Japan's Roki Sasaki brings bags of candy to apologize for HBP

A painful experience at the World Baseball Classic had a sweet ending for William Escala — thanks to an unexpected visit from Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki.

Two days after plunking Escala with a 101 mph pitch, Sasaki apologized to the Czech Republic outfielder Monday morning and brought him two bags filled with Japanese candy.

Sasaki, the emerging ace who wowed in his WBC debut, met with Escala outside the Czech team hotel in Tokyo and also signed a baseball for him. Sasaki, 21, was following a Japanese tradition of giving a gift after hitting a batter.

As an apology for hitting him with a pitch, Team Japan pitcher Roki Sasaki gifted Team Czech Republic's William Escala with two giant bags of candy. You gotta love the <a href=«https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldBaseballClassic?src=hash&ref_src=» https:>#WorldBaseballClassic

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«He gave me some goodies, and a bunch of different candies and stuff like that,» Escala said. «And then I asked him if he could sign the ball as a memory for me. Something I will keep. Very cool. Something I'll cherish and never forget.»

«That was a wow moment,» Czech captain Petr Zyma told MLB.com. «The Japanese culture never stops to amaze me each day we are here. They once again took it to another level as a superstar that Roki is; he took his time to come to the bus, meet Escala, send us a bunch of candy and sign a ball for Willie. It was a huge sign of respect.»

Czech manager Pavel Chadim echoed Zyma's sentiments, telling MLB.com that Sasaki's gesture «reminded me that baseball is not just war or a business, but the sport of gentlemen.»

Chadim later told reporters that Sasaki's apology was «a heartwarming thing and it touched us.»

«That brings us a huge extra energy,» Chadim