Good news for Korean baseball fans:

As Cuba clinched the top-seed spot of Pool B, the World Baseball Classic (WBC), Thursday, wrapped up its first round, which started on March 5.

And the “great” eight have remained in the tournament.

The Netherlands became the Cinderella team after eliminating the highly-favored Dominican Republic, which assembled an All-Star lineup, including David Ortiz, Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez, with a two-game sweep in Pool D, while other baseball powerhouses, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Cuba and the United States eased baseball fans’ grief over the flop of the Dominican Republic, showing off their top-tier prowess.

South Korea, the 2006 semifinalist, topped Pool A after sweet revenge against defending champion Japan, which thrashed it 14-2 earlier in the Classic.

The second stage begins at Dolphins Stadium in Miami and Petco Park in San Diego from Saturday (Sunday KST).

This round is also played in a double-elimination format _ like the opening round _ but the pitch limits are raised to 85, compared to 70 in the first stage.

Pool A

After losing to Japan in a 14-2 called game, Korea, 3-1, recovered and shut out an Ichiro-led offense in the Pool A title game with a 1-0 win.

Its pitching has a 3.66 ERA, which is the sixth best in the Classic.

First baseman Kim Tae-kyun, who hit .417 with one home run and six RBIs, and outfielder Kim Hyun-soo, who averaged .385, leads the offense.

However, Kim Kwang-hyun, tagged as No. 1 starter before the event, has not found the rhythm that earned him 16 victories last season, while reeling batters at the bottom of the order are giving manager Kim In-sik a headache.

Japan, 2-1, has sent its best-ever players on the international stage to defend its title.

Local favorites Yu Darvish and Hisashi Iwakuma displayed solid performances, which helped Japan rank third in ERA with 1.08.

In offense, other than Kenji Johjima and Hiroyuki Nakajima, who both hit .500, and Norichika Aoki, no one hit above .300. Seattle Mariners star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki went 4-for-14 with no RBIs.  [Korea Times]