Baseball: Japan to host European select team twice in March

Japan national baseball team will play a European select team in two practice matches on March 6 and 7 at Kyocera Dome Osaka, NPB Enterprises Inc. said Monday. Team Europe is expected to feature players from various countries, including the Czech Republic which Japan beat en route to winning the World Baseball Classic in March this year. New manager Hirokazu Ibata, appointed in October, led Japan to the Asia Professional Baseball Championship on Sunday with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory after 10 innings over South Korea at Tokyo Dome in the final. Japan won the under-24 tournament back-to-bac...