Team America: Giancarlo Stanton's World Baseball Classic Homerun Leaves the Ballpark at 117.3 MPH

Words won’t do it justice … just watch. #WBC2017 pic.twitter.com/NfvxpQJ5hz

— WBC Baseball (@WBCBaseball) March 19, 2017

The setting: Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic.

With Team USA and the Dominican Republic tied 2-2  in the 4th inning of their matchup on Saturday night, Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton stepped up to the plate for America under the bright lights — and he delivered.

Ervin Santana, the Minnesota Twins pitcher representing the Dominican Republic, threw the pitch.

Stanton absolutely crushed it into the wall of a brick building. Really.

And that’s all it took to set off the crowd. The announcer’s call was gold too.

It must have been quite a treat to witness it in person. For those who heard it live, they must’ve known that it was gone from the moment of that crack sound.

Major League Baseball highlighted that Stanton’s blast is one of the hardest-hit homeruns ever recorded (hashtag: #NotFakeNews)

Speed: 117.3 mph   Distance: 403 ft.

That’s some amazing human strength indeed, and it’s part of what sealed the deal for the United States to advance.

USA’s Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles made this spectacular play on behalf of the red, white and blue when Manny Machado of the Dominican Republic tried to swing the momentum for a comeback (hashtag: #TeamSportGoals)

.@SimplyAJ10 is crowd surfing in his hometown! #WBC2017 pic.twitter.com/9wUZggOq97

— MLB (@MLB) March 19, 2017

An additional, brief word on that catch: Much respect to Machado for tipping his hat after being robbed of a possible game-changing homerun by Jones (who is also his teammate in Baltimore).

It’s great to see this kind of classy sportsmanship on display, an aspect of the game of baseball that deserves to be recognized as the Major League Baseball season approaches.

The baseball tournament now shifts from San Diego’s Petco Park to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the semifinal and championship games will be played.

Team USA will face Japan in one semifinal game, Puerto Rico will meet the Netherlands in the other.

Who said the World Baseball Classic isn’t exciting?