(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo courtesy of West Michigan Whitecaps)
  Team Tom de Blok eliminated in Play-Offs
Nederlands
  COMSTOCK PARK, Michigan / DAYTON, Ohio (USA) -
West Michigan Whitecaps, the team of Dutch professional pitcher Tom de Blok, was eliminated in the best-of-three Quarter Finals Play-Offs in the Midwest League on Friday-evening (September 8).
The team lost 4-3 in eleven innings to Dayton Dragons, which won the series 2-1 and advances to the next round.
With the loss, the season ended for the Whitecaps.
With that, De Blok almost surely will return home to the Netherlands on one of the coming days.
He will then be eligible to pitch for L&D Amsterdam Pirates in the remainder of the postseason in the Dutch big league.
De Blok might be in uniform for Amsterdam as early as coming Thursday-evening when the team opens a 3-game series against HCAW.
...Tom de Blok...
(© West Michigan
Whitecaps) |
In his first professional season, the 21-year old Tom de Blok left a good impression playing in Single-A in the organization of the Detroit Tigers.
The righthander threw in 24 games, twelve of them as a starter, and was 4-2 with one save and a 2.74 ERA.
In 82 innings, De Blok struckout 78 baters, walked only 14 and gave up 70 basehits and 28 runs.
De Blok pitched his last game on Monday (September 4).
He then threw seven innings and was the winning pitcher in a 4-1 win against Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego Padres) in what was the final game of the regular season for the Whitecaps.
As De Blok started on Monday, he became unavailable to start during the best-of-three Play-Off Round against Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati Reds), as those games were played on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
De Blok didn't pitch in this Play-Off round, but probably would have in the next round.
In the opener on Wednesday, the Whitecaps won 3-2.
At Fifth Third Field in Dayton (Ohio), the Dragons took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on a 2-run homerun by Bruce Yari.
The Whitecaps got one run back in the top of the fifth on a single by Anthony Pereira.
The team then decided the game with two outs in the top of the ninth inning.
Daz Cameron then singled and Cole Bauml walked.
Both scored when Danny Pinero followed with a double.
After the game, the teams traveled by bus Grand Rapids for the second game, which was played on Thursday.
Dayton evened the series by winning 2-1.
A single by Taylor Trammell gave the Dragons an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
It took until the eighth inning for the next run to be scored and that also was done by the Dragons.
This time on a 2-out single by Randy Ventura.
The Whitecaps scored their lone run in the bottom of the ninth.
With one out, Isaac Paredes doubled and scored on a grounder by Anthony Pereira.
On Friday, Dayton won 4-3 in eleven innings to win the best-of-three.
Both the second and third game were played at Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park (Michigan), which has the same stadium-sponsor as the home of the Dragons.
Fifth Third Bank, which is located in Cincinnati (Ohio), owns the naming rights to three baseball stadiums.
The third one is Fifth Third Field in Toledo (Ohio), the home of the Toledo Mud Hens (Triple-A, Detroit Tigers).
In the third game, both teams scored once in the first inning.
Dayton then added runs in the sixth and ninth inning on respectively a single by Hector Vargas and a single by Randy Ventura.
In the bottom of the ninth, trailing 3-1 with two outs, the Whitecaps came alongside to force extra innings.
With two outs, Daz Cameron and Cole Bauml singled.
After the two had advanced on a wild pitch, a walk for Danny Pinero loaded the bases.
Hereafter, Isaac Paredes grounded to short, which appeared to end in an inning-ending force out.
However, a throwing error followed and both Cameron and Bauml scored to tie the score at 3-3.
With Pinero on third base, Paredes took second base on fielder's indifference, but a flyout then ended the at bat.
Dayton re-took the lead in the eleventh inning on a passed ball.
This time, the Whitecaps were unable to comeback and so, their season ended.
(September 8)
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