Pool A of the first round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic was held at Gocheok Sky Dome, Seoul, South Korea from March 6 to 9, 2017, between Israel and the Netherlands (the top two teams in the pool, who advanced to the next round in Japan) and South Korea and Taiwan. Pool A was a round-robin tournament. Each team played the other three teams once, with the top two teams advancing to Pool E.
Prior to the start of the tournament, ESPN considered Team Israel, ranked 41st in the world, to be the biggest underdog in the tournament, referring to them as the "Jamaican bobsled team of the WBC".[1][2]
Team Israel (3−0) and Team Netherlands (2−1) qualified for the next round, in Japan.[3] Israel became the first baseball team to go undefeated in the first round of the WBC’s main draw after entering the main draw by winning in a qualifying round.[4] Israel's catcher, Ryan Lavarnway, was named Pool A MVP, after going 5-for-9 (.556/.692/.889), with four walks, a home run, and three RBIs.[5][6]