University of Richmond Athletics
Photo by: Spiders Athletics
Alumnus de Marte and assistant coach Mulberg Qualify for the Olympics with Team Israel
09/23/2019 | Baseball
RICHMOND, Va. – Spider alumnus Jonathan de Marte and current baseball assistant coach Nate Mulberg have punched their tickets to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after winning the Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifying Tournament with Team Israel last week. Team Israel posted a 4-1 record in Italy this past week to clinch its spot in the 2020 Olympic Games. Both de Marte and Mulberg are eligible to represent Team Israel in Tokyo next summer.
This will be the first team sport that will represent Israel in the Olympics since the national soccer team in 1976 and just the fourth team in history, joining the 1952 basketball and the 1968 and 1976 soccer teams. De Marte and Mulberg will be the fifth and sixth Olympians in school history, joining track athletes Hillary Tuwei (Class of 1980), Sosthenes Bitok (Class of 1983), Edwin Koech (Class of 1984) and Spider soccer alumna and Olympic sailor, Sarah Mergenthaller (Class of 2001).
During the five-day tournament, de Marte logged appearances on back-to-back days against the toughest competition in the event. His first outing came in the ninth inning with an 8-1 lead over the Netherlands. He closed the game out without allowing a hit and struck out a hitter. He was back on the hill the next day against the host country Italy, logging 3.0 scoreless innings, one hit, striking out six and earning the win to help put Israel in the driver seat.
Mulberg served in a multitude of capacities in the dugout for Team Israel. He worked with the position players, assisted with in-game coaching and game management strategies as well as other administrative duties while in Europe.
After qualifying for the Europe-African Qualification event by finishing fourth in Germany the week before, Team Israel needed to take first place in this tournament to earn the automatic qualifying bid into the 2020 Olympics. Israel started the event off with a matchup against Spain, defeating the Spaniards by a 3-0 margin.
The next day, Israel took the field against the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the European Champion from the tournament the week before. The Netherlands entered the matchup as the eighth-ranked team in the world, and the top ranked team in the tournament. Israel handled its business, turning in an 8-1 victory over the Dutch. The following day, Israel matched up with the No. 16 ranked team in the world in the host country of Italy. De Marte and Team Israel got the job done again, this time with a 8-2 tally to improve to 3-0 against the top three teams in the tournament.
Team Israel needed to win one of the next two games to earn the automatic qualifying bid into the 2020 Olympics. They suffered a setback on the 21st, falling 7-4 to the Czech Republic, the 18th ranked team in the world. Team Israel defeated South Africa in decisive fashion, earning an 11-1 win in a mercy-rule shortened eight innings to qualify for the Olympics.
Team Israel is the second team to qualify for baseball in the 2020 Olympics, joining the host country of Japan. This is the first-time baseball will be part of the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing games and is currently not a sponsored sport for the 2024 games in Paris.
-- UR --
This will be the first team sport that will represent Israel in the Olympics since the national soccer team in 1976 and just the fourth team in history, joining the 1952 basketball and the 1968 and 1976 soccer teams. De Marte and Mulberg will be the fifth and sixth Olympians in school history, joining track athletes Hillary Tuwei (Class of 1980), Sosthenes Bitok (Class of 1983), Edwin Koech (Class of 1984) and Spider soccer alumna and Olympic sailor, Sarah Mergenthaller (Class of 2001).
During the five-day tournament, de Marte logged appearances on back-to-back days against the toughest competition in the event. His first outing came in the ninth inning with an 8-1 lead over the Netherlands. He closed the game out without allowing a hit and struck out a hitter. He was back on the hill the next day against the host country Italy, logging 3.0 scoreless innings, one hit, striking out six and earning the win to help put Israel in the driver seat.
Mulberg served in a multitude of capacities in the dugout for Team Israel. He worked with the position players, assisted with in-game coaching and game management strategies as well as other administrative duties while in Europe.
After qualifying for the Europe-African Qualification event by finishing fourth in Germany the week before, Team Israel needed to take first place in this tournament to earn the automatic qualifying bid into the 2020 Olympics. Israel started the event off with a matchup against Spain, defeating the Spaniards by a 3-0 margin.
The next day, Israel took the field against the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the European Champion from the tournament the week before. The Netherlands entered the matchup as the eighth-ranked team in the world, and the top ranked team in the tournament. Israel handled its business, turning in an 8-1 victory over the Dutch. The following day, Israel matched up with the No. 16 ranked team in the world in the host country of Italy. De Marte and Team Israel got the job done again, this time with a 8-2 tally to improve to 3-0 against the top three teams in the tournament.
Team Israel needed to win one of the next two games to earn the automatic qualifying bid into the 2020 Olympics. They suffered a setback on the 21st, falling 7-4 to the Czech Republic, the 18th ranked team in the world. Team Israel defeated South Africa in decisive fashion, earning an 11-1 win in a mercy-rule shortened eight innings to qualify for the Olympics.
Team Israel is the second team to qualify for baseball in the 2020 Olympics, joining the host country of Japan. This is the first-time baseball will be part of the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing games and is currently not a sponsored sport for the 2024 games in Paris.
-- UR --
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