Dirk Fries, pitcher of the German National Team and the Cologne Cardinals, will give us a daily report about his time at the Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Taiwan.
Saturday 8th
We were geared up and ready for a close game, but this one really it turned into a nail biter. A classic pitcher’s duel between ENORBEL MARQUEZ and YOEL HERNANDEZ developed, with both hurlers dominating through long stretches. While HERNANDEZ was lifted in the 8th Inning, MARQUEZ finished the game, earning the win in a complete game effort that coach GREG FRADY deservingly labelled as one of the best in the history of German Baseball. After all it came at the highest level and most important tournament that we have ever participated in. Just as you come to expect when two high level teams square off, the game was decided late and by one run. That run was provided by SASCHA LUTZ, who took HERNANDEZ deep leading off the 8th.
So finally, after losing to SPAIN in our last couple encounters, we were able to beat them when it counted. They played well, but this time so did we. So after coming up short when coming to this tournament and a European medal were on the line, this time we set the record straight. It is a great feeling being able to show that we are as good a team as them, sometimes we have been wanting to prove to ourselves and our fans for a while now. Sure it took an exceptional effort from our pitcher, but sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
So like I had hoped yesterday, we got our first win of the tournament. Tomorrow we will take on CHINESE TAIPEI. It would be a major upset beating them, so we are giving it a shot. Playing in front of a stadium packed with avid Taipei supporters cheering and chanting their team and possibly booing us is going to be great fun. Let’s see if we can’t pull a rabbit out of hat and surprise them.
On another positive note we won’t have to travel to the DOULIOU Stadium, which is an over an hour away. Taichung Intercontinental Stadium is only 15 minutes away, so playing the early game isn’t all that bad.
