TOKYO (AP) 鈥� National team baseball manager Hirokazu Ibata has said he will step down following Japan’s loss to 8-5 in Miami in the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic.
The newspaper Sports Hochi reported saying it was his 鈥渋ntention to resign.鈥�
Japan is the defending champion and had won the event three times. It marked Japan’s first failure to reach the WBC semifinals despite a team stacked with major league talent including
鈥淭he result is everything,鈥� Sports Hochi reported Ibata saying. 鈥淎lthough we lost this time, I hope Japan will grow stronger and win next time.”
Japan was 4-0 in play in Tokyo in Pool C 鈥� victories over Taiwan, South Korea, Australia and the Czech Republic 鈥� before being eliminated by Venezuela in the loss in Miami.
The MLB players on the Japan team included: Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Seiya Suzuki, Yusei Kikuchi, Masataka Yoshida, Munetaka Murakami, Kazuma Okamoto and Tomoyuki Sugano.
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