Prince George Axemen – Germany 4-9
GER 000 000 153 9 15 1 PGA 000 010 003 4 5 3
The German national team won their first playoff game at the World Baseball Challenge on Friday 9-4 against the locals Prince George Axemen and will play British Columbia on Saturday morning in their next game. They still can make the finals on Sunday.
In the quarterfinal both teams exchanged zeros in the first few frames, before the Axemen took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth on a RBI fielder’s choice by Paul Wilson. But Germany came back. They tied the contest in the seventh when Cedric Bassel scored on a throwing error by reliever Andrew Brock after having reached with a one-out double. One frame later Chris Howard initiated the decisive rally with a two-run double down the left field line. Sascha Lutz, Jendrick Speer and Octavio Medina also had RBIs in the period.
Bassel, Lutz and Medina added three more runs in the top of the ninth with a pair of run-scoring groundouts and a single. Prince George cut off three runs of the deficit in the bottom of the last frame thanks to a three-run homerun by Charlie Strandlund, but it was too little too late.
Enorbel Marquez-Ramirez (W 2-0) pitched eight innings for the win, allowing just three hits, a run and five bb. He struck out five. Shawn Schaefer (PGA) began for Prince George and matched the German southpaw for 6 1/3 innings. He gave up nine hits, an unearned run and three walks. Brock, who replaced Schaefer in the seventh, took the loss.
Germany will face British Columbia at 2pm CET on Saturday, after they beat the Bahamas 14-1 in game one on Friday. The winner of this matchup will take on Canada in the evening to play for the second finals berth. The Maple Leafs lost 0-1 against the USA on Friday evening. With the victory Team USA already has reached the finals on Sunday. The Bahamas and the Axemen are going to play for fifth place.
Schedule & Results:
Results Friday, July 24:
Playoff #1: British Columbia – Bahamas 14-1 (7)
Playoff #2: Prince George Axemen – Germany 4-9
Playoff #3: USA – Canada 1-0
All Box scores
Schedule Saturday, July 25:
11am Playoff #4: Germany – British Columbia (loser finishes in fourth)
2pm Playoff #5: Bahamas – Prince George Axemen (winner finishes in fifth place)
7pm Playoff #6: Canada – Winner #4 (winner reaches finals, loser finishes third)
Sunday, Jul 26:
4pm Finals: USA – Winner #6
(all times local)
You can follow the games via live stream on the official website www.worldbaseball.ca
