Team Israel doubled its win total from its previous World Baseball Classic appearance and closed out the 2026 tournament with a victory on Tuesday. But it was not enough to advance to the quarterfinals.
Israel defeated the Netherlands 6-2, overcoming an early 2-0 deficit to even its tournament record at 2-2—good enough for third place in the pool of five teams.
By winning at least one game, the team automatically qualified for the next World Baseball Classic, likely to be held in 2029. Team Israel went 1-3 in 2023.
“It’s amazing to me that even tonight, despite the fact that the Netherlands and Israel were no longer in contention, how much energy it was and how much of a sense of urgency there was in our dugout to win that game,” Team Israel manager Brad Ausmus said at a post-game press conference.
Tuesday night marked the first time in Team Israel’s four games that the team that scored first did not win the game, though it began like Israel’s two losses.
It was also the first time that the crowd was clearly on Israel’s side. The Dominican, Venezuela and Nicaragua fans drowned out everyone else. Tuesday, it was Israel’s turn.
“A lot of them are behind us, but we see them all up on the scoreboard,” Ausmus said. “They’re people wearing their Israeli T-shirts and holding their Israeli flag. It may have been the case that in other games they were there, but they were drowned out because there were Dominican fans and Venezuelan fans.”
“Tonight it was a lot more obvious where they were,” the manager said.
The Netherlands scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning off of starting pitcher Carlos Lequerica (Detroit Tigers), who lasted just that one frame. Harrison Cohen (New York Yankees) came in and struck out five of the six batters he faced.
Team Israel halved the deficit in the second inning on a two-out walk to right fielder Noah Mendlinger (St. Louis Cardinals) and a double by third baseman Jake Gelof (Los Angeles Dodgers).
Then a single by second baseman Spencer Horwitz (Pittsburgh Pirates), an error by first baseman Sharlon Schoop on a ball hit by pinch hitter Garrett Stubbs (Philadelphia Phillies) and a single by center fielder RJ Schreck (Toronto Blue Jays) tied the game in the sixth.
Both runners advanced on a wild pitch by pitcher Kevin Kelly (free agent), and after a fielder’s choice and a walk to Mendlinger, Gelof singled home two runs with two outs to give Team Israel the lead. Matt Mervis (Washington Nationals) doubled home two more.
All four runs were unearned.
Meanwhile, a parade of pitchers—Charlie Beilenson (Seattle Mariners), Josh Mallitz (San Diego Padres), Matt Bowman (Minnesota Twins), Zack Leban (free agent) and Tommy Kahnle (free agent)—kept the Netherlands scoreless through the eighth inning.
In the ninth, Ben Simon (New York Mets), who gave up four runs and got only one out in the game against Venezuela in the first inning of the opening game, walked the bases loaded and brought the tying run to the plate. He struck out the side, including center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela (Boston Red Sox) on a 97-mile-per-hour fastball to end it.
The five-run inning was Team Israel’s biggest of the tournament, surpassing the four runs it scored in the fifth inning against Nicaragua in its 5-0 shutout on Sunday.
The six total runs were the most Team Israel scored in any game, and its eight hits tied the Nicaragua game for its biggest offensive output.
After the game, Gelof told reporters how it felt to represent Israel in the tournament.
“It’s meant so much to me to be a part of it and have Israel across my chest,” he said. “Even today, with the fans showing out and getting the win and just seeing all the smiles and stuff on everyone’s faces was awesome.”
Mervis said that the team was able to come together quickly because all the players had a common denominator.
“I think it’s always easy to walk into a locker room when you have something really strong in common with everyone else,” he said at the press conference. “Everybody’s friends as soon as they meet each other. We have Jewish guys. We have guys with Jewish wives. A grandmother’s Jewish.”
“It’s not everybody with the same background, but there is that one bonding factor that makes it really easy for everyone to get to know each other and become a good team quickly,” he added.
