(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by WBSC & Henk Seppen)
 Rob Cordemans named starting pitcher for Game 1 Europe vs. Japan
...Rob Cordemans pitching for the Dutch Team in last years final...
...of the European Championship in the Czech Republic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Nederlands
 TOKYO (Japan) -
Veteran righthander Rob Cordemans can write another milestone in his expanded international career, as he was named starting pitcher for Game 1 of the historic series between Team Europe and Team Samurai Japan on Tuesday.
Steve Janssen, the Manager of Team Europe, made the announcement today (Saturday, March 7).
Cordemans, who turned 40 last October, is playing internationally since 1995, the year in which he made his debut in the Netherlands National Baseball Team.
Starting for Samurai Japan will be 23-year old righthander Daichi Osera, who last season made his debut in the Nippon Professionall Baseball, pitching for Hiroshima Toyo Carp.
In his first season in the highest professional Japanese league, Osera appeared in 26 games, all as starter (he completed three of them).
He struckout 116 batters and walked only 40 in 151 innings and finished the season with a 10-8 record and a 4.05 ERA.
After the season, Osera was named Rookie of the Year in the Central League.
...Daichi Osera...
(© Photo: WBSC) |
Game 1 of the two-game series will be played next Tuesday, March 10.
Game 2 will be played the next day.
Both games are played in the Tokyo Dome in Japanese capital Tokyo and will begin at 6 PM local time (10 AM Dutch time).
Both games of the Global Baseball Match will be broadcast live in Europe via Eurosport 2.
On Tuesday-evening, starting at 11 PM (Dutch time), a one-and-a-half-hour recap of the game will also be shown by Eurosport 2.
Team Europe arrived in Japan last Wednesday and conducted daily practices since Thursday.
Today (Saturday), the team held a baseball clinic for school children at Giants Stadium following their practice session at the indoor-facility of the famous Yomiuri Giants.
On Sunday, Team Europe will play an exhibtion game against the minor league-team of the Yomiuri Giants.
Then on Monday, the final workout is scheduled at QVC Stadium.
...Managers Steve Janssen and Marco Mazzieri discuss today's practice session... |
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(© All Photos courtesy of WBSC) |
(March 7)
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