One of the favorites going into the competition, the Dominican Republic took no prisoners as they rocked Venezuela 11-5, then shut down Italy 8-3. They faced Australia on the final day with advancement already assured. The Australians gave them trouble, but the DR prevailed 6-4 and swept the pool 3-0. In round 2 they ran into Puerto Rico, who checked them 7-1. After that humbling loss, they turned around and beat Cuba 7-3 to set up an elimination game between them and a revenge seeking Venezuela. Unlike the round 1 battle, this one was a nail biter, but the Dominican Republic prevailed 2-1 to win pool 2 and advance to the finals bracket. Instead of swapping opponents for the semi-finals, the 2006 WBC had the winners of pools 1 and 2 face the runner-up of the same pool in the elimination semi-finals. So thus, pool 2 winner Dominican Republic faced off against the team they beat to win the pool in Cuba, as opposed to pool 1 runner-up Japan. After 6 innings, the Dominican Republic le...