(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by KNBSB)
             
Netherlands Baseball5-Team eliminated in Quarter Finals European Championship
Nederlands
 VILNIUS (Lithuania) -
On Day 2 of the three-day first-ever Baseball5 European Championship, the Netherlands was eliminated in the Quarter Finals on Saturday (February 29).
The team now will play for fifth and sixth place against Belarus on Sunday.
Lithuania and France then will meet in the Final of the European Championship, which is organized by WBSC Europe.
By reaching the Final, these two teams also qualified for the first-ever Baseball5 World Cup, that will be held in December in Mexico.
The European Championship, which is held in Lithuanian capital Vilnius, opened on Friday with the participation of fourteen countries.
...The Netherlands Team during a practice...
...session in Amsterdam...
...Seated at right is Manager Berry van Driel...
(© Photo: KNBSB) |
All teams consist of eight players, which can be a mix of male and female athletes.
The roster for the Netherlands Baseball5 Team was announced on February 10 by Manager Berry van Driel after a national try-out was held in Amsterdam at the end of January.
Playing for the Netherlands in this first European Championship are José Fernando Acevedo, Melvin Brandjes, Ayla Engels, Annemiek Koehorst, Arjan Koreman, Marvin Morren, Lucca van der Schouw and Naomi Vossebeld.
Since 2004, Annemiek Koehorst also played for the Netherlands Women's Baseball Team with whom she participated in the World Championship in 2014 (Japan) and 2016 (South Korea).
Last year, she participated with the baseball-team in the first European Championship Women's Baseball in France.
The Netherlands had a good first day, as it won five of the six games it played in Pool A to advance to the Quarter Finals.
The Orange Team won its first five games.
In the evening, the team faced Italy which also had won five games.
Italy recorded a convincing 12-4 win to become the Pool-winner.
The Netherlands finished in second place in Pool A.
In the Quarter Finals on Saturday, the Netherlands faced host Lithuania, which had finished in third place in Pool B after having won four of its six games on Day One.
The Quarter Finals were played in a best-of-three format, which means that the team that won twice advanced to either the Semi-Finals or the games for fifth through eighth place.
The Netherlands was beaten twice by Lithuania, 10-6 and 6-2.
With that, the Netherlands was eliminated not only for the final-four, but also for a chance to qualify for the first-ever Baseball5 World Cup in Mexico.
With the sweep, Lithuania advanced to the Semi-Final against Russia, which won big twice against Romania, 11-1 and 14-1.
For the second Semi-Final, Italy and France qualified.
They also had won their Quarter Finals with a sweep.
Italy won 9-3 and 7-3 against Israel, while France won 5-1 and 8-1 against Belarus.
In the Semi-Final for fifth through eighth place, the Netherlands played its next best-of-three against Romania on Saturday-afternoon.
The Netherlands nipped Romania 9-8 in the the opener, then was shutout 9-0 in the second game, meaning a third game was necessary.
The Netherlands then recorded a convincing 7-1 win.
On Sunday, the Netherlands now will play for fifth and sixth place against Belarus, which won its best-of-three against Israel.
In the Semi-Final for the Championship, Lithuania won twice against Russia.
With that, the host country became not only the first to reach the Final, it also became the first country to officially qualify for the World Cup.
As host of the World Cup, Mexico of course is qualified automatically.
In the second Semi-Final between Italy and France, three games were needed.
France won the first game with a 7-4 score, then Italy came back with a 6-2 victory to force a third game.
In the deciding third game, France won 7-3 to become the second finalist.
(February 29)
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