Its dominant win over the longtime power Netherlands put it in the driver’s seat, and then it followed up with an 8-2 win over host Italy. Israel pulled off a pair of upsets to punch its ticket to Tokyo. The 28-year-old righthander walked none and struck out six. Wagman, a former White Sox and A’s minor leaguer, held South Africa to six hits and one run over seven innings to earn the win. Dodgers Triple-A outfielder Blake Gailen went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Ben Wanger, a Southern California graduate transfer via Yale, went 2-for-3 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. Valencia, the former Twins and A’s third baseman, went 2-for-5 and provided the final blow with a three-run homer in the eighth that gave Israel a 10-run lead and put the mercy rule into effect. The Israelis bounced back in a big way, earning a mercy-rule win over South Africa in a game that was called after eight innings. Israel got off to a 4-0 start in the qualifier and had a chance to clinch Saturday but was upset by the Czech Republic. Israel joins Japan, who earned an automatic berth as the host nation, as teams that have secured the place in the six-team 2020 Olympic field. Israel beat the Dutch 8-1 earlier in the tournament to own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Israel (4-1) tied with three-time defending champion Netherlands for the best record in the six-team field. The Israeli baseball team is headed to the Olympics for the first time.ĭanny Valencia hit a three-run homer, Joey Wagman pitched seven strong innings and Israel beat South Africa 11-1 on Sunday to win the Europe/Africa qualifier and clinch a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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