The Premier12 is the most important international baseball competition after the World Baseball Classic and the Olympic Games and is played by the 12 best national baseball teams according to the ranking Konami/WBSCcurrently commanded by Japan, separated into two groups of six teams.
The tournament, which runs from 9 to 24 November, began yesterday evening at the Estadio Panamericano in Guadalajara (Mexico) with the match group A Between Kingdom of the Netherlands e Panamagame won for 9-8 by the European representative with a single walk-off of Ray Patrick Didder in the tenth inning, allowing the lineup to Gregory the Great, Jonathan Schoop and the “Bolognese” Eugene Bright to win by coming back from a 2-7 deficit in the middle of the fourth inning.
The last two matches of the first day of group A were played during the night with players on the field United States e Puerto Ricoe Mexico e Venezuela. Puerto Rico, led by the U-23 World Cup MVP Edgardo Villegasplayer for the University of Miami, as a minor leaguer and former MLB as Juan Centeno (World Series winner in 2017 with the Houston Astros), Yadiel Rivera and by pitchers Jonathan Bermudez e Raymond Burgos who had brief stints with the San Francisco Giants this year, won for 1-0 with prospect home run Sabin Ceballos having the best of manager training Mike Scioscia who has built a team made up of excellent prospects such as Termarr Johnson e Justin Crawford along with minor league veterans like Matt Shaw and the former Cleveland Guardians pitcher Anthony Goseor major league veterans like the 44-year-old pitcher Rich Hillprotagonist of three shutout innings with three strikeouts and two walks.
The last match of the day between Mexico e Venezuela was won for 8-4 from Vinotinto with two home runs from the former Minnesota Twins Jermaine Palacios ed i lanci dell’ex Philadelphia Phillies Ricardo Pinto (6 appearances this year). Palacios and Pinto aren’t the only Venezuelans with MLB history. Utilities are also in the lineup Diego Castillo, Alexi Amarista e Ehire Adrianza, Carlos Perez e Francisco Arcia. Mexico can also count on players with MLB experience such as the former Yankees and Pirates pitcher Manny Banuelos (losing pitcher of the game), the slugger Chris Carter protagonist of a home run, the shortstop Alan Trejo currently under contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Jose Rojas e Phillip Evans.
This evening, at 8pm, the second day of group A begins with the match between Panama and Venezuela followed later in the night by the United States-Kingdom of the Netherlands (00am) and Puerto Rico-Mexico (3am).
Il group B will start from Wednesday 13 November in Nagoya, Japan, with the challenge between Japan – which features seven veterans of the triumphant World Baseball Classic as well as NPB star players – and Australiaready to show off the first overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Travis Bazzana. Group B will also take place in Taipei where they will face each other on the same day Cuba (with Yoan Moncada and Alfredo Despaigne) and Dominican Republice China Taipei – South Korea.
The top two in each group will qualify for the Super Round which will take place in Tokyo from Thursday 21st to Saturday 23rd, anticipating the finals on Sunday 24 November also in Tokyo, in the iconic Dome.
CALENDAR, RESULTS AND LINK TO PLAY-BY-PLAY
Photo: Justin Crawford (USA) slides to home plate where he is thrown out by catcher Juan Centeno (Puerto Rico). Credit: WBSC.
