Israel made a good start in its first World Baseball Classic, defeating the number 3 ranked team of South Korea and number 4 ranked Chinese Taipei.
Israel started off with a bang in its first foray into the World Baseball Classic by claiming victory against two top tier teams.
After first clinching a nail-biter in extra innings by a score of 2-1 on Monday against South Korea, a team that was ranked number 3 in the world, Israel succeeded in achieving a resounding victory against number 4 Chinese Taipei by a score of 15-7 on Tuesday. After scoring the first 6 runs by the end of the third inning, Israel tacked on its winning runs in the seventh inning.
The last team Israel will play in its pool (Pool A), hosted by South Korea, is the Netherlands on Thursday. The top two teams in the pool will then advance to the second round in Tokyo, Japan, followed by the semifinals and finals in Los Angeles.
Israel’s roster is practically all non-Israelis, with only 3 Israeli players out of 29 on the team. In accordance with World Baseball Classic rules, Israel included a number of American Jews on its roster (many are experienced Major League Baseball players). The World Baseball Classic allows teams to use players eligible for citizenship or passport holders of their respective countries. All Jews in the Diaspora automatically qualify for Israeli citizenship under Israel’s Law of Return.
By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News