Canada to take on U.S. in Americas Olympic qualifier tonight
June 3, 2021
Official WBSC News Release
Celebrating 50 days to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the World Baseball Softball Confederation today confirmed the Super Round teams and schedule for the WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier in Florida, following four days of Opening Round play.
USA and Dominican Republic advanced from Group A, while Venezuela and Canada claimed the top two positions from Group B. USA and Venezuela will enter the Super Round with 1-0 records, carrying over their respective wins over Dominican Republic and Canada in group play. Accordingly, Canada and Dominican Republic will enter the Super Round with 0-1 records.
Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico have been eliminated.
SUPER ROUND SCHEDULE
Group B winner/world No. 8 Venezuela and No. 10 Dominican Republic will open the Super Round on Friday, 4 June, at 1 p.m. local time at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
Group A winner/world No. 2 USA and No. 13 Canada will follow at 7 p.m.
The Super Round will conclude Saturday at Clover Park in St. Lucie, with Canada vs. Dominican Republic at 1 p.m. and Venezuela vs. USA at 7 p.m.
The team with the best Super Round record will become the fifth team to qualify for the six-team Tokyo Olympic baseball event, joining No. 1 Japan, No. 3 Korea, No. 5 Mexico and No. 18 Israel.
The runner-up and the third-place team in the Americas qualifier will play in the WBSC Baseball Final Qualifier, scheduled for 22-26 June in Puebla, Mexico.
No. 13 Canada vs. No. 2 USA
-This game will be between the top-ranked nation at the WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier and the lowest-ranked team in the Super Round.
-United States beat Canada 8-0 in the first round en route to their 2017 World Baseball Classic title. That game was the last time these nations met in a major world level competition.
-Canada are aiming to qualify for the Olympic Games for the third time, after 2004 and 2008.
-United States qualified for four of the five editions of the Olympic Games when baseball was on the program. USA only failed to qualify for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, after being eliminated by Mexico in the American qualifying tournament quarter-finals (2-1).
-United States won the American qualifying tournament for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the last time baseball was on the Olympic program. USA won eight of their nine games, including a 9-3 victory over Canada in the final round.
-Canada's most recent win over USA in a major competition was 7-6 (10 innings) in the 2015 Pan American Games gold medal game. Earlier that tournament, USA had beaten Canada 4-1 in the preliminary round.
No. 10 Dominican Republic vs. No. 8 Venezuela
-Dominican Republic are hoping to qualify for the Olympic Games for the second time and the first time since the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, where baseball debuted as an official Olympic sport.
-Venezuela have never qualified for the Olympic Games.
-These teams most recently met in a major competition at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, where Dominican Republic beat Venezuela 3-0 in the second round in front of 16,390 spectators at Petco Park in San Diego.
-Venezuela's most recent win over Dominican Republic in a major competition was 8-6 in the 2015 WBSC Premier12 first round in Taipei, Taiwan.
-Dominican Republic and Venezuela also met at the American qualifying tournament for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the last time baseball was on the Olympic programme. Venezuela beat Dominican Republic 8-2 in the final round.
-On 22 July 2018, Venezuela recorded a 4-0 round-robin win over Dominican Republic at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games (qualifier for 2019 Pan American Games).
-Three players have hit multiple home runs for Dominican Republic at this year's WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier: Juan Francisco (3), Luís Liberato (2) and Julio Rodríguez (2). Carlos Pérez (2) is the only Venezuela player on multiple home runs this tournament.
-Venezuela won all their three games in the Opening Round, allowing only seven runs.