Team Japan Trumps Defending Champions Team USA in World Classic

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, the standout stars of the games

Courtesy MLB

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, the standout stars of the games

Umi Noritake, Writer

Japan was coming off a winning streak and were having a great World Classic. Team USA got off to a shaky start but beat Japan 2-1 in the preliminary rounds on Tuesday night at the Miami Marlins arena when Team USA and Team Japan faced off. So now the stage is set for two great team to face off and one will be crowned champion. I am going to get the opinions of some of our ILS baseball players to see what there thoughts on the game were.

Pier Roca, although he doesn’t play baseball, is an athlete and can appreciate the talents displayed Tuesday night.

“It was an incredible game and I was excited to see the showdown between Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani who is a young rising star in the MLB,” said Pier.

Mike Trout is notorious for his home runs and Ohtani is one of the craftiest pitchers in the MLB. This led to an incredibly intense show down.

Max Lima, who is a junior and a catcher on the ILS Royals Varsity Baseball team was a little more critical of Team USA.

“It was a great game and a close game, but it just shows that the U.S is all power and no skill and Japan had both,”  he said.

He made this comment with the insight of playing baseball and realizing the different styles of game both teams were utilizing.

I then interviewed Alfredo Valle who is a sophomore and also on the Varsity Baseball team.

“I honestly wanted Team USA to win, but I had to respect the skill that Japan brought to the table. They had a pitcher with a nasty curveball and so I had to respect how Team Japan won,”  he said.

This is an incredibly thoughtful insight to the game and it shows how even when your team loses, you have to respect the other team’s game.