Glendale Community College baseball products make pitch for Team Israel

On the cusp of advancing further than it ever has, Team Israel is certainly looking good early on in qualifying action of the World Baseball Classic tournament.

The Israelis are 2-0 through WBC qualifying action and have some local rooting interest as Glendale Community College pitching products Blake Gailen and Ryan Sherriff are on the squad.

Sherriff has seen brief action in both games as the reliever has pitched 2/3 of inning of scoreless work without allowing a hit or a walk. Gailen has yet to make an appearance.

Israel is participating in the final qualifier for the WBC Tournament, which began Thursday and will extend until Sunday at Brooklyn’s MCU Park.

The four-team tournament pits Brazil, Great Britain, Israel and Pakistan with the winner of the event earning advancement to pool play action of the World Baseball Classic, taking place in Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea, from March 7-10.

Israel is in great position to advance as the squad opened play with a 5-2 victory over Great Britain on Thursday followed by a 1-0 win over Brazil on Friday afternoon.

The two wins vault Israel into Sunday’s final at 3 p.m. versus the consolation bracket survivor. The contest will be streamed at worldbaseballclassic.com.

Sherriff, 26, last played for Glendale college in 2011, while Gailen, 31, last suited up for Glendale in 2005.

Sherriff just concluded his latest minor league season with the Memphis Redbirds, the St. Louis Cardinals triple-A affiliate. Gailen also recently ended his season with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League.