Team Venezuela Wins Their First WBC Championship
Nate Ayala, Vas Vlagos
LoanDepot Park-Miami, Florida: Team Venezuela defeated Team USA in the
World Baseball Classic (WBC) championship game with a score of 3-2. Venezuela relied on great pitching and good hitting to secure their first WBC championship in history.
Eduardo Rodríguez shut down one of the best lineups ever. Team Venezuela’s manager, Omar Lopez’s bullpen recorded 23 outs without allowing a run before Bryce Harper hit a game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to rally team USA. Venezuela’s pitching then stepped back up to keep the game tied in the bottom of the 8th, leading to Daniel Palencia recording a three out save to end the game in the 9th.
Venezuela had timely hitting throughout the game. In the top of the 3rd inning, Maikel Garcia hit a sacrifice fly to Byron Buxton and Salvador Perez scored the first run of the game. Then in the top of the 5th inning, Wilyer Abreu hit a solo home run to make the game 2-0. After Harper's home run in the bottom of the 8th, Venezuela countered with a double by Eugenio Suarez to take back and keep the lead.
Eugenio Suarez shared these words after their memorable win, “We are family here, That’s why we play with passion, with love. Because we feel that jersey, we feel our country in front of us. That’s why this is a lot for us as players, as people, as human beings and as Venezuelans. Now, we are the champions,” (Suarez).
With Venezuela taking the win and winning their first WBC Championship and USA taking second place, will Venezuela keep this winning streak alive in the next WBC?