SURPRISE, Ariz. -- When it was over, when the United States had beaten Puerto Rico, 8-0, on Wednesday night to capture the World Baseball Classic title, left-hander Danny Duffy had one more mission to complete.Duffy had to find his USA and Royals teammate Eric Hosmer amid the sea of bodies

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- When it was over, when the United States had beaten Puerto Rico, 8-0, on Wednesday night to capture the World Baseball Classic title, left-hander Danny Duffy had one more mission to complete.

Duffy had to find his USA and Royals teammate Eric Hosmer amid the sea of bodies and celebration.

"I was looking for him with a trophy in my hand for about 30 minutes," Duffy said Friday after returning to camp. "I wanted a picture with him holding the trophy. That was important to me."

Been at this for awhile now! Dope way to start my 10th season calling you my brother! Lets take it back to the K @TheRealHos35! #ForGlory pic.twitter.com/5WqQHE0Cw8 — Danny Duffy (@Duffman) March 23, 2017

The memories of the championship will stick with Duffy forever.

"Just winning a gold medal for my country," Duffy said. "That's not something you get to do every day."

And Duffy certainly contributed. He started and got the victory in a must-win game against the Dominican Republic last Saturday.

While Duffy said he felt the pressure that day, his approach was the same as always.

"Just execute and keep it simple, like I normally do," Duffy said. "I thought I did a good job of just focusing and keeping my emotions under wraps."

The experience of playing in the Classic is something Duffy said he would do again in a heartbeat. He hopes other American players will feel the desire to play in 2021.

"I sure hope so," Duffy said. "When we got there, we kept hearing about who wasn't there. No disrespect to anyone else, but we felt a little disrespected with the talk of who wasn't there. We wanted to be there, so why were we getting shaded? We were a pretty good team and we proved it.

"You know, I saw what Noah Syndergaard said, that you don't get to the Hall of Fame or the World Series by playing in the Classic. That's all good and fun, but it's about winning a gold. You may not feel passionate about the Classic, but we do."

In fact, Duffy said playing in the Classic could help him with the Royals in 2017.

"It felt like the World Series in March," he said. "I think I can take some of that feeling into the season. I think just taking that emotion into the season will help."