52-7, looked like the giants who had won 24 European titles.
Things changed in the eighth inning as Spain began to take advantage of the Kingdom’s 6-3 lead. In the top half, Spain drove in two runs after two singles, a wild pitch, a groundout and a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to one.
Then, in the bottom of the inning, Dutch slugger Sicnarf Loopstock, who hit a home run earlier in the game and has been one of the tournament’s most dominant hitters, came to the plate. He threw a deep fly ball over the left field wall that landed just foul. On his next swing, he straightened the ball. Loopstock began jogging around the bases and Holland, known for his home run celebration dances in the dugout, prepared to spring into action.
Instead, left fielder Daniel Jiménez ran back and jumped toward the wall, robbing Loopstock of his second home run of the night.
“We’re always talking about closing (innings) and eliminating extra bases,” Spanish coach Nelson Prada said after the victory.
“We were down, so (we needed to) throw out four bases. That was a great play.”
The Netherlands were still tantalizingly close to returning to the final on Sunday. Closer Wendell Floranus retired the first two batters before allowing a single to Omar Hernández and walking Edison Valerio. After the batters advanced thanks to a wild pitch and a stolen base, first baseman Jesús Ustariz came to the plate.
Ustariz swung huge and missed on each of the first two pitches. After tying the score, Ustariz hit a hard liner down the third base line. Juremi Profar, Jurickson’s MLB brother, made a remarkable play to knock down the ball, but when the tying run came up to score, he attempted to make a wild, no-look throw to take Ustariz to first base. Instead, the ball got away, allowing the lead runner to return home.
“I didn’t know the guy caught the ball; it was a great play,” Prada said. “When I saw the ball on the line, I thought we were going to score the two runs. Then I saw the throw to first base, it was a little off the line, and the third base coach did a good job sending the guy to the plate “.
That turned out to be enough for Spain: Former major leaguer Rhiner Cruz avoided a walk in the bottom of the ninth inning, ending the game and sending Spain to the finals.
Not only is it a great victory for Spain, it is also a notable moment for European baseball, which has not seen a champion other than the Netherlands or Italy since 1967. Spain will now try to defeat Great Britain and claim its first gold medal. since 1955, while Great Britain seeks its first and last silver in 2007.
“This group of guys are warriors. They bought into every game. We came here and played hard,” Prada said. “Last year we were upset, but we wanted to come back this year and try to do the best for the country.”