2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers 1 and 2

World Baseball Classic Qualifier
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The World Baseball Classic is back for it's 3rd  tournament in 2013. This time around, some teams will  have to fight their way into the tournament through a qualifying round. For the last two WBC's, 16 teams played in the tournament. The 4 teams that didn't win a game in the 2009 WBC will now to go through qualifying round. These teams are Canada, Chinese Taipei, Panama, and South Africa. Each team will play in one of the four qualifiers. The first two qualifiers were held in Jupiter, Florida from September 19-23 and Regensberg, Germany from the 20th-24th. 

The format for the qualifiers is a double-elimination. There are six games per qualifier. The winners of the first two game will face off in the next round as the losers face off in an elimination game. The winner of the elimination game faces the loser of the round one winner's game. The winner of the winner's game is automatically in the finals. The winner of the other elimination game plays in the finals. 

The first qualifier in Jupiter, Florida at Roger Dean Stadium had France, Israel, Spain, and South Africa. South Africa never won a game at the 2006 and 2009 WBC's. The IBAF World Rankings for all teams are Spain at 18th, 35th is South Africa, France placed at 37th, and Israel at 54th.

In the first round, Israel played South Africa. Israel won the game 7-3. After scoring one run in the top of the first off a Nate Freiman solo shot, no one scored until the seventh inning. Israel scored one run in the seventh, three in the eighth, and two in the ninth. South Africa staged a come back in the bottom of the ninth, scoring three runs, but it wasn't enough. Freiman hit another homer in the ninth. In the other first round match-up, Spain shutout France 8-0. Spain, led by 2B Paco Figueroa who went 3 for 4 with two ribbies and 2 runs scored, put 2 runs across in the 1st, 3 more in the 2nd, and an additional 2 in the third. That sealed the deal for the Spaniards. Spain's starting pitcher, Nick Schumacher, went 6.1 innings giving up only four hits and had four strikeouts.

Nate Freiman
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Israel and Spain then faced off for an automatic spot in finals. It was scoreless through five innings. Freiman hit his third round-tripper of the tournament in the top of the sixth to put Israel up 2-0. In the bottom of the inning, Spain decreased the deficit to one. Two innings later, Freiman hit a two-run homer to make the score 4-1. Spain made up a run in the bottom of the ninth, but could only muster across one run. Israel clinched a spot in the finals, while Spain had to play in  another game to try to get to the finals. In an elimination game, South Africa defeated France, 5-2. France scored their two runs in the first inning and couldn't score for the rest of the game. South Africa got two runs across in the fifth. Nine innings wasn't enough for this match-up. South Africa got three runs in the 11th to win the game. France was eliminated. South Africa finalized a game vs. Spain for a spot in the finals.

The elimination game between Spain and South Africa was a blowout. After a scoreless first, Spain had back-to-back four run innings. That put the game out of reach. Spain added five more runs to pad the lead. All South Africa could get was three runs. Spain's domination put them in the finals, while South Africa's run is over. 

Yunesky Sanchez
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The finals was an intense match-up that would end up going into extras. Israel got started early, having two runners cross home in the first inning. Both teams scored one run in the third inning, and then three in the fourth. Spain got one more in the fifth to bring the deficit to one. Spain equalized in the seventh on a groundout. Spain took the lead in the eighth. Israel tied it up in the bottom of the inning. At the end of the nine, the score was tied at 7. In the tenth, Yunesky Sanchez brought in two runners on his fourth hit of the day. Israel could not get the two runs needed to continue the game. Spain got the 9-7 victory and will be playing the World Baseball Classic.

Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, and Great Britain participated in the second qualifier in Regensberg, Germany at Armin-Wolf Baseball Arena. Canada was 2-1 at the 2006 tournament and missed making the second round by a tiebreaker. At the 09' WBC, Canada lost to the US and Italy to put them in this situation. In the IBAF World Rankings, Canada placed at 5th on the rankings, hosts Germany are ranked 17th, Great Britain is in the 24th spot, and the 25th spot is filled by the Czech Republic.

The first game of the qualifier in Germany, between Canada and Great Britain, was close to start, but by the end it wasn't even close. The game was tight for six innings. At the end of six, the score was 3-1. At the bottom of the seventh, Canada went off and scored eight runs. That put into effect the ten run mercy rule and Canada got the win. The ten run mercy rule can be used in the seventh inning or later, while the fifteen run mercy rule can come into effect after the fifth inning. In the other game of the first round, Germany embarrassed the Czech Republic. Germany scored three runs in the first. The Czech Republic scored one in the fifth to cut the deficit to two. Then, Germany went on a roll, scoring eight runs in the fifth and then five runs in the sixth before the fifteen run mercy rule came into effect. 

Jimmy Van Ostrand
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The winner's game between Canada and Germany was also a high-scoring affair. Canada scored three runs in the first, but Germany countered quickly with three of their own in the second. Both got one across in the third, and then went scoreless for the next three innings. Canada broke the game wide open with five in the seventh. Germany could only counter with two. Canada added on with two in the eighth and five in the ninth. Canada's Jimm Van Ostrand hit two homers in the game. Van Ostrand was the best player of the first two qualifiers. He was tied for first with the most home runs (4) and hits (7). He also was number one RBI's (10), runs (9) total bases (20), Slugging Percentage (1.538), and OPS (2.138). The elimination game between Great Britain and the Czech Republic wasn't that close. Great Britain scored three in the first and three more in the third. The Czech Republic got two runs in their half of the third. Czech Republic go one more in the fourth. After a few innings of scoreless ball, Great Britain scored three more in the seventh and two in the eighth. The Czech Republic scored a few more runs, but not enough to make it close as Great Britain eliminated the Czech Republic, 12-5.

In the elimination game to see who will face Canada in the finals, Germany destroyed Great Britain. Germany scored three runs in the first and two in the second. After two innings of failing to have runners cross the plate, Germany scored four in the fifth, one in the sixth, and six in the seventh. The only runs Great Britain could score was one run in the seventh. Germany made it to the finals, while Great Britain was sent packing. 

The finals between Canada and Germany, like many games in the tournament, didn't end after nine innings due to a mercy rule. Canada started off hot, getting four runs in the first and three in the second. One more run came in the fourth for Canada. Germany got one back in the fifth. After staying 8-1 for a few innings, Canada scored 3 runs in the eighth to end the game early due to the ten run mercy rule. The win means that Canada will be back at the World Baseball Classic for the third straight year.