Samurai Japan will warm up for its Premier12 title defense with two games against the Czech Republic in November, NPB Enterprise Inc. announced Wednesday.
The two games will be at Vantelin Dome Nagoya on Nov. 9 and 10. Japan will open its Group B play at the same venue on Nov. 13 against Australia before traveling to Taiwan for the remainder of the first round.
The Czech Republic, currently ranked 15th in the world, was well received by fans in the 2023 World Baseball Classic's first-round Pool B at Tokyo Dome.
The team, largely comprised of part-time ballplayers, competed well in all of their games and came away with a win against China. Against Japan, electrician Ondrej Satoria struck out tournament MVP Shohei Ohtani.
After Japan's 10-2 come-from-behind victory, Japan's hardest-throwing pitcher, Roki Sasaki, made news by bringing a load of sweets to the Czech players after hitting one of their batters with a pitch.
According to the schedule announced by the World Baseball Softball Confederation on Tuesday, Japan will take on South Korea at Taipei Dome on Nov. 15, and Taiwan at the same venue the following day.
Japan will then be at Taipei's Tianmu Stadium against Cuba on Nov. 17 and the Dominican Republic on Nov. 18.
The top two Group B teams will meet the top two from Mexico's Group A in the Nov. 21-23 super round at Tokyo Dome, where the bronze-medal and championship games will be played on Nov. 24.
