USA Baseball Qualifies for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020
Media Contact: Jason Hendrix, media@playtreasurecoastflorida.com
Play Treasure Coast Sports Tourism contact: Ryan Strickland, 772-380-6221 or rstrickland@playtreasurecoastflorida.com
Photo courtesy of Ryan Dowd
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. – On championship Saturday at the WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier Event, the United States punched its ticket to the Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020 with a 4-2 win over Venezuela. Team USA finished tournament play with a perfect 4-0 record and becomes the fifth National Team to advance to the 2020 Tokyo Games, joining #1 Japan, #3 Korea, #5 Mexico and #18 Israel.
With Dominican Republic’s 6-5 win over Canada in the 1 p.m. contest, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela claimed their spots in WBSC Baseball Final Qualifier June 22-26 in Puebla, Mexico, eliminating Canada from Olympic competition.
At Estadio de Béisbol Hermanos Serdán, home of Mexican Baseball League’s Pericos de Puebla, the winner of the Final Qualifier will earn the sixth and final berth into the Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020. The Final Qualifier event will now include just Australia and Netherlands, as Chinese Taipei withdrew from the final event on June 2.
#12 Canada 5 - #10 Dominican Republic 6 (Box Score)
The matchup between Canada and Dominican Republic was the equivalent of a 12-round boxing match between two heavyweights going the distance. The lead either changed hands or the game was tied on six separate occasions through nine innings of play, with #10 Dominican Republic pulling out the narrow 6-5 victory over #12 Canada.
Baseball Canada raced out to the early lead in the opening frame with three consecutive hits. Third baseman Eric Wood connected for the first hit of the game with a triple to the left-center field gap. On the next pitch from Dominican starter Raul Valdés, designated hitter Connor Panas slid an RBI-single down the left field line, giving Canada the 1-0 lead. On a 1-2 count, shortstop Daniel Pinero pushed Canada’s gap to 3-0, connecting for a two-run home run.
The Dominican Republic chipped away at Canada’s lead over the next four innings to eventually take a 4-3 advantage, flipping the momentum. With an RBI-single by shortstop Jeison Guzmán in the second inning and a two-run single by designated hitter Juan Francisco in the third, the game now sat tied at 3-3. The D.R. took its first lead of the day, 4-3, two innings later on a solo home run by catcher Charlie Valerio.
Down but not out, Canada battled back in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 4-4 and then regained the lead, 5-4, for the second time of the game in the top of the eighth. Pinero continued to be a one-man wrecking crew for Canada as the shortstop recorded his second home run of the contest in the sixth inning and drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth with an RBI-single to center. Pinero finished the day with a 3-for-4 showing at the plate, driving in four of Canada’s five runs.
A two-out rally in the bottom of the eighth by the Dominican Republic saw the lead change hands for the fourth and final time in the contest. As a runner stood on second base, Gustavo Núñez singled to center to tie the game at 5-5. With two runners aboard, right fielder Julio Rodriguez drove in the game-winning run with an RBI-single up the middle.
D.R. closer Jairo Asencio shut down Canada in the ninth, striking out all three batters to seal the 6-5 Dominican Republic victory.
Prior to the contest, the Vice Mayor of Port St. Lucie and City Council member Shannon Martin threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
#8 Venezuela 2 - #2 United States 4 (Box Score)
After two scoreless innings of play, Venezuela plated the first run of the game on a solo home run to deep left by third baseman Hernán Pérez. The tide turned in favor of the United States in the bottom of the fourth as right fielder Eric Filia lifted a two-run home run over the right field fence to give the Stars and Stripes a 2-1 lead. An inning later, third baseman Todd Frazier connected for his third of four hits of the contest, using a ground rule double to plate left fielder Luke Williams for the 3-1 lead. Williams previously reached on a chopper through the right side of the infield.
Venezuela cut the USA’s gap to one, 3-2 in the top of the sixth as Diego Rincones and Ramon Flores connected for back-to-back doubles. Rincones scored on Flores’ ground rule double that hit off the warning track and bounced over the right-center field fence.
Frazier’s bat continued to guide the USA, giving the hosts a 4-2 lead in the seventh with a solo home run that bounced off the rooftop of the Jim Beam Bourbon Bar in Clover Park’s left field.
USA’s Edwin Jackson, Jr. picked up the win in relief while David Robertson was credited with the save.
In the decisive game, Frazier went 4-for-4, driving in two runs. The third baseman scored twice and finished a triple shy of the cycle. Overall, Frazier went 6-for-15 (.400 average) during the tournament, connecting for two doubles and two home runs that saw five runs driven in. The Point Pleasant, N.J., native also scored on six occasions.
Prior to the contest, Port St. Lucie City Council member Stephanie Morgan, President/CEO of Play Treasure Coast Sports Tourism Rick Hatcher, and Olympian, World Series Champion, and South Florida native Charles Johnson threw out the ceremonial first pitches.
The complete results from the Baseball Americas Qualification Event for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020 can be accessed below:
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