The Dominican Republic cannot be stopped. After a dominant 4-0 run in pool play of the 2026 World Baseball Classic in which they finished as the team with the best run differential among all teams, they continued to steamroll any and every opposition that comes their way. On Friday night, in the quarterfinal of the competition, they thrashed South Korea and sent them packing with a 10-0 victory to force mercy rule in the seventh inning.
Heading into the seventh inning, the Dominican Republic were in cruise control, but were far from a lock to win via mercy rule. They were leading, 7-0, and it looked as though South Korea was at least going to make it through seven. Dominican Republic had two runners on with two outs in the inning when Austin Wells came into the plate against Hyeong Jun So.
Wells, apparently, did not want to waste even more time. He proceeded to hit a rocket of a home run on a first pitch cutter in on his hands, sending Dominican Republic to the semifinal of the World Baseball Classic in the process.
AUSTIN WELLS 3-RUN WALK-OFF HR TO MERCY RULE SOUTH KOREA 🔥
He sends the Dominican Republic to the semifinals of the WBC 🇩🇴pic.twitter.com/VwOKLGnimp
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 14, 2026
There is simply no stopping the Dominican Republic, as they look far and away the favorite to claim the 2026 WBC championship.
Dominican Republic using stacked lineup in 2026 WBC to maximum effect
When the rosters for the 2026 World Baseball Classic came out, what stood out about the Dominican Republic was that they had one of the most stacked squads in the competition. They have multiple MLB All-Stars on the roster, led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Manny Machado, just to name a few, and their pitching staff was nothing to scoff at.
On Friday, they shut down South Korea on both sides of the ball. Christopher Sanchez was brilliant in his five innings of work, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out eight.
