Haarlem, Netherlands · Saturday, June 27, 2026 · Matt Tallarini, Chief Correspondent
HAARLEM, Netherlands — The team without a flag has its first win, and it took a two-out rally in the ninth to get it. José-Andrés Paula singled home Tyler Hill with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, capping a two-run comeback that lifted the International Globetrotters past Czechia 4-3 at Pim Mulier Stadion and evened the barnstorming club at 1-1 in the 2026 Honkbalweek Haarlem.
It was Paula’s first hit of the tournament. It could not have come at a better time.
The Ninth
Down 3-2 and to their final out, the Globetrotters strung it together. Philip Monteith drew a two-out walk, pinch-hitter Tyler Hill doubled to left to put the tying run in scoring position, and a wild pitch brought Monteith home to level it at 3-3 while Hill moved to third. Czechia went to reliever David Křeček — and Paula greeted him with a single through the right side to score Hill and end it. Fabio Nico Bundi, who worked a scoreless top of the ninth, got the win; Křeček took the loss.
Krejčiřík’s Big Day, and a Steal of Home
Czechia’s offense was almost entirely one man. Marek Krejčiřík launched a two-run homer down the right-field line in the second to score William Escala and put the Czechs up 2-0, then came around again in the fifth — a walk, a trip to third, and a run scored on a wild pitch — for a 3-2 lead. He finished 1-for-2 with two walks, two runs and two RBIs, and accounted for all of Czechia’s scoring.
The Globetrotters manufactured theirs. In the second, Juan Angel Morao Martinez singled, swiped his way around the bases and stole home to get them on the board, and in the fifth Paula tied the game’s first knot with a sacrifice fly that scored Brandon Biggane. Cory Everett, 2-for-4 with a triple, was gunned down at the plate trying to stretch it in the fourth — one of several Globetrotter runners left on the bases until the ninth finally broke through.
Zavolas Misses Bats
Globetrotters starter Noah Zavolas was electric even in a no-decision, striking out nine over four innings — though the only damage against him was Krejčiřík’s homer. Tim Brown bridged it with three scoreless innings and three strikeouts before Bundi closed the door. Between them, the Globetrotters’ staff piled up 13 strikeouts.
All Imports, One Roster
The Globetrotters are a Baseball Jobs Overseas all-star club assembled days before first pitch, and Paula — who plays for the French national team the rest of the year — said the quick chemistry is the whole point. “We’re all imports, and we have to get together and fit in quick,” he said. “We have good chemistry even though we don’t know each other for more than two days. We’re all ballplayers, and we just came here to play ball.”
Paula stayed even through a hitless start to the week. “Baseball is a mental game,” he said. “You just gotta keep going, keep swinging, and trusting yourself and your work.” On the winning hit, he kept it humble: “Anyone could have the hit to win the ball game. Thank God it was me this time.” He saved a word, too, for catcher Miguel Lopez, a French national-team teammate: “Great teammate, great ballplayer behind the dish — and he can hit too.”
That borderless makeup is the Globetrotters’ calling card. In a tournament built around national programs, they are the one side stitched together from everywhere at once — France, the United States, and the European leagues in between — and on Saturday, before 2,250 at Pim Mulier Stadion, they finally got their flagless name into the win column.
Matt Tallarini is reporting from Haarlem throughout Honkbalweek 2026. For more on the tournament’s barnstorming entry, see our feature on the International Globetrotters. Schedule, stats and box scores via the Koninklijke Nederlandse Baseball en Softball Bond. For more international baseball, visit worldbaseball.com.
