WBCQ Regensburg: Canada cruises to win at WBC Qualifier

Canada – Germany 11-1 (8)

Germany 000 010 00   1  3 3
Canada  430 100 03  11 12 0

Box score

Canada has won the World Baseball Classic Qualifier in Regensburg, Germany. On Monday evening in front of an attendance of 2.720 people at the Armin-Wolf-Arena the team of manager Ernie Whitt beat Germany 11-1 in eight innings. With the victory Canada has claimed a spot in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, which will be held next March. The number five of IBAF’s Men’s Baseball World Rankings had to go through a qualifier after being winless at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Canada didn’t want another tight ball game against Germany and started hitting right from the start. Two batters into the contest, Chris Robinson belted a two-run homerun off André Hughes down the line in left field. A RBI groundout by Adam Loewen and a fielding error by first baseman Donald Lutz made it 4-0 in the first.

The pouring continued in the second. After two groundouts, Tim Smith and Jimmy van Ostrand added a fifth run with back-to-back doubles, chasing Hughes off the mound. Eugen Heilmann took over and was greeted with a two-run homerun by pitcher turned outfielder Adam Loewen for a 7-0 lead.

Germany was able to somewhat stop the bleeding when Luke Sommer took over on the mound. Only Jimmy van Ostrand was able to do any damage with a solo shot in the fourth extending the advantage to eight runs. In the eighth Canada ended the game. Following two one-out walks Shawn Bowman doubled in two runs to make it 10-1. With runners on the corners after a single by Rene Tosoni, Germany brought in a fifth infielder with Jendrick Speer to avoid the mercy-rule ending. It looked like a great plan, when Skyler Stromsmoe popped out in foul territory just behind first base for the second out. Shawn Bowman tried to draw the throw on third and when the ball got dropped on the transfer he crossed the plate for the final run.

The team of manager Greg Frady couldn’t do much against Andrew Albers. After Eric Suttle broke up the perfect game with a short dribbler down the third-base line to lead off the fourth, Aaron Altherr ended the shutout bid with a solo homerun in the fifth. Donald Lutz had the third German hit with a single to right in the seventh.

Canada’s starter Andrew Albers lived up to his expectations. The left-hander pitched in the finals of the Pan American Games, had an ERA of 0.00 in 15 innings at the IBAF Baseball World Cup last year and was named player of the year 2011 by COPABE. On Monday he shut down the powerful German offense. He allowed just two hits and a run in six innings with his only blemish being Altherr’s homerun. He threw 53 of his 78 pitches for strikes to pick up the win. Mark Hardy and Tom Boleska closed it out for the Maple Leafs.

Germany’s pitcher had a difficult day. Especially André Hughes and Eugen Heilmann simply were overmatched in this game. Hughes gave up four hits, six runs (5 ER) and three walks in just 1 2/3 innings to take the loss. Heilmann followed and issued one run on three hits and a walk. After Sommer and Will Ohman combined to throw 4 2/3 innings of strong relief, Germany’s manager Greg Frady put Daniel Thieben, Adam Kudryk and Martin Dewald on to the mound to finish the game.

However in the end a fourth European team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic was denied entry, as baseball powerhouse Canada has secured its spot in the main event.

The full game is available as video on demand at www.worldbaseballclassic.com

Photos by Walter Keller (top) and Gregor Eisenhuth (bottom right)