Team Venezuela, the 2026 World Baseball Classic’s champions after a thrilling 3-2 stunner over the stacked American lineup, leaned heavily on its faith throughout the tournament, as shared by star third baseman Eugenio Suarez after his clutch homerun sent the South American squad to the final game.
Whereas Team USA captured Venezuela’s dictatorial tyrant in one of the most impressive military operations of all time, it was on the diamond that a rebuttal of American might was put on display in a thrilling completion to the annual contest pitting national teams against one another prior to the first pitch of Major League Baseball’s season.
And as good as the final game was, it was a semifinal game pitting Venezuela against Italy, of all teams, that proved decisive for Suarez and his teammates. Rallying late against the boot-shaped country’s surprising collection of elite ball players, Suarez said it all came down to daily prayer and belief in God.
“Gino, your team was down to its last seven outs facing elimination. The only run was your home run earlier in the game. You come back and win, you’re going to the finals. What did it take to win this game?” he was asked by a reporter after sealing a trip to the final game.
Responding, the third baseman immediately praised the Lord. “I mean, I just want to say, First, God being good, you know? Like I always say, I have to glorify His name, Jesus being awesome with us. Like I say, we never give up. We know how, how hard was this game as a starting but we never give up,” he said.
“We put a good at best. We put everything together, and the home play, and we got a Michael, he been doing really good job late, but, I mean, we didn’t better. And that’s that’s all matter, right? Now, you know, that’s why we celebrate. We score more run than them.”
He was then asked a follow-up question. “Gino, you felt the vibe and the energy in this ballpark tonight. But now I want you to imagine what it’s like back in your home country, Venezuela, going to the finals of the WBC for the first time.”
“It’s been special. You know, this team, this it’s been, it’s been awesome. You know, we had everything, but more important, we got faith. We believe in God, we pray every day, we we give it glory, to do it one and only, you know, Jesus and and that means a lot for us. In the beginning on this, on this competition, a lot of people don’t believe in our team, but now we’re here, and now we go for the first time to the finals, and we got to enjoy God being good, and we have to do and for our country,” the Venezuelan replied.
Asked about the upcoming game against Team USA, Suarez admitted the American team was stacked with stars, but that their motivation to win equaled theirs. “It will take a lot. You know, it’s not easy. They’ve been show up. They’ve been playing really good baseball. They are superstars. We all know that, but we came to to win, and we see what happened tomorrow.”
Featured image: Colby, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons