March 17, 1961
France Tosses Shutout To Advance
The French team entered the final day of the knockout round needing to thread the needle to advance: They needed South Korea to defeat England, they needed to defeat India and do it by at least two runs in order to carry the tiebreaker.
Arnaud Boyer made sure that part wasn't an issue. The coveted free agent who signed with San Francisco a few months ago dominated Team India, scattering just six hits over 9 innings. He struck out five and didn't issue a walk. Another top free agent, Noam Abdelouahed (who re-signed with Stockholm) provided the offense: He went 2-3 with a solo home run, a double, a walk, and two runs scored.
The victory in hand, they then had to sweat out the other matchup. South Korea was already assured of advancing but they fought tooth-and-nail for an 11-inning 1-0 victory over the English team, who wasted a great start from Henry Jones.
In the other pod, The Netherlands used a four-run 5th inning to power past Spain, who had also already clinched their spot once Cuba defeated Germany to set both teams at 1-2.
So the Final Four is set: South Korea will take on Spain and France will face off against The Netherlands, each in best-of-3 series.