The Chinese baseball team lost to the Czech team 5-8.
Young and fearless, the China men’s baseball team "sent" a home run to the world’s number one Japanese team on its first show back on the world stage; But also because of their youth, China men’s baseball players tasted the bitterness of being "reversed" after 12 hours.
On March 10th, in Tokyo Dome Gymnasium, the second round of the 5th world baseball classic (hereinafter referred to as WBC) Group B continued. After nearly four hours of fighting, the Chinese baseball team finally lost to the Czech team 5-8, and suffered two consecutive defeats.
"It was a difficult game and it was hard to accept the result of losing." As Dean, the 75-year-old coach of China team, said, China fell to the last moment in the twists and turns, and lost to a team that was all unprofessional players. "Today was a memorable victory, but we lost the victory."
However, in Dean’s view, these young China players must "pay tuition fees" when they grow up. "You can regret it today, but after waking up, you must go all out for the next game."
The Chinese baseball team is one step away from victory.
The outcome was in an instant, and the China flag was seen on the field.
"Today, I saw the flag of China in the stadium. I don’t know if they are really China fans, but they gave us encouragement." After the game, China coach Dean felt this way.
For China, the WBC schedule is not easy.
After five years, he returned to the stage of the world’s top baseball game, and fought with the Japanese team for four hours in the first game amid the clamor of more than 46,000 Japanese fans. Then, after only 12 hours of adjustment, they stood in front of the Czech team in the first round.
Although coach Dean and his team made special arrangements for personnel rotation, and saved several main players for the second game, judging from the opening situation of the second game, the China team did not completely get out of the fatigue of the first stop.
The Czech team, which took the lead in attacking, hit hits continuously in the first half of the first inning, and scored 2 points first, while Zhao Fuyang, the starting pitcher that coach Dean specially reserved for this game, failed to enter the state. The 23-year-old young pitcher was replaced by Dean after only throwing 1 2/3 innings.
In the third game, the Czech team hit another home run, expanding the difference to 3 points.
On the one hand, the Czech Republic made great strides in line-playing, and on the other hand, China’s line-playing was slow to find its state. Until the second half of the fifth inning, China’s hits were still zero.
However, the Czech pitchers also made mistakes, throwing four balls to give China a point.
With a 1-4 deficit, China entered the offensive game in the second half of the seventh game. At this critical moment, Zhang Baoshu, a 39-year-old veteran who participated in WBC four times, became the key player to turn the situation around.
His double hit brought vitality to China’s bench, and then he stole the base and went to third base. Then, China’s Kou Yongkang and Luo Jinjun hit hits one after another. Under the pressure of China, the Czech pitcher and first baseman also made frequent mistakes. China pulled back four points with four hits, reversing the score from 1 to 4 to 5 to 4.
At that moment, the players on the bench of China team walked on the sidelines together to celebrate with the players who scored.
The Chinese baseball team once reversed the score.
However, the charm and cruelty of competitive sports lies in its unpredictability.
After both sides drew a blank in the eighth inning, after China pitcher Gong Haicheng put the Czechs on base in the first half of the ninth inning, coach Dean sent Zhu Quan, the "end pitcher"-but it was this substitution that made the Czechs hit a 3-point home run.
That is, this hit completely changed the atmosphere on the court-then, the Czech team scored another point with two hits in succession, realizing the reversal.
"Zhu Quan did very well in the bullpen, and he held the ball well. He said he was in good shape. My misjudgment was that the first game didn’t go as we expected. This led to the final result. "
Dean also put the blame on his own tactical arrangement when he resumed the defeat. "Maybe it would be better to use Zhu Quan at the beginning of the ninth inning, but Gong Haicheng showed his fighting spirit, but he felt a little tired later, so he gave his opponent four balls, which had to be said, which had an impact on the result."
"Our pitching lineup is too weak." After resuming the turning point of the whole game, coach Dean said something he said after the first game.
But Dean also said: "China social networks and media have given us positive comments, and Japanese media have also given us a lot of enthusiastic encouragement. The final result is regrettable, but we also showed what China can do. "
Many people in the Czech baseball team are not professional players.
Respectable opponents, they are amateurs.
It is worth mentioning that Zhang Baoshu, a 39-year-old "four-dynasty veteran" who sounded the counterattack horn for China in this game, and Zhu Quan, the "end pitcher" who was finally robbed by his opponent, are both newcomers of China in this WBC.
According to the rules of the WBC Classic, as long as the player goes back three generations and one member of his family is of China nationality, he can represent China.
Because of this, including Zhang Baoshu, Korean professional baseball pitcher Zhu Quan, Angel Little League pitcher Alan Carter and the professional outfielder Shinsha Yongsuke of the day before yesterday all put on the shirts of the China team.
However, compared with the professional players recruited by China for this WBC, the Czech team, which defeated China in the last minute, is composed of a group of "non-professional" players.
According to the reporter from The Paper, except for a few players who play in NCAA or local schools in Czech Republic, other players have their own formal jobs, some are teachers, some are firefighters, some are stock traders, and some are company bosses.
"They all have their own jobs, just because they love them and then take out their spare time to actively train." The relevant person in charge of the Czech baseball association revealed.
"In fact, not many people in the Czech Republic know that we still have such a baseball team, but we have stood on the best baseball stage in the world and we have been sponsored."
Czech baseball team.
Compared with the young China team and the young players who are all professional players, Czech players are not only "unprofessional" but most of them are over 30 years old. But it was such a group of players who persisted to the end and made a 4-0 wave in the first half of the ninth inning, completing the reversal.
"I learned about the history of Czech baseball before the game. Their story is very touching. We once overtook, but we didn’t expect to lose four points in the ninth inning. "
As coach Dean said, young players in China should learn from these "non-professional" players in the Czech Republic-although they often make mistakes, their calm mentality and stable play at critical moments are the key factors to turn the situation around.
"There are still two games left. Although I lost today, I am proud of the efforts of our players." As coach Dean said, these players have the opportunity to become the future of China baseball, but only if they can learn and grow in failure. "
"I hope they can be full of strength in the future to face the future."
