Georgia State baseball head coach Greg Frady led the German National team to a second place finish at the World Baseball Challenge on Sunday. Frady, who is also the head coach of the German National team, led his squad to the championship game after compiling a 5-4 record and win over the U.S. National team in the event in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.
The W.B.C. featured six of the top amateur teams in the world over the last ten days at Prince George Citizen Field.
After opening the tournament with an 8-4 loss to the host Prince George Axemen, Frady's squad earned a 20-3 win over the Bahamas, including a 14-run fourth inning. The team kept the momentum going a day later with a 6-3 win over the United States. It was the only loss for the United States in the tournament, but created quite a buzz throughout the international community.
Germany lost its final two pool play games to Team British Columbia (12-3) and Team Canada (9-3) before winning three straight in the playoffs to make the championship game.
Frady's squad earned wins over all three teams that they had lost to during round robin play in the playoffs, starting with a 9-4 win over the Prince George Axeman. Germany followed with a pair of wins on Saturday, defeating Team British Columbia 8-1 and Team Canada, 4-2, setting up Sunday's championship.
The German National team fell to the United States, 8-1 on Sunday afternoon to conclusion this year's event.
Frady was named head coach of the team in 2004 and has been building it into an Olympic contender ever since. Just last year, the team fell just two games shy of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics. In 2005, Frady led the team to the B-Pool Gold Medal and a fourth place finish at the European Championship, earning the squad a spot in the 2007 World Cup. The fourth place finish at the 2005 European Championship was the highest a German team had placed in the competition and marked the first time the Germans qualified for the World Cup.
Known as the unofficial world championship of amateur baseball, the event started in 2002 and has been played every two years.
Frady will return to Atlanta to continue preparations for the upcoming 2010 baseball season as the Panthers look to defend their first-ever CAA Championship. He will return to lead the German team this fall in the World Cup after qualifying for it as a part of the squads' fourth place finish at the 2007 European Championship. The event is scheduled to take place in Germany.
