Brazil team hopes to plant flag at Ward Baseball Classic
Rodrigo ‘Bo’ Takahashi spoke with USA TODAY Sports about the growth of baseball in Brazil and why his team plays the underdog role in the WBC.
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HOUSTON — Joseph Contreras tried to sleep Friday night, but it was impossible.
His cell phone kept ringing. A friend was calling. His teammates at Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Roswell, Georgia, were screaming. Coaches checked in and families were elated.
By the time he finally fell asleep, he had already received hundreds of text messages. Then I woke up in the early morning to find hundreds more text messages waiting for me.
Hey, when you’re a 17-year-old who skips school to make excuses to hit three-time MVP Aaron Judge into a double play at the World Baseball Classic, life happens quickly.
“My phone broke,” Contreras said. “We have a group chat and it was just crazy. It was like, ‘Let’s go, you’re the guy!’
“And it was really exciting and it lasted all this year, knowing that they were always going to have my back, so I could feel the presence of not just me but the entire support staff.”
Contreras, the youngest player in the World Baseball Classic, burst onto the scene Friday night as he represented Brazil against the best batting lineup in the world.
He came in throwing a 97 mph fastball, a forkball and a changeup, and while his 1 1/3-inning stint wasn’t perfect, he experienced some surreal moments that he will cherish forever.
Bases loaded. One out.
He acts as a judge at the plate.
Then he induced an inning-ending grounder into a double play, and the entire baseball world was buzzing.
“The scouting report was to hit him hard, and if we hit him, make sure it’s up and away. So I was like, OK, I’m going to throw a fastball up and away. Then, one-on-one, I needed to get a count, so I decided to hit him hard with the two-seam,” Contreras said.
Boom, Judge hit a regular ground ball just 77.2 mph from the bat to third baseman Leonardo Reginat, starting a double play.
The next thing Contreras knew, he was dancing and celebrating from the mound as his Brazilian teammates screamed.
“Looking back now, I realize how big it was with one out and the bases loaded. At that moment, I thought, ‘I just have to execute my pitch and somehow get him out. I just execute my pitch. I just have to somehow get him out,'” Contreras said. fly ball. Maybe grounder. Just force weak contact. ”
Certainly, it caught the attention of the pro scouts in attendance. If Contreras were 47th.th There are 46 other players on MLB.com’s list of draft prospects who will be curious to see who is ahead of him.
“I think this just shows the scouts that my players are playing,” said Contreras, who has verbally committed to Vanderbilt. “I just followed my dad’s advice. He told me to keep attacking the zone. He also told me to not be afraid and to keep working with what I have.”
“At the end of the day, I need to get more outs or strikeouts. That’s going to help me get to the next level.”
And after seeing Contreras’ performance on Friday, there is no doubt in the minds of Judge and the other players on Team USA that they will one day face him again in the big leagues.
“I know you wouldn’t have done that at that age,” the judge said. “It’s just great. I know he’s had some poise on the mound. He’s throwing 160 miles per hour. He’s playing against Team USA, which we’ve seen on TV. A lot of people have seen on TV.”
“It was just impressive to see him control himself there and get out of a big jam. And he had some good ones.”
After Brazil fights his final WBC match, he will return to reality and high school.
But oh, does he have a story to tell his comrades back home.
“Can you imagine?” American starter Logan Webb said. “This guy was throwing in a high school game a week ago and now he’s throwing 98 mph against our lineup. It’s impressive to watch.”
