  Dutch Team meets Dominican Republic in semi-final
Nederlands
  SAN FRANCISCO, California / MIAMI, Florida (USA) -
The Dutch Baseball Team will meet the Dominican Republic in the second semi-final of the World Baseball Classic on Monday in AT&T Park in San Francisco.
Two-time WBC-winner Japan meets Puerto Rico in the first semi-final on Sunday-evening.
Both games will begin at 6 PM local time (2 AM Dutch time).
Four years ago, the Dutch defeated the Dominicans twice to advance to the Second Round of the WBC.
The two winners advance to the Final of the Classic, which will be played on Tuesday and starts at 5 PM local time (1 AM Dutch time).
On Saturday, in Miami (Florida), the Dominican Republic won 2-0 vs. Puerto Rico to become the winner of Pool 2 of the Second Round.
With the loss, Puerto Rico ended in second place.
In the low-scoring, low-hitting pitching duel in Miami, the Dominicans opened the score in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Carlos Santana then led off with a homerun, which was only the second Dominican hit in the game at that moment.
Puerto Rico also had registered two basehits through five innings.
The Dominicans added an insurance run in the eighth inning when Francisco Pena singled in Erick Aybar with two outs.
The World Baseball Classic now shifts to San Francisco for the final three games of the event, which will be played at AT&T Park.
And that's home for Dutch Manager Hensley Meulens, as he is the Hitting Coach of the San Francisco Giants, with whom he won the World Series in 2010 and 2012.
In the year in between (2011), the Dutch Baseball Team won the IBAF World Cup in Panama.
The team-colors for both the Giants and the Dutch are oranje and black.
And so, 2013 already is the fourth successful orange-and-black year in a row with the Dutch Team reaching the Final Round of the Classic for the first time.
If more is possible, we will know in a few days.
(March 16)
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