(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
   Netherlands Team plays first exhibition game in Mexico
Nederlands
 ZAPOPAN, Jalisco (Mexico) -
The Netherlands Baseball Team played its first of two exhibition games on Wednesday-afternoon (October 30) to prepare for the upcoming second edition of the Premier12, which opens coming Saturday.
On Wednesday, the Orange Team lost 12-2 in a 7-inning game against the USA, which on Saturday also will the first opponent.
The Netherlands then meets the Dominican Republic on Sunday and closes Pool A on Tuesday against Mexico, which will be the host of this Pool.
On Tuesday, the first games will be played in Pool B, which will be organized in Taiwan.
Pool C opens coming Wednesday in South Korea.
The two best teams of each Pool will then advance to the Super Round, which will be played in Japan, as will the Final.
The Netherlands Team arrived in Mexico on Monday, then practiced on Tuesday.
Today's exhibition game was played at Estadio de Béisbol Charros de Jalisco in Zapopan, which also will be the site of Pool A.
Jair Jurrjens was the starting pitcher for the Netherlands.
The righthander last pitched for the Orange Team during the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
He was one of seven pitchers used in today's game by Manager Hensley Meulens.
All pitchers threw on a pitch-count in today's game.
Jurrjens retired the side in the first inning, then was relieved by Orlando Yntema, who had a tough second inning.
Yntema gave up seven basehits and six runs, which gave the USA an early comfortable lead.
The American squad is led by Manager Scott Brosius, who took over the position a few weeks ago from Joe Girardi, who initially was named Manager of Team USA.
However, on October 16, Girardi withdrew as he was in talks to become a Major League-Manager again.
The former Manager of the New York Yankees recently was named the new Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Brosius also is a former Major Leaguer.
He played for Oakland Athletics in 1991-1997, then for New York Yankees in 1998-2001.
With New York, he won the World Series three times and he was the World Series MVP in 1998.
The Netherlands reached base in the first inning when Roger Bernadina singled, but he was then eliminated when Juremi Profar grounded into a double play.
With the USA leading 6-0, Shairon Martis threw the third inning for the Netherlands.
He encountered no problems, needed only five pitches and retired the side.
In the top of the fourth inning, Juremi Profar walked with one out, but he stranded, as the next two batters struckout.
Tom Stuifbergen then became the fourth Orange-pitcher in the bottom of the fourth.
He gave up a 2-run homerun to Jo Adell, who plays in Triple-A in the organization of the Los Angeles Angels.
But there also was a nice catch by Dwayne Kemp, who had just entered as new third baseman.
He was one of the defensive changes made in this at bat.
...Kalian Sams had two basehits, including a triple...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
In the top of the fifth, the Netherlands got its first big scoring opportunity.
The team got the bases loaded when Hendrik Clementina reached on an error, Kalian Sams singled and Sharlon Schoop reached on an infield-hit.
But the inning ended when Ray-Patrick Didder (who made his Orange-debut) popped out.
Another player made his debut in the Netherlands Team in the bottom of the fifth.
That was Orsen Josephina, who then took over the pitching.
The righthander gave up two basehits, but gave up no runs.
The Netherlands got another runner in scoring position in its sixth at bat and also scored its first run.
Yurendell De Caster and Sicnarf Loopstok singled, Gianfranco Wawoe delivered a sacrifice fly, but this time, it was Curt Smith, who grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Team USA added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth off of Jim Ploeger.
With the bases loaded, he gave up a runscoring single, then saw another run being scored on a wild pitch.
In the top of the seventh, the second Orange-run was scored.
Kalian Sams led off with a triple, then scored on a single with two outs by Gianfranco Wawoe, who batted in both Dutch runs.
In the bottom of the seventh, the third Orange-rookie made his debut, as Franklin Van Gurp took the mound.
He began with a walk, then gave up a single.
After striking out the next batter, Van Gurp gave up a runscoring single.
The righthander again followed with a strikeout, but another RBI-single was then recorded and that also ended the game.
The Netherlands Team collected eight basehits, including two by Kalian Sams.
Playing for the Netherlands in this game were:
Calten Daal (2B), Gianfranco Wawoe (2B), Roger Bernadina (CF), Dwayne Kemp (3B), Juremi Profar (1B), Yurendell De Caster (1B), Ademar Rifaela (LF), Gilmer Lampe (LF), Chadwick Tromp (C), Sicnarf Loopstok (C), Hendrik Clementina (DH), Curt Smith (PR-DH), Kalian Sams (RF), Sharlon Schoop (3B-SS), Ray-Patrick Didder (SS-CF) and pitchers Jair Jurrjens, Orlando Yntema, Shairon Martis, Tom Stuifbergen, Orsen Josephina, Jim Ploeger and Franklin Van Gurp.
(October 30)
Related Article:
 Hensley Meulens returns as Orange-Manager for Premier12; Roster announced. (October 14)
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