Dominicans advance to World Baseball Classic semis / Photo: Rich Storry - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Dominicans advance to World Baseball Classic semis
Austin Wells smashed the game-winning home run and unbeaten Dominican Republic advanced to the World Baseball Classic semi-finals with a 10-0 romp over South Korea on Friday.
Wells blasted the only pitch he saw from South Korea's So Hyeong-jun over the right-field wall for a three-run homer with two outs in the seventh inning to give the Dominicans the victory under the blowout rule -- which ends a game early if a team leads by 10 runs after seven innings.
The Dominicans, who boast the Classic's most powerful scoring attack, will face either Canada or the United States in Sunday's semi-final at Miami.
The Americans and Canadians met in a later quarter-final at Houston, extending a rivalry that saw US men's and women's ice hockey teams beat Canada in last month's Winter Olympic finals.
Dominican Republic boasts a Major League Baseball lineup of sluggers and pitchers that surged ahead early against a squad of young talent from the South Korean league.
The Dominicans grabbed a 3-0 in the second inning. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked and scored on a double by Junior Caminero, who later scored on a Julio Rodriguez ground out. Agustin Ramirez walked, took second on Geraldo Perdomo's single and scored on a Fernando Tatis single.
In the third, Juan Soto singled and scored on Guerrero's double to centerfield, evading a tag attempt at the plate. Guerrero took third and scored on a Manny Machado single.
After a Caminero single, walks to Perdomo, Tatis and Ketel Marte forced in two more Dominican runs for a 7-0 edge, setting the stage for the deciding blast by Wells.
Saturday's quarter-final games find unbeaten Italy facing Puerto Rico at Houston and Venezuela playing undefeated Japan in Miami.
Those winners will meet in Monday's semi-final at Miami, where the championship game is scheduled for Tuesday night.
M.De Luca--MJ
