Panama, Nicaragua Move On To WBC Finals

Qualifier No. 3:  Panama City, Panama
Teams: Spain, France, Panama, Colombia
Schedule:
March 17 (All Times EST)
Colombia 9, Spain 2
Panama 9, France 2
March 18
France 5, Spain 3
Colombia 6, Panama 3
March 19
Panama 7, France 4
March 20
Colombia vs. Panama, 7 p.m.

Panama 7, France 4

France grabbed the early lead Saturday, but Panama took advantage of a dropped foul pop to rally and win, setting up Sunday’s finale against Colombia.

The French scored twice in the first on Frederic Hanvi’s RBI double and a sacrifice fly by A’s catcher Andy Paz. France made it 3-0 in the fourth when Panama righthander Angel Cuan balked with the bases loaded, scoring Ernesto Martinez.

But Panama rallied in the fifth. Isaias Velasquez singled home Jorge Bishop for the first run. After fielder’s choice made it 3-2, Panama loaded the bases. French second baseman Frederic Walter dropped a foul pop that would have been the third out and then 17-year-old Antoine Villard walked two batters to give Panama the lead.

The French recovered in the bottom of the inning when Rene Leveret homered to tie the score, but Panama took the lead for good in the seventh when pinch-hitter Carlos Quiroz drew a bases-loaded walk.

“I always say that in the game you usually have a couple of storms, two storms to weather a little bit, France manager Eric Gagne, the former Dodgers all-star closer, told reporters. “I think if we would have kept it right there it would have been a little bit of a momentum change. It’s easy to look back now and say, ‘Ah we could have done this, we could have done that.’ But I think we’ve got to look at what we’ve done. It’s very positive, it’s very good.”

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MEXICALI QUALIFIER

Qualifier No. 2:  Mexicali, Mexico
Teams: Czech Republic, Germany, Mexico, Nicaragua
Schedule:
March 17 (All Times EST)
Nicaragua 5, Germany 4, 10 innings
Mexico 2, Czech Republic 1
March 18
Czech Republic 15, Germany 3
Mexico 11, Nicaragua 0
March 19
Nicaragua 7, Czech Republic 6, 11 innings
March 20
Mexico vs. Nicaragua, 10 p.m.

Nicaragua 7, Czech Republic 6, 11 innings

Nicaragua overcame an early deficit against a surprising Czech team, rallying to advance to Sunday’s finale against host Mexico. The Czechs, who have one player in affiliated ball opposed to 11 for Nicaragua, grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first on Jakub Malik’s homer.

But two Czech throwing errors allowed Nicaragua back in the game, including a bad throw by Czech shortstop Petr Zyma in the eighth that allowed two runs to score and tie the game 4-4.

The game went to extra innings, which in the WBC means special rules as teams start the inning with runners on first and second. Nicaragua scored three times in the 11th for a 7-4, but the Czechs scored twice to make it 7-6 before righthander Jose Saenz struck out the final two batters to clinch the win.