The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is a baseball tournament with twenty different countries competing at a chance for the official World Championship of baseball. 

Some of the more heavily favored teams consisted of the United States, Japan, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. With a good amount of Major League Baseball (MLB) players repping their country for the biggest international baseball tournament out there, the pressure was high to see which country could bring home the championship. 

“It is always cool to see players represent their country on the biggest stage,” said Aidan Patterson (11).

Japan, led by Shohei Ohtani and company, was the reigning champion and hoped to make another deep run. But for them, they had their worst tournament results ever as they were eliminated in the quarter finals of this tournament after blowing a big lead to Venezuela. 

For the Dominican Republic, they were led by some of the best major league talent with guys such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Julio Rodríguez, just to name a few. This team was able to put together a dominant run and even broke the WBC tournament home run record with a total of fifteen. With their star-studded lineup, they would roll their way to the semi-finals, where they would meet up against the United States of America (USA). The USA seemed to be the Dominican Republic’s biggest competitor, with a lineup full of MLB stars similar to the Dominican Republic, with players such as Bobby Witt Jr., Paul Skenes, and Bryce Harper. 

“I thought the United States was the clear favorite because they had some of the MLB’s top stars,” said Matthew Alvarado (11). 

With expectations high for both teams, fans were ready for this crucial game between two powerhouses with a spot in the championship on the line. Pitcher Paul Skenes and the bullpen of the USA put on a fantastic showing, holding a tough Dominican Republic lineup to just one run, which came on an early home run in the second inning. Thanks to a home run each in the fourth inning by third baseman Gunnar Henderson and left fielder Roman Anthony, the USA took charge of this game and never looked back. Although the game ended on a controversial pitch at the knees for the Dominican Republic, the USA came out on top. 

The dark horse of the tournament was clearly Italy, as they defeated teams like Mexico and the USA during pool play, which ultimately helped them reach the semifinals versus Venezuela. Italy was led by players such as Vinnie Pasquantino, Jac Caglianone, and Aaron Nola. While Venezuela was led by stars Ronald Acuna Jr, Eugenio Suárez, and Ezequiel Tovar. In the bottom of the second inning, Italy was able to pick up two runs but were held scoreless the rest of the game. As a result of this, Venezuela would score four runs, with three being in the top of the seventh inning, which ultimately helped get them the win and secure them a spot in the championship against the USA. 

With the championship of Venezuela versus the USA now set, Venezuela came in as underdogs, but in no way were they going to let this affect them, as they hoped to give this final game everything they got.

Venezuela was able to put up two runs within the first five innings, coming in at the top of the third and fifth to give Venezuela a two-to-zero lead. As the USA was seemingly out of reach in the bottom of the eighth inning, it was Bryce Harper who would crush a two-run home run to center field to keep the USA alive. As the game headed to the top of the ninth inning, now tied, Venezuela knew they needed to respond, and they would do just that. Luis Arráez would get walked first, then Javier Sanoja would come in to pinch run for Arráez. With his speed, he was able to steal second, putting Venezuela in a good spot to score. Eugenio Suárez would deliver big time with a double into the left field gap, which would give him a double and score a run to put Venezuela ahead. 

“This hit was a game-changer, and the roar from the crowd was crazy,” said Matthew Mitchell (11). 

Pitcher Daniel Palencia of Venezuela would then go on to strike out Roman Anthony with a fastball upstairs to secure Venezuela the World Baseball title, cementing himself and his team in the history books.