Sunday night, both Mexico and Colombia qualified for the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Mexico beat Nicaragua (MEX 12, NIC 1) to win the Mexicali qualifier while Colombia beat Panama (COL 2, PAN 1) in the Panama City qualifier.
Mexico, which was led by Dodgers slugger Adrian Gonzalez, dominated their qualifier, going a perfect 3-0 and outscoring their opponents 25-2. Gonzalez didn't get much to hit, predicably. He went 2-for-6 with six walks in the three games. Nicaragua, Germany, and the Czech Republic were in the qualifying bracket as well.
Colombia was in a qualifier with Panama, France, and Spain. They also went a perfect 3-0, though they didn't tower over the competition like Mexico. In fact, Colombia trailed 1-0 in Sunday night's game until Mets farmhand Dilson Herrera clubbed a two-run homer in the eighth. To the action footage:
That's former Rockies closer Manny Corpas on the mound, by the way. Herrera took an ex-big leaguer deep to give Colombia the lead. Independent league player Horacio Acosta nailed down the save in the ninth inning.
Australia won their qualifying tournament last month to clinch a spot in the 2017 WBC. There is one final qualifying bracket left. Pakistan, Brazil, Great Britian, and Israel will play the six-game qualifier in Brooklyn in September.
Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, South Korea, United States, and Venezuela all clinched berths in the 2017 WBC thanks to their finishes in previous years.
