Italy and Spain opened the WBSC Premier12 Barcelona Qualifier with come-from-behind wins at Camp Municipal de Béisbol Carlos Pérez de Rozas. The Azzurri claimed a 4-3 upset over Colombia, ranked one place ahead of them in the WBSC Men’s Baseball poll, on a two-out double, while No. 26 Spain had to overcome a pair of solo shots from No. 17 Germany to force extra innings.
Colombia – Italy
In the midday game, Colombia took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth, but it was Italy who took the lead first. After Ricardo Paolini was plunked to lead off the frame, a stolen base and a passed ball put Paolini on third with two outs, and Blue Jays’ prospect Giaconino Lasaracina lined a ball up the middle for the 1-0 lead. However, Colombia finally solved Italian veteran Matteo Bocchi in the following half inning, knocking him out of the game with three runs in the fourth.
It took another four innings for either side to plate a run, as Italy got to reliever Kevin Escorcia with back-to-back hits by Alberto Mineo and Renzo Martini. Noel González dropped a sacrifice bunt, but Escorcia failed to get the out at first. His throw went wide, and Mineo and pinch-runner Williams Wong scored the tying runs, while González advanced to third.
Ezequiel Zabaleta then finally registered a pair of outs for Colombia, both on strikes. However, Gabriele Angioi roped an RBI-double for the go-ahead run, and Manager Francisco Cervelli turned the ball over to Claudio Scotti, just as he did in the World Baseball Classic, and the big right-hander slammed the door for the save.
Ettore Giulianelli earned the win with a scoreless eighth, and was one of sixth Italian pitchers. Bocchi struck out six in 3.2 innings to start, and allowed three of Colombia’s five hitters. Mineo had two of the Blue-and-White’s hits, with the team combining for six. Lasaracina was 1-for-1 with three walks and a stolen base.
Germany – Spain
Markus Solbach and Yannic Walther stole the show for the first two-thirds of the game, but Germany headed into the seventh with only a 1-0 lead. That single run had come from a mammoth solo shot by Walther, the Brewers’ rising catching prospect, while Solbach had tossed six shutout innings.
Finn Bergmann doubled Germany’s lead in the seventh with a line drive homer that just snuck out of Pérez de Rosas Field, but it was only the third safety for Baseball Deutschland. Spanish starter Elian Leyva departed after 6.1 frames, having struck out five against only five baserunners, but was in position to take the loss.
“I thought we were dominating,” recalled Spain’s Manager Marvin Benard, “but they had the lead, and I felt sorry for our pitchers. They were doing an outstanding job, and we had to find a way to give them a chance to win.“
Solbach finally ran out of fuel with two outs in the seventh, having struck out six of the last seven batters. However, after issuing the first base on balls of the game to former minor leaguer Frank Hernández and then a hit to ex-Met Luis Guillorme, a pitching change turned disastrous. A hit batter loaded the bases for Omar Hernández, who roped a line drive to center to score two.
Both nations had opportunities before the end of regulation, but Spain’s Rubén Menes, in particular, was electric, whiffing six in 2.2 shutout frames in relief of Leyva. Junior Bonilla entered in the tenth and worked around a successful bunt from Tristan Russell with the two tiebreaker runners on. After Walther was intentionally walked, Bonilla then induced a foul pop and a K to turn things over to Spain’s offense, which had put runners on base all game..
Omar Hernández replicated Russell’s sacrifice and Félix Stevens was then deliberately issued first base, before a particularly wild pitch allowed the leadoff tiebreaker runner, Guillorme, to race home with the walkoff run.
“These are the games that can turn someone not interested in our sport into a baseball fan,” explained Benard afterwards. “This is a huge win. It is huge for our fans, it is huge for baseball development in Spain, and it is huge because it takes some of the pressure off us. Starting with a win in a short tournament is very important.“
Spain collected 11 hits, with three apiece from Frank Hernández and Guillorme, while Germany finished with just five. Bergmann added two free passes to his dinger as the top Deutschlander in the lineup.
Germany will take on Colombia in the high noon game tomorrow, while Spain will contest Italy at 7 p.m. Find out more on the tournament in our preview [link], with the full schedule and streaming information here [link].
Photo copyright WBSC.