USA books Tokyo ticket as Venezuela, Dominicans live to fight another day

Team USA, undefeated in four games, were crowned worthy winners of the WBSC Americas Baseball Qualifying tournament after a 4-2 win over Venezuela on the final day of action at Clover Park in Port Saint Lucie, Florida on Saturday (5 June).

The squad from the United States, ranked second in the world, opened their account with a 7-1 win over Nicaragua and followed it up with 8-6 and 10-1 victories over the Dominicans and Canadians respectively. They sealed their Tokyo ticket with an impressive performance against a competitive Venezuelan side in the tournament finale.

USA manager Mike Scioscia – twice a Major League Baseball World Series winner as a player and once as a manager – saw his side of young minor leaguers and out-of-contract major leaguers keep their cool through a competition where they started under heavy pressure as favourites. In the end, it was 35-year-old veteran Todd Frazier who sealed the crucial win over Venezuela with a 7th-inning home run (his second in as many days).

“It's hard to put into words, because it means a lot to me. This is something that I'll never forget...one of the best moments in my professional career, playing for your country,” said Frazier, formerly of the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees.“You can see the pride that every team had, every player wanted to win so badly.”

The United States – gold-medal winners from Sydney 2000 – will take part in Olympic baseball for the fifth time.

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Earlier in the day, the Dominicans came back from an early deficit to seal the result they needed to knock out the Canadians and keep their hopes of qualifying alive. In a thrilling ninth inning, relief pitcher Jose ‘Jumbo’ Diaz was commanding out of the bullpen and 20-year-old Julio Rodriguez batted in the all-important run to see the islanders win out 6-5 and take a step closer to what would be their second Olympic baseball tournament (having qualified for the inaugural competition in Barcelona in 1992).

There is still a chance for third-place finishers Venezuela to book the sixth and final ticket to Tokyo. The winner of the last-chance global qualifying tournament, in Puebla, Mexico (moved away from Taiwan over COVID-19 concerns) between 22 and 26 June will book passage to the sixth Olympic Baseball Competition, to be held in Fukushima and Yokohama.

Since the withdrawal of the People’s Republic of China and Chinese Taipei, the last-chance tournament will consist of four teams: The Dominicans, Venezuela, the Netherlands and Australia.

Cubans miss baseball’s Olympic return

The last time there was baseball at an Olympic Summer Games was back in 2008, in Beijing, where the South Koreans scooped gold ahead of silver-medallists Cuba (USA picked up the bronze).

The biggest shock at the Americas qualifiers was the elimination of Cuba, three-time Olympic gold medallists. After an opening-day 5-6 defeat at the hands of Venezuela, they lost, by that very same scoreline, to the Canadians in their next game. By the time the Cubans, who have never finished off the podium in all five Olympic baseball tournaments to date, found their form with a 16-3 rout of Colombia, they were already out of the running for a place in the second round – and Tokyo too.

“It hurts,” Cuban manager Armando Ferrer said after the loss to Canada on Tuesday that sealed their fate. “We all know the joy it would have meant for a people for whom this sport runs through their veins, and therefore we regret not having qualified.”

The victorious Team USA joins already qualified Tokyo 2020 (in 2021) squads Japan (hosts), Mexico, Israel and South Korea.

WBSC Americas Baseball Qualifying Results (Second Round)

1. USA
2. Dominican Republic
3. Venezuela
4. Canada