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Atlanta Baseball Coach Greg Frady Leads German Team to First Win at World Cup
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- Coach Greg Frady (left) talks to one of his German players
- (© DBV)
Georgia State baseball head coach Greg Frady, who is also the head coach of the German National team, opened the 2009 Baseball World Cup on Wednesday night with a 14-1 win over China.
In front of a crowd of 5,300 international baseball fans, IBAF vice-president, Martin Miller, threw out the first pitch to open the tournament. A colorful opening ceremony paved the way for Germany's second victory in World Cup history in a one-sided game against China.
Germany's offense collected 14 hits and four players had more than one hit on opening night. Third baseman Dominik Wulf had a perfect start into the tournament. Germany's number three hitter collected three hits, including a double and a home run, and collected five RBIs, while scoring three runs.
Starting pitcher Enorbel Marquez-Ramirez for Germany walked the leadoff hitter, but his defensive helped him out with a double play on the first pitch. Marquez never looked back, keeping the opposition hitless until the fourth and without a run until the fifth. The Cuban-born pitcher struck out seven and walked one in five and two third innings of work.
The only other win for the German team in the history of the World Cup was against Thailand in Taiwan two years ago.
Frady has been in charge of the German squad since taking over in 2005. The team has reached unparalleled levels of success under his tutelage and will look to make even a bigger impact on international baseball.
The Germans will conclude pool play on Saturday, facing Venezuela. One more win would guarantee advancement into the second round of play, while the squad may be able to advance with just last night's victory. All games in this round will be played in Regensburg, Germany.
The top two teams from the group will advance to the second round. Also, the four best third place teams, plus second round hosts, Italy and The Netherlands will advance to the second round which will feature 16 teams.
The four remaining groups will open play in Barcelona, Spain; Prague, Czech Republic; Zagreb, Croatia and Stockholm, Sweden.
The top eight teams from the second set of pool play will advance to the semifinals and finals to be played in Italy. The tournament is set to conclude on September 20th.
(Courtesy of Mike Holmes, Georgia State University)
Also see our previous story about Coach Greg Frady
