After his nation’s stunning loss in the World Baseball Classic, the manager of the Japanese national baseball team will resign.
Hirokazu Ibata said he will step down after Samurai Japan’s 8-5 defeat to Venezuela in the quarterfinals of this year’s WBC.
It was reported by newspaper Sport Hochi that Ibata said it was his ‘intention to resign.’
The defending champions of the event from 2023 failed to reach the semifinals of the WBC for the first time ever, despite a plethora of talent.
Even though they had the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Munetaka Murakami, the Japanese team gave up a comeback effort to what may be Venezuela’s best unit they’ve ever fielded.
After Venezuelan star Ronald Acuna and Ohtani traded solo home runs, Japan’s Shota Morishita smacked a three-run home run to give his nation a 5-2 lead.
Japan baseball manager Hirokazu Ibata will resign from his position after a WBC elimination
Japan, the defending champions, were expected to fight for the World Baseball Classic title
But Samurai Japan gave up six unanswered runs to Venezuela to lose in the quarterfinals
But Japan then surrendered six unanswered runs. A two-run blast from Maikel Garcia was followed by a three-run shot from Wilyer Abreu.
A throwing error on a pick-off attempt saw Ezequiel Tovar score while he tried to steal third to complete the effort.
‘The result is everything,’ Sport Hochi reported Ibata saying. ‘Although we lost this time, I hope Japan will grow stronger and win next time.’
Venezuela followed that up by defeating upstarts Italy to reach their first ever World Baseball Classic Final.
They will face the United States just weeks after President Donald Trump launched an invasion of Venezuela that led to the capture of disputed leader Nicolas Maduro.
