A baseball team like no other

[Mosby]

1. Israel falls to Japan, ending miracle run at baseball tournament

Israel’s miracle run at the 2017 World Baseball Classic came to an end Wednesday afternoon, as the blue-and-white team fell to Japan 8-3, knocking it out of the tournament after two weeks of play.

Israel entered the tournament as heavy underdogs, surprising the world, and its namesake country, by going undefeated in the first round and beating Cuba in the second round, becoming the WBC’s unlikely darlings.

Consecutive losses to the Netherlands and Japan, though, proved too much to overcome, and the team was forced to hang up its gloves without a trip to the championship rounds in Los Angeles.

Israel held Japan scoreless until the fifth inning, helped by the stifling pitching of Josh Zeid. Things fell apart in the sixth, though, as Japan scored five in front of a sold-out home crowd in Tokyo and never looked back.

Israel’s bats fell mostly silent over the first eight innings, before showing some life in the ninth.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-falls-to-japan-ending-miracle-run-at-baseball-tournament/