BARCELONA, Spain — Germany and Colombia both lost on Friday. Whoever loses Saturday morning is nearly out of it.
Colombia was the highest-ranked team in the field and the only one to reach the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Germany has never played a Premier12 or a World Baseball Classic, and came within an inning of beating the host nation on Friday night.
How to watch
Germany vs. Colombia, Premier12 Barcelona Qualifier
Saturday, Oct. 10, 12:00 local / 6 a.m. ET
Camp Municipal de Beisbol Carlos Pérez de Rozas, Barcelona
Free on the WBSC YouTube channel outside Spain and Italy.
DAZN carries it for subscribers in Spain and internationally, except in Italy.
Viva Nicaragua carries the tournament in Nicaragua.
Also on GameTime, the WBSC’s subscription platform, with a tournament pass at $14.99.
Tyler Maun and Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline have the English-language call.
What happened Friday
Italy beat Colombia 4-3, scoring three in the eighth after a throwing error on a bunt and a two-out double by Gabriele Angioi. Colombia led 3-1 and had held Italy to two hits through six.
Spain beat Germany 3-2 in ten innings. Yannic Walther and Finn Bergmann homered to put Germany ahead 2-0, and Markus Solbach took a shutout into the eighth before Omar Hernández tied it with a two-out single. Spain won on a wild pitch.
The standings
Italy 1-0
Spain 1-0
Germany 0-1
Colombia 0-1
The top two advance to the 2027 Premier12.
Germany
World No. 17, and the only team in the field that has never played a Premier12 or a World Baseball Classic.
Jendrick Speer manages. He made his international debut at 16 in 1997 and played for the Untouchables Paderborn through five straight German pennants.
Yannic Walther, a Brewers catching prospect who reached High-A this season, homered off Elián Leyva on the second pitch he saw Friday — the first home run of the tournament. Finn Bergmann added one to center in the seventh.
Markus Solbach threw 6 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts on 108 pitches.
Eric Brenk is the captain. Billy Germaine, a Canadian-born catcher and infielder, led the German league with 14 home runs this season.
Niklas Rimmel threw 124 2/3 innings between the regular season and playoffs, second in the German league, and led it with a 1.80 ERA. He has not pitched yet.
Germany swept Czechia in a three-game warm-up series.
Colombia
World No. 13, the highest-ranked team in the field.
Giovanny Urshela manages, with Dilson Herrera and Sugar Ray Marimón on his staff, both former major leaguers.
Dayan Frías, a Guardians prospect from Cartagena, led off Friday with a ground-rule double on the tenth pitch of the at-bat and stole third with nobody out. Darío Borrero drove in two with a single off the wall in right.
Luis Patiño started and allowed one run over 3 1/3 innings. He pitched 45 major league games for San Diego, Tampa Bay and the White Sox.
Harrinson Ruiz struck out the side in the sixth. Colombia’s staff allowed two hits through six innings before the eighth fell apart.
Jesús Marriaga is the captain. Outfielder Jaider Morelos arrived from winning the Croatian league, where he hit .473 with four home runs in 27 games for Nada Split.
What’s at stake
The top two of four teams advance to the 2027 Premier12, which awards two places in the 2028 Olympic tournament at Dodger Stadium — one to the highest-placed Asian team, one to the highest-placed team from Europe or Oceania.
Colombia can reach the Premier12 but cannot claim either Olympic berth, since both go to Asia and Europe or Oceania. Its Olympic path runs through a final qualifying tournament in early 2028.
Three of the six Olympic spots are filled: the United States as host, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic through the World Baseball Classic.
The rest of the weekend
Spain vs. Italy — Saturday, 1 p.m. ET
Italy vs. Germany — Sunday, 6 a.m. ET
Spain vs. Colombia — Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
World Baseball Network is in Barcelona all weekend.