Mister Baseball

The fourth day of thrilling baseball at the Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament is in the books. All eight teams will rest tomorrow and refill their energy for the remaining three days.

South Korea sits at the top of the standings after beating Spain easily. They are still undefeated and should have the Olympic berth secured. It is not over mathematically. However they were dominant throughout the tournament, so it is unlikely that they would lose all three remaining games.

The most thrilling match of the day and of the whole event was the clash between Chinese Taipei and Canada. It was an exiting and dramatic with three lead changes, a benches clearing incident, a two-out game tying rally in the ninth and a win in extra-innings in front of a sell-out crowd. Though the 30.000 people in the stadium wanted a different outcome. Both are now tied in second place with a 3-1 record. They will be hunted the rest of the week.

When we are speaking of interesting games. The Australia versus Mexico meeting was as much entertaining than the aforementioned one. The winless Mexicans came into the contest with their backs against the wall. But they will not give up. Their manager was ejected and the offense reacted, scoring six runs after the fifth to seal the first victory. Their chances are still slim, but they are alive. Especially with Germany, Spain and South Africa still on their schedule.

The Aussies also need a spark as they are now tied with Germany, which showed some offensive abilities, defeating South Africa 4-3. However the remaining three days are going to be tough, facing Mexico, South Korea and Canada. They started as one of the big underdogs and were competitive in every of the four games. We will see if the Cinderella story has a happy end.