The Israeli National Baseball team advanced to the quarterfinals in the European Baseball Championship which took place in Germany. The Israeli team qualified as one of the top five teams to move on to the Confederation Olympic Qualifier in Parma, Italy, beginning September 18.
The Israeli team placed in fourth this year, following its successful streak last year where the Israeli team came in 6th place, ranking it the 19th in the world and fourth in Europe. The mix of American Jewish players and Israelis lost to defending champions the Netherlands, as well as Spain, who took the bronze medal. The winner of the tournament in Italy will win a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Israeli National team is made up of pro-baseball players and Jewish-American college athletes. To qualify to play in the Olympics, Israeli citizenship is needed. Players include former pros Danny Valencia who kicked off his Major League Baseball career for the Minnesota Twins, and Jeremy Wolf, who spent two years with the New York Mets, and plans to settle in Tel Aviv.
