PANAMA--Rene Leveret and Felix Brown represented the Friendly Island on the French National Baseball Team that competed in the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Panama.
France was pooled with Colombia, Spain and host Panama. France played three games. The Team lost 9-2 against host Panama March 17, defeated Spain 5-3 March 18 and were eliminated by Panama 7-4 March 19.
In the first game Brown played short stop. He had four at bats and struck out once. Leveret had three at bats, scored one run and had one strike out.
In game two Brown came alive. In five at bats he had three hits for a .333 average and scored. Leveret had three at bats and walked twice.
In the team’s final game France scored two runs in the first inning and a third in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead.
Panama scored five in the fifth. In the bottom of the inning Leveret connected for a home run to tie the game. “We came short and lost the game,” said Leveret.
Panama went on to win 7-4 and advanced to the final.
Brown again had five at bats. He scored once, had a hit and averaged .286. Leveret had three at bats. He scored once, had two hits, a Run Batted In and averaged .222.
Colombia won their first two games, first beating Spain 9-2 March 17 and Panama 6-3 March 18, so went straight to the final.
Colombia won the final 6-3 and advance.
