Mister Baseball

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.

Wednesday March 12th

Today we did not play our best. And facing a top team from KOREA, the game was lopsided almost all the way. KOREA scored twice in the first, and DONALD LUTZ hit a solo homerun in the second to cut he lead in half. So far, both of our homeruns in this tournament have come of the hands of the LUTZ brothers. Our starter, TIM HENKENJOHANN did not have his best stuff, and had to work really hard to get every single out. A couple of bad-luck defensive plays and mishaps didn’t help our cause as KOREA eventually won by ten-run-rule.

We know that we have a good team, but today was a reminder that we’re not yet where we need to be. Or want to go. KOREA took advantage of our mishaps, played errorless and was aggressive in every aspect of the game. Their pitcher put forth a great effort, keeping our hitters off balance all day long, until being replaced in for the seventh. Our offense could not get much going, managing only four hits.

JENS CORNELSEN came in to relief HENKENJOHANN, but couldn’t stop the bleeding in the fourth. He had some bad luck also, being replaced later by rookie BENEDIKT ANTWI, who was one of the bright spots in today’s game. He had his first senior national team appearance in a bad situation against a tough team, but was able to hold his own. PHILIPP HOWARD also got into the game, getting a base hit in his only at bat. MITCH FRANKE got a day off, and ALEX LAUTERBACH got the start at first, playing solid defense.

COACH FRADY labelled the game as a bonus game, meaning that a win would have been a plus, because the more important games are yet to come. From now on every game will be make-or-break for us. A loss against MEXICO would eliminate us from contention for the third spot for the Olympic games. A win on the other hand would most likely set up a decisive last game against a tough CANADA squad. So after all, we weren’t too discouraged after today’s loss. Sure we would have liked to win or give KOREA a tighter game, similar to the CHINESE TAIPEI game. Nonetheless we still believe in our chance.

Tomorrow we will go out and give all we got. It’s not going to be easy. MEXICO, after most likely winning today, also has a chance to finish third and will be highly motivated. They too have a team formed by mostly professional players. Going into the last two games with a chance to still make it is already a good feeling for us. So let’s see if we can’t take it a step further and make this an exceptional tournament for us!

We are sure that many German supporters will be following the game via the Internet and keeping their fingers crossed.