BRNO, Czechia One year ago, at the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Regensburg, Spain had two opportunites to win one more game to advance to the main tournament. First, they lost to Great Britain, blowing an 8-3 lead along the way. Then, they were upset by the now-beloved underdogs,
Tournament baseball can be cruel. Have one bad inning, one mistimed error or one call that doesn't go your way and your team's chance of a gold medal evaporates.
That was true for 14 of the 16 teams taking part in this year's European Championship hosted in the Czech Republic.