The Netherlands were off to a good start and took a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning off of Russian starter Denis Ladoshkin.
He walked lead-off hitter Delano Selassa, who moved on a passed ball, then scored the first run on a ground-rule double by Jelle Kroft.
Ladoshkin then got the bases loaded when he walked Denzel Richardson and saw Max Draijer reach on a bunt-single.
Rodney Daal followed with a sacrifice fly to make it a 2-0 score.
After Richardson had advanced on a wild pitch, the bases got loaded again when Kendrick Delima also walked.
The next run was scored when Rowan van Hoek also walked.
Van Hoek was a late addition to the team.
When the roster was announced last Thursday, a day before the team left, he was not listed.
However, Van Hoek (who is a catcher/utility) was added, taking the place of outfieder Dennis Gustina, who was initially selected to participate in the event.
The Orange Team scored its fourth run in the second inning.
With two outs, Denzel Richardson singled and scored on a following double by Max Draijer.
With a 4-0 lead in the second inning, it appeared that the Dutch were en route to a possible 10-run difference victory.
However, that didn't happen, as the team was held scoreless from the third through sixth inning.
After a pitching change, the Netherlands started to take more distance from the seventh inning and then added five more runs.
The Netherlands was retired in order in the third inning by Denis Ladoshkin, then left a runner behind in scoring position in the fourth.
Delano Selassa then singled with one out and reached second base on a passed ball with two outs, but then stranded.
After being retired in order again in the fifth, the Netherlands reached base again in the next at bat.
Rowan van Hoek led off with a walk, but the next three batters were eliminated.
Nick Keur started for the Netherlands and gave up only two hits in the five innings he pitched, while striking out four batters.
The lefthander retired the side in the first, third and fifth inning, but saw the Russians get into scoring position in the second and fourth.
In the second inning, he gave up an one-out single to Evgeniy Libin, then hit Sergey Kudryashov with a pitch with two outs, but closed with a strikeout.
In the fourth, he walked lead-off hitter Daniil Khomyakov, who then stole second base.
Keur then struckout the next two batters and a flyout ended the Russian at bat.
...Denzel Richardson...
...3 basehits, double, 4 runs, 1 RBI...
...On the photo, he hits for Team Curaçao...
...during the World Port Tournament...
...last month in Rotterdam (Netherlands)...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Keur returned to the mound in the sixth, but when he gave up a lead-off single to Georgii Kochov, Manager Sidney de Jong made a pitching change.
Kennimar Locadia took over, but walked Frank Antonio Bulte Kozhin.
He struckout the next batter, but that also resulted in a wild pitch, enabling the runners to advance to second and third base.
The inning ended when Denis Leonov lined into a double play to second baseman Delano Selassa.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Russians also made a pitching change.
Denis Ladoshkin, who had given up only five basehits in six innings, was relieved by Viktor Faraonov-Kozhevnikov.
He gave up three hits and saw two runs being scored.
Jelle Blaauw and Denzel Richardson started the inning with singles.
Blaauw moved on a flyout and Richardson then stole second base.
With one out, the new pitcher uncorked a wild pitch, which led to a run, then walked Kendrick Delima and gave up a runscoring single to Rowan van Hoek that lifted the lead to 6-0.
In the bottom of the seventh, Russia scored its lone run in the game.
Evgeniy Libin led off with a walk and moved to third base when next batter Ivan Shirokiy singled.
Locadia followed with a strikeout, but an error on a grounder by pinch-hitter Iliya Vorobyev then led to the run.
Three more Orange-runs were the added in the top of the eighth.
With one out, Delano Selassa doubled, Jelle Blaauw walked and Denzel Richardson followed with a runscoring double.
The bases got loaded when Max Draijer walked, which led to a pitching change.
Viacheslav Shmelev took over the Russian pitching, but walked Rodney Daal, resulting in a run, then gave up an RBI-single to Kendrick Delima that made it a 9-1 score.
Colin van Laar pitched the final two innings for the Netherlands.
The lefthander saw Russia get into scoring position in both innings.
In the eighth, he gave up an one-out single to Daniil Khomyakov, then a 2-out single to Evgeniy Libin, but a flyout ended the at bat.
In the ninth, Van Laar gave up an one-out double to Iliya Vorobyev, who advanced a wild pitch with two outs.
Next batter Georgii Kochov then walked and stole second base.
But the Russian runners stranded on second and third base when a flyout ended the game.
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Netherlands Under-23 records second win on European Championship
BLANSKO / BRNO (Czech Rep.) / WELS (Austria) / TRNAVA (Slovakia) -
The Netherlands Under-23 Baseball Team recorded its second convincing victory of the first-ever European Under-23 Championship on Tuesday (August 8).
After winning 9-0 against Belarus in the opener on Monday, the Orange-squad won 9-1 against Russia today.
The Netherlands had a productive start, scoring four runs in the first two innings, but then was held scoreless in the next four at bats.
Still leading 4-0 after six innings, the Orange-squad added five runs in the final three at bats after a pitching change.