Argentina was 60 feet away from a World Championship medal.
The Argentine squad had dispatched the top two North American teams in the tournament, the USA and Canada, in successive playoff games, and stood at the brink of eliminating the defending gold-medal champion Australia Steelers and the world’s best pitcher, Adam Folkard.
Despite the lack of a single hit through the regulation seven innings, Argentina managed to go toe-to-toe with Australia, thanks to the stellar pitching of Lucas Mata and young Maxi Montero, and several outstanding defensive plays.
In the 8th inning, the international tiebreaker was put into effect, with visitors Australia scoring in the top half of the inning on a wild pitch.
At that point, the Argentines faced the formidable task of scoring a run against Adam Folkard. With a runner starting the inning at second base, it was ironically an errant throw by Folkard while fielding a sacrifice bunt that gave Argentina their opening. The throw was wide at first, with the tying run scoring, and the bunter, Francisco Sabate scampering around to third base with nobody out.
The buzz of the crowd was audible on the televised broadcast around the world, and on Facebook and Twitter as well. While many thought earlier that only New Zealand or Canada might dethrone the gold-medal champs – would it be Argentina? Was this their pathway to the medal stand?
The pressure mounted – but on the green and gold, not Argentina. The spotlight was on Adam Folkard. Could he pitch his way out of this mess, or was he human after all?
But for Argentina, on this day, it was not to be. Folkard turned up the dial and struck out the side, escaping to the deciding ninth-inning, when Australia scored once again, and Argentina could not match.
The medal for Argentina would not come in 2013, but if the fire in their hearts could be measured and poured, the blacksmiths may already be working on their medal of the future.
Argentina has arrived on the world stage of men’s fastball.
In September, Argentina’s junior men’s team not only reached the medal stand for the first time, but took the top step, earning gold in the 2012 ISF Jr. Men’s World Championship, a program whose foundation was built in 2008 by manager Eduardo Sabate, now the manager of the senior men’s team.
The team’s preparation for this ISF World Championship began long before their arrival in Auckland in March of 2013. Their players traveled to North America during summers to compete in ISC World Tournament play, and the squad traveled to Australia for a tour in 2011, so they could compete against the world’s best team.
The final preparation took them to Medellin Colombia for the Pan Am games in September 2012, where they did medal, winning the bronze medal, behind Canada and Venezuela, gold and silver respectively.
In Auckland, at these ISF World Championships, Argentina would avenge their Pan-American games loss to Canada, ousting Canada and the USA, two teams which had dominated in the early days of the ISF world championships.
Those early days were met with a seachange, with New Zealand and Australia knocking Canada and the USA off the top steps of the medal stand, and placing the spotlight on men’s fastball in Oceania.
While New Zealand and Australia are still center stage, there is no doubt that Latin American teams have arrived to challenge them, with Venezuela and Argentina making it to the Final Four in this year’s tournament. The improved level of competition from South America has added to the excitement and growth of the game worldwide.
Heads high, Argentina. An outstanding World Championship in 2013!
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