 Dutch Team opens Intercontinental Cup vs. Italy
Nederlands
 TAICHUNG (Taiwan) -
The Dutch National Baseball Team will play its first game during the upcoming Intercontinental Cup-tournament in Taiwan vs. Italy, which in August won the European title in Germany for the first time since 1997.
The 17th Intercontinental Cup Tournament opens on October 23 and will run through October 31.
The event will be played in Taichung at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium and at Douliu (which is sometimes written as Tou-Liou) in Douliu Baseball Stadium.
Four years ago, the event also was held in Taichung.
Back then, the Dutch Team reached the final, which it lost 6-3 vs. Cuba in 11 innings.
The Dutch Team will play in Pool B of the event together with Italy, Japan, Nicaragua and Thailand.
Playing in Pool A are Cuba, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Korea and host Taiwan.
The event opens on Saturday, October 23 with four games.
After the Opening Ceremony, the first game will be an Asian match-up between Taiwan and Korea at Intercontinental Baseball Stadium.
The next game will be between the Dutch and Italian teams at Douliu.
Later in the day, the Czechs will meet Cuba and Nicaragua is playing against Japan.
The next day, the Dutch Team will play vs. Nicaragua, then has the day off on the 25th.
On October 26, the Dutch Team meets Japan, then will close the preliminary round a day later vs. Thailand, whom they will meet for the first time since November 2007.
Three years ago, the Dutch beat Thailand 16-0 in the opening game of the World Championship, which then also took place in Taiwan.
The final round will start on October 28.
It marks the sixth time that a Dutch Team participates in an Intercontinental Cup Tournament.
The Dutch first took part when the event was held in Antwerp (Belgium) in 1983.
Hereafter, the Dutch Team participated in 1995 (Cuba), 1999 (Australia), 2002 (Cuba) and 2006 (Taiwan).
The first Intercontinental Cup was held in 1973 in Italy.
The final roster for the Dutch National Team for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup has not yet been announced.
(October 1)
|
