WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Oliver Pérez and Jhonatan Solano would rather not have been in the clubhouse at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches yesterday morning, rejoining the Nationals teammates they said goodbye to 10 days earlier en route to the World Baseball Classic. And each player nearly had reason not to return to West Palm Beach just yet, each having seen his home country's team come within a whisker of advancing past the first round of the international tournament over the weekend. For...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Oliver Pérez and Jhonatan Solano would rather not have been in the clubhouse at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches yesterday morning, rejoining the Nationals teammates they said goodbye to 10 days earlier en route to the World Baseball Classic.

And each player nearly had reason not to return to West Palm Beach just yet, each having seen his home country's team come within a whisker of advancing past the first round of the international tournament over the weekend.

For Pérez, the confusion and despair of Mexico's controversial elimination from Pool D still stung three days after the fact. The condensed version, for those who don't know: Despite beating Venezuela 9-7 on Sunday night and believing that was enough to qualify for a tiebreaker game against Italy, the Mexicans learned the Venezuelans actually qualified to play in that game based on their razor-thin edge in runs allowed per defensive inning (1.12 to 1.11). (The difference: Even though it gave up five runs during the bottom of the ninth against Italy, Mexico did not record an out in that inning and thus it didn't count as a partial inning played.) During the television broadcast of the decisive game, it was stated Mexico would advance if it simply beat Venezuela by two runs, a mistake that was corrected only after the game ended.

The Mexican Baseball Federation protested the final decision but was unsuccessful, prompting star first baseman Adrián González to go on a tirade against Major League Baseball.

Pérez was more diplomatic when discussing the controversy, but he clearly joined his teammates in being upset by the decision.

"We were told that all we had to do was win by two runs, and then we were playing Italy in the playoff game to see who advanced," the left-hander said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "So that's what our mindset was. And then out of the blue, they tell us it was actually Venezuela that advanced. And when they did that, we were in shock because we didn't understand what was happening or anything. So we were taken by surprise completely when that was announced."

There was no controversy to Colombia's elimination from Pool C, only heartbreak after Oscar Mercado was narrowly thrown out at the plate by the Dominican Republic's José Bautista in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday at Marlins Park. Had Mercado been safe, Colombia would have won the game and actually won the entire pool to advance to the second round in San Diego. Instead, it wound up eliminated altogether after the Dominicans scored seven runs in the top of the 11th and Team USA beat Canada later that night.

"We were very close, and at the same time very far away from winning the game," Solano said, also via Martinez. "Any time you get past the ninth inning, as we all know in baseball, it's anybody's game. But the fact we were able to compete against two powerhouses like the Dominican Republic and the USA team and play them so well, just shows how baseball has come along and how well we played. I felt like we did a great job on our end, playing great baseball and competed well against those teams and represented our country extremely well."

Both players raved about the high-intensity environment of the WBC, a stark contrast to spring training or even the vast majority of regular-season games.

"It's very different to play for a particular team than it is to represent your whole country," Solano said. "So in that sense, it was definitely different. The energy, you could definitely feel it throughout the stadium. I've never participated in the World Series, but I think it would be very comparable to that. To play in that stadium and see it so full like that ... I've never seen that before. It was amazing. The energy the fans gave was great. And like I said before, it's one of those experiences I'll definitely never forget."

Now both Pérez and Solano find themselves returning to the doldrums of spring training, preparing for the major-league season. In Pérez's case, this is merely the next step after a busy offseason that saw the lefty pitch in an exhibition game in Japan, then winter ball and the Caribbean Series.

"When I came to spring training, I was ready to go," he said. "We started the season on like the first day, so I was ready. For me, that's no problem. Now I'm just trying to get back here to the team. I'm really happy to see the guys. We're trying to make the playoffs and get to the World Series."