Underdog Israel seeking more World Baseball Classic magic, rallies to beat Nicaragua

Israel caught the attention of the baseball world six years ago in the World Baseball Classic, advancing to the second round for the first time.

Facing an even more difficult road in this year’s WBC, Israel is relishing that underdog role yet again.

“No one is really giving us a shot in this pool, and we like it that way,” Team Israel designated hitter Spencer Horwitz said. “We’re going to go out there and do everything we can…Wherever the balls -- wherever they land, they land.”

Israel knows, however, if it’s to make a similar, and even more impressive run considering the opposition it is facing in this year’s bracket, it could not afford to lose on Sunday to Nicaragua.

Down a run in the bottom of the eighth inning, Israel broke through with three runs, highlighted by a two-run double from Garrett Stubbs to secure a 3-1 comeback victory over Nicaragua in its WBC opener before a crowd of 19,995 at loanDepot park.

Israel will next take on the three favorites to advance from Pool D — Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela — over the next three days, likely needing two more wins to advance out of a brutal field.

“Good luck, right? In this game, in baseball anything can happen,” Israel manager Ian Kinsler said. “Sometimes it’s a crazy game. When you are playing one game as opposed to a series, anything can happen. The team understands that.”

With the bases loaded and two outs, Stubbs, a Triple-A catcher/outfielder for the Phillies who is playing third base for the first time in his career, lined a ball over Nicaragua left fielder Norlando Valle that bounced near the wall in left center and over the wall for a ground rule double.

Noah Medlinger and Horwitz scored on the play two batters after the latter tied the game with a single to score Jakob Goldfarb.

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer, who was the first Israeli pitcher drafted by an MLB team in 2015 by the Padres, gave up three hits, started and struck out four and walked one in four innings.

“That was a very clean four innings,” Kinsler said. “He threw the ball really well. He kind of lost his release point there in maybe the second. He was kind of missing up for a little while and made a great adjustment and got back in the zone. His off-speed stuff looked sharp. He seemed very much in control, so it was a very good outing for him.”

Two former Miami Marlins both figured in the victory.

Lefty Richard Bleier, who was traded by the Marlins to the Boston Red Sox for reliever Matt Barnes in late January, picked up the win in relief after throwing a perfect eighth inning and striking out two.

Ryan Lavarnway, a former catcher with the Marlins who became a free agent after last season, was hit by a pitch during Israel’s eighth inning rally. He nearly scored the go-ahead run on a slow roller back to the mound by Michael Wielansky, but was forced out at the plate. Lavarnway slid into Nicaragua catcher Melvin Novoa’s foot, which was on top of the plate prompting a review to determine if there was catcher’s interference. The out call stood and moments later, Stubbs came up with the big hit.

Even more impressive was the fact Israel put together the rally against Nicaragua’s top pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga, a reliever for the New York Yankees.

“Obviously, their best pitcher, one of the best pitchers in the Big Leagues,” Kinsler said. “We put up some good at-bats. We were fighting. That’s what I expect from my team, to play all 27 outs and fight until the end.”

And that is what Israel will have to continue to do if it is to overcome the odds once again. On Sunday, it did so with solid pitching, which helped overcome leaving 11 runners on base. Israel will tab lefty Colton Gordon, a prospect ranked No. 24th in the Houston Astros farm system by MLB Pipeline, to start Monday’s game against Puerto Rico at 7 p.m.

“In the pool of death? It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Stubbs said. “Nicaragua showed out really well today. There were a lot of fans. A lot of Israel fans, too. Obviously, there’s going to be even more fans coming up pretty soon with the DR, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela, and we’ll feed off that energy too. It’s going to be exciting.”