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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
    Czechs eliminate Germans; México in Final World Baseball Classic Qualifier
Nederlands
 MEXICALI (México) -
The Czech Republic registered a big 15-3 victory in eight innings to eliminate Germany on Friday (March 18), Day 2 of the World Baseball Classic Qualifier in Mexicali.
In the evening, at Estadio B-Air, México also won big against Nicaragua, winning 11-0 in 6½ inning to become the first finalist.
On Thursday, both México and Nicaragua barely won from the two European squads.
Nicaragua trailed 3-2 with two outs in the ninth inning against Germany, but won 5-4 in ten innings.
México won only 2-1 against the Czechs.
With its loss today, Germany was eliminated for the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
The Czechs now plays against Nicaragua on Saturday with the winner of that game becoming the second finalist.
In the other Qualifying Tournament in Panama City (Panama), France eliminated Spain, while Colombia defeated Panama to reach the Final.
The fourth and last tournament will be played in September in Brooklyn (USA).
Participating in that event will be Brazil, Great Britain, Israel and Pakistan.
In February the first WBC Qualifier took place in Sydney (Australia).
There, host Australia won the final against South Africa to become the thirteenth country to qualify for the fourth edition of the World Baseball Classic, which will be held in the Spring of 2017.
Canada, China, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, South Korea, USA and Venezuela already have qualified, based on their accomplishments during the last Classic in 2013.
Just as in 2013, the World Baseball Classic will have the status again as World Championship.
Back then, the Dominican Republic won the title and was crowned as World Champion.
In 2011, the Netherlands was the final team to capture the World Championship-title in a World Cup Tournament old-style, which then was held in Panama.
(March 18)
Related Articles:
 Narrow escapes Nicaragua & México in WBCQ openers. (March 17, 2016)
Colombia & Panama open WBC Qualifier with wins. (March 17, 2016)
Australia wins first World Baseball Classic Qualifier. (February 14, 2016)
South Africa second finalist in World Baseball Classic Qualifier. (February 13, 2016)
Australia in Final World Baseball Classic Qualifier. (February 12, 2016)
Australia, South Africa open WBC Qualifier with convincing win. (February 11, 2016)
First World Baseball Classic Qualifier to open in Australia. (February 10, 2016)
Dominican Republic new Classic-champion. (March 19, 2013)
Dutch Team ends up short in semi-final. (March 18, 2013)
Dutch Baseball Team World Champion! (October 15, 2011)
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Game 3 - Germany vs. Czech Republic
The elimination game between Germany and the Czech Republic ended in a 15-3 win for the Czechs, which was surprisingly big score.
During the European Championship in the Czech Republic in 2014, Germany won 5-2 from the Czechs.
However, in the final ranking, Germany finished in fifth place, while the Czechs finished fourth.
Initially, the Czechs trailed 1-0 after two innings, but then rallied for four runs in the third.
Leading 8-2, the Czechs dealt out the final blow with a 7-run rally in the eighth.
Jan-Niclas Stoecklin, who started the above mentioned game for Germany, was the starting again today.
One-and-a-half year ago, he struckout nine batters and gave up only four hits and two runs in seven innings.
Today, he was less dominating in the 5 2/3 inning he pitched.
He struckout three batters, gave up five hits, but also five runs.
John Straka, who was not on the roster in 2014, started for the Czechs.
He also gave up five hits, but allowed only one run in the five innings he pitched.
Stoecklin initially started well, retiring the side with two strikeouts in the first inning.
He was then supported with a run in the bottom of the first inning.
Ken Matthes and Dominique Taylor led off with singles, resulting in runners on first and third base.
Matthes then scored on a sacrifice fly by Donald Lutz, who has played in the Major League for the Cincinnati Reds.
A double play ended the inning.
The Czechs then struck with four (unearned) runs in the third inning.
Petr Zyma led off with a single.
With one out, an error was made on a force play-grounder by pinch-hitter Adam Hajtmar, which brought Zyma to third base.
He then scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by Matej Hejma.
A following single by Mike Cervenak then gave the Czechs the lead.
With two outs, veteran Jakub Malik added a 2-run single to make it 4-1.
In 2010, Malik played in the Dutch big league for Hoofddorp Pioniers.
In the bottom of the third, Sascha Lutz and Nadir Ljatifi led off with singles, but Germany stranded two runners.
Germany again left two runners in the fourth at bat.
The Czechs added a run with one out in the fifth.
Matej Hejma then singled and scored on a following double by Mike Cervenak.
In the sixth, Germany got a run back off of new pitcher Martin Schneider.
Donald Lutz led off with a walk, moved to third base on a single by Ludwig Glaser, then scored on a double play-grounder by Bruce Maxwell.
In the seventh, the Czechs took more distance, scoring three runs off of three pitchers.
With two outs, Mike Cervenak singled, which led to a pitching change.
Will Ohman replaced Kevin Trisl, but walked Jakub Sladek and was replaced by Sven Schuller.
He also walked Jakub Malik to load the bases.
Martin Cervenka then followed with a 2-run single, then a wild pitch accounted for the third run.
The Czechs then put the game out of reach with a 7-run rally in the eighth inning.
A runscoring single by Matej Hejma was followed (after a pitching change) by an RBI-double by Mike Cervenak, who was 4-for-5, scored three runs and batted in three.
After an intentional walk, a run was scored when Jakub Malik walked.
That led to another pitching change.
Daniel Hinz took over, but he was greeted with grand slam homerun by Martin Cervenka that lifted the to 15-2.
Germany managed to score one more run in its seventh on a double by Bruce Maxwell.
After beginning with a good game against Nicaragua, this was a disappointing finish for Germany.
With the big win, the Czechs underscored again that it has a good team.
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Game 4 - México vs. Nicaragua
In a lobsided game, México registered one of its biggest victories in history against Nicaragua, winning 11-0 in a game that ended after 6½ inning due to the international mercy-rule.
A remarkable fact is that México registered only five basehits, only one more than Nicaragua.
However, Nicaragua committed three costly errors.
In the bottom of the first inning, Nicaraguan starter Carlos Teller got the bases loaded, as he walked three batters.
An error on a force play-grounder by Sebastian Elizalde then not only kept the bases loaded, it also led to the first run, as the throw to the plate for a force out ended in a throwing error.
A following single by Agustin Murillo then brought in the next run, which gave México a quick lead.
México again scored twice in the second inning.
Teller again began with a walk and was replaced by Kevin Gadea.
However, he also began with a walk, followed with a strikeout, then gave up a single that loaded the bases.
A grounder by Adrian Gonzalez and a wild pitch then made it 4-0.
Nicaragua registered its first basehit off of Stephen Landazuri in the fourth inning when Jairo Beras led off with a single, but a double play followed.
México then started to put the score almost out of reach by scoring five runs in the bottom of the fourth, with only one run being earned.
It all began when lead-off hitter Alex Mejia reached on an error.
The bases then fot loaded when Juan Pérez singled and José Aguilar was hit by a pitch.
After a pitching change, a run was scored on a passed ball.
With one out and after an intentional walk for Adrian Gonzalez, the next run was scored when José Amador was hit by a pitch.
A force out-grounder produced the next run, then an outfield-error on a hit by Agustin Murillo led to two more runs and made it a 9-0 score.
México scored its final two runs in the sixth, thanks to a double by Agustin Murillo and a passed ball on a strikeout.
In the top of the seventh, Nicaragua got a chance to score at least once.
It got the bases loaded with one out, but then Omar Obrégon grounded into a double play that ended the game.
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