TUCSON, Ariz. – On a 62 degree night with the sun setting behind the North Catalina Mountains at the 2025 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers at the Kino Sports Complex at Veterans Memorial Stadium and 2,137 fans in attendance, Colombia qualified for the 2026 WBC with their 10-0 mercy rule win in seven innings over Germany, with left fielder Jose Ramos hitting a game winning single in the bottom of the seventh to send the nation into field for next March.
Jose Ramos sends Team Colombia to the 2026 #WorldBaseballClassic with a walk-off single! ???????? pic.twitter.com/seU2dyBSMf
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 5, 2025
The time of the game was two hours and seven minutes.
Germany will play on Thursday at 8 p.m. EST at Veterans Memorial Stadium against Brazil with a win or take all to enter the field of the 2026 WBC.
Colombia will play in their third consecutive WBC in their nations’ history once they take the field on March 6 during the 2026 event.
Ready, Set, Pose.
The celebration for Team Colombia is just getting started! #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/zbaU1R6ENk
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 5, 2025
Germany was 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base in Tuesday’s loss.
Colombia’s pitching staff under Jose Mosquera, with starter Adrian Almeida, and reliever’s Luis Escobar, Danis Correa, Yapson Gomez, and Ezequiel Zabaleta fired seven innings, allowing four hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts.
“The main focus for our pitching staff was getting ahead, working the count and putting hitters away with the best secondary pitches. Jair Camargo did a great job with game planning prior and the execution of the pitch calling were right on point,” Almeida said during the postgame.
Colombia’s Five-Run First Inning
Colombia wasted no time jumping ahead in the bottom of the first. Michael Arroyo was hit by a pitch to start the inning and swiped second base.
Harold Ramirez followed with a single up the middle, bringing in Arroyo to give Colombia a 1-0 lead.
Harold Ramírez gets Team Colombia on the board first. #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/AofWWHQZCJ
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 5, 2025
“Ramirez with anything he can do in his adjustments on how he struggled with the strike zone a little bit prior to setting the plan with him to give a couple at-bats, so we executed everything that we planned and for him were excited with how he did his job during the qualifiers,” Mosquera said during the post game.
With one out, Gio Urshela reached on a throwing error by Germany shortstop Alexander Schmidt, allowing Ramirez to race home from second and stretch the lead to 2-0.
Germany’s defense struggled to settle in. A wild pitch by Mark Harrison sent Urshela to second before Harrison hit Jair Camargo, putting two on.
Dilson Herrera then rolled one to short, but Schmidt bobbled the ball, allowing Urshela to sprint home as Colombia pushed its lead to 3-0.
Germany manager Jendrick Speer had seen enough, turning to reliever Sven Schuller. Harrison recorded just one out, allowing two hits and two earned runs on 20 pitches.
Schuller induced a force play at second, but Camargo still came across, making it 4-0.
Jesus Marriaga delivered the biggest blow of the inning, hammering a triple into the right-center gap to bring in Brayan Buelvas and jolt ahead 5-0.
Colombia kept the run party going in the bottom of the third. Brayan Buelvas lined a run-scoring single to left, bringing in Jair Camargo to push the lead to a touchdown at 6-0.
Marriaga continued to stay locked in, sending a sharp grounder up the middle, scoring Dilson Herrera to make it 7-0.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Herrera cracked an RBI single to center field, scoring Guillermo Quintana to staple an 8-0 lead.
“The preparation was good coming into the tournament and the third game we came in and did what we had to do and that’s what matters heading into next year for the WBC,” Herrera said during the postgame.
Buelvas carried his team the rest of the way during the WBCQ and smashed a ground ball RBI single to center field, scoring Carlos Martinez to nob a 9-0 lead.
Team Colombia continues to cruise.
Brayan Buelvas pushes their lead to 9-0 heading to the 5th. #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/R1NNAbm8ed
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 5, 2025
In the bottom of the seventh, with Germany’s infield drawn in, Ramos lined an 88.7 mph fastball into left, scoring Marriaga as Colombia stormed the field to celebrate a 10-0 mercy-rule victory and its third straight WBC berth.
Germany’s pitching staff threw six innings, allowing 15 hits, seven earned runs, two walks, and six strikeouts during Tuesday’s loss.
Several Colombia players spent the winter playing in the 2024-25 Liga Profesional de Beisbol Colombia season and the 2025 Serie de Las Americas in Nicaragua with the champion Caimanes de Barranquilla. Marriaga, Herrera, Quintana, Jean Herrera, and Fabian Pertuz were among the key contributors at the event who played a role in helping Colombia qualify for the WBC.