PHOTOS: Israel Beats Netherlands 4-2 in World Baseball Classic, Advances to Quarterfinals

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After beating Korea and Chinese Taipei in the World Baseball Classic this week, Team Israel beat Kingdom of the Netherlands 4-2 Seoul on Thursday, securing the country’s win of Pool A with a clean 3-0 sweep.

After winning Thursday’s matchup and as the winner of Pool A, Israel will play the runner-up of Pool B, expected to be Japan or Cuba, in the opening game of that round.

In the beginning of Thursday’s game, Israel put three runs on the board in the first inning. Netherlands scored in the third, followed by Israel scoring again in the sixth, bringing the score to 4-1. After scoring again in the 8th, the Netherlands loaded the bases in the 9th. Israel put them away with a double play.

Post win, Team Israel manager Jerry Weinstein told reporters “Winning is a good habit.” He explained that with Tokyo already in their sights, the team tried to change their pitcher frequently to keep players well rested ahead of the quarterfinal appearance.

“But you know, it was important for us to win this,” Weinstein said, explaining that the team, made up of Jewish American players, knows full well that they are playing for and representing Israel, and that one of their goals is to benefit Israel’s national baseball federation. The team hopes “to help them build fields, run a program and establish a foundation so that some day it can really be a team of true Israeli National players in this tournament.”

Outfielder Zach Borenstein, referencing the uptick in anti-Semitic incidents and bomb threats on Jewish community centers in the U.S. said “hopefully we can inspire the community to rise against that hate and show people that whatever stereotypes and things that people may hear, it’s a bunch of b.s. Hopefully we can overcome that.”

First baseman Nate Freiman also touched on the subject of anti-Semitism, saying “You tend to hate things that you don’t know very well, and this tournament is about showing that across our borders and cultures, we have more in common than we have different.”

Freiman pointed out that Team Israel was playing against “people from Korea and Taiwan and all over the Dutch empire; we’re all in this to play baseball.”

Israel was look at as a major underdog upon entering the tournament with a ranking of 41st after qualifying for the first time. In an intense turnaround for the WBC, Israel beat 3rd ranked South Korea in 10 innings and followed that with a 15-7 win over 4th ranked Chinese Taipei the next day.

See some of the photos posted to Facebook from the game against the Netherlands by Israel Baseball – World Baseball Classic:

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