MESA, Ariz. — After flying 13 hours from the Far East the day before, A’s catcher Ryan Levarnway was back in spring training camp Friday following what he called “a life-changing experience” playing for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic.
Team Israel was the surprise Cinderella team in the first round of the event, winning all three games, including a huge 2-1 upset of Korea, and Levarnway was named the MVP of his four-country pool, hitting .556 and catching all three victories.
The Israeli unit also won a second round game, beating Cuba 4-1, but was eliminated from the tournament with a 12-2 loss to the Netherlands and an 8-3 defeat against Japan.