MIAMI — It wasn’t personal, but sorry Venezuela couldn’t follow the script.
Venezuela stepped into Italy’s glass slipper and celebrated on the field Monday night in front of all its adoring fans, earning a come-from-behind 4-2 victory and advancing to the World Baseball Classic’s first championship game.
Venezuela and Team USA will face off for the WBC title at Lawn Depot Park starting at 8 p.m. ET.
And, oh, the US government recently arrested the president of Venezuela and is selling off the country’s oil reserves.
But Venezuelan coach Omar López had no intention of delving into politics. He is particular about baseball.
“I think it’s more important for us to keep the country happy and celebrating and making noise,” Lopez said. I’m ready. ”
Miami’s die-hard fans are no different, and they want Venezuela to be at the top of the baseball world.
“I was looking forward to coaching a team that would allow our country to celebrate moments like this,” Lopez said. “They come together with the same slogan, the same goal, support us and pray for us…
“As God pleases, we want to give that joy to people. Then we can contribute to the mental health and lives of the people of Venezuela, so that makes us very happy.”
But on Monday, for the longest and most uncomfortable moment, it looked like Venezuela might become the latest team to lose to Italy.
Italy completely dominated the crowd of 35,382 all night, getting just two hits from pitchers Aaron Nola and Michael Lorenzen, leading 2-1 heading into the seventh inning.
However, they came back roaring back, just as they did in the quarterfinals against Japan, coming from behind 5-2 to win 8-5.
When it all started, Gleyber Torres was at first base with two outs. No. 9 batter Jackson Cholio singled to center field, sending Torres to third base. Ronald Acuña Jr. hit an infield hit to tie the game. Michael Garcia then hit an RBI homer, and three-time batting champion Luis Arraez hit another RBI homer for a 4-2 lead.
Venezuela’s bullpen did the rest, limiting Italy to just two harmless singles after the second inning.
Italy’s national team had a ‘humiliating’ experience with the WBC
This team, whose members were mostly American-Italians, certainly played some great baseball throughout the WBC. They did everything they could to remain undefeated, and rather than rely on their beleaguered bullpen, they piggybacked on Nola and Lorenzen and went for broke.
It backfired, but when Italy left that night, they drank wine and put away the espresso machine, knowing they were still shocking the world.
They introduced baseball to the world in Italy, and someday there will be kids who want to play professional sports using their arms instead of their legs.
“It’s a very humbling feeling to know that we were able to achieve this position in the Italian Baseball and Softball Federation,” said first baseman Vinny Pascantino. “We had a pretty good feeling about reaching the quarter-finals in 2023, but this is a completely new experience.
“To the children of Italy, please know that we are doing this for you. We hope that in 20 years’ time the Italian team in the World Baseball Classic will be full of Italians, like Italian speakers from Italy. That is the goal of this project.”
