HOUSTON — U.S. manager Mark DeRosa said his premature comment about the Americans having already punched their ticket to the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals before their final game of group play against Italy was just an “overly confident statement” and reiterated Thursday he knew nothing was guaranteed at that point.
DeRosa had made that remark on MLB Network’s “Hot Stove” before the 8-6 loss to Italy on Tuesday that caused the U.S. to lose control of its WBC fate. The U.S. still advanced to a quarterfinal matchup with Canada on Friday — when the 20-team tournament, down to its final eight, begins elimination play — thanks to Italy’s 9-1 win over Mexico on Wednesday.
“It’s just an overly confident statement on ‘Hot Stove,’ period, the end,” DeRosa said. “And it’s my fault. I felt good about where we were after Mexico.”
DeRosa also talked about the fresh start the star-studded U.S. team has now that its loss to Italy didn’t prove fatal to its title hopes.
“New lease on life for the boys, certainly,” he said. “I put ourselves in a tough spot. Tip our hat to Vinnie Pasquantino and Italy, truly. Went into that game a little overly confident and got a huge wake-up call.”