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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen) Netherlands advances to Quarter Final European Championship after win vs. Sweden Nederlands TORINO / AVIGLIANA / SETTIMO TORINESE (Italy) - The Netherlands Baseball Team won 15-5 in eight innings against Sweden on Tuesday-afternoon (September 14), Day 3 of the 36th edition of the European Championship. With the win, the Orange Team recorded its third win, closed the Preliminary Round and finished in first place in Group D to advance to the Quarter Finals. The Orange Team opened the Championship on Sunday with an 11-0 shutout-victory against Slovakia in what was the first international baseball-game between the two countries. On Monday, the Netherlands recorded a convincing 11-1 win against the Czech Republic. Today, the Netherlands led 8-0 after two innings, but the win didn't come that easy initially. Although the lead (and the win) never was in jeopardy, Sweden came back and narrowed the deficit from the third inning on, making it a 9-5 score after four at bats. After being held scoreless for three innings, the Netherlands took more distance in the seventh inning, then reached a mercy-rule run-difference in the eighth. With that, the Netherlands recorded its 30th victory against Sweden and stayed unbeaten against the Scandinavian country since they first met in 1962. The Netherlands collected 16 basehits, including four by Dashenko Ricardo, who also hit one of the three Orange-homeruns. The five runs from Sweden were the most the team scored in a game against the Netherlands since July 9, 1993. Back then, during the European Championship on home-soil, Sweden also scored five runs against the Orange Team. One of the smallest wins against Sweden was recorded during the 2005 European Championship in the Czech Republic. The Netherlands then won only 2-0. Three of the current Orange-coaches then were members of the Netherlands Team. In the game against Sweden, Manager Evert-Jan 't Hoen was the first baseman and Pitching Coach Robin van Doornspeek threw in relief. Bench/Hitting Coach Sidney de Jong was one of the catchers, but he didn't play in the game against Sweden. By reaching the top-8, the Netherlands has the day off on Wednesday. The team will play its Quarter Final on Thursday-evening (8:30 PM) against Great Britain, which finished in second place in Group C. Great Britain finished in second place, based on the Team Quality Balance. Israel remained unbeaten in this Group by winning 11-4 this morning against the British Team. But as France surprised with a 5-4 win against Russia, the other three teams ended in a tie. As the head-to-head results also created a tie, the Team Quality Balance (run-difference rule) was needed to determine the ranking. ...Dutch Umpire Edwin Louisa... ...was behind the plate in... ...the Belgium vs. Greece game... (© Photo: Henk Seppen) The third day of the Championship also had a noteworthy game, just like Day 1 and Day 2. This time, the game between Belgium and Greece had an interesting ending. Greece also played and exciting game on Monday against Austria, winning 14-13 in twelve innings. This time, the team lost as opponent Belgium came back from behind. Belgium took an early lead by scoring twice in the bottom of the first inning, but then was held scoreless. Greece scored a run in the fifth, then came alongside in the seventh. And then, the ninth inning began. With one out, Nick Halamandaris singled for Greece, then Antonio Torres-Skerrett homered to give his team a 4-2 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Belgium got the bases loaded when Sam Boermans led off with a walk, pinch-hitter Zion De Brauwer was hit by a pitch and Benjamin Goffaux walked. A run was then scored when next batter Drew Janssen also walked, which led to a pitching change. Daniel Gosselin took over, but he began with a walk for Dennis De Quint, who played in the Dutch big league for UVV and Twins Oosterhout some seasons ago. With this walk, De Brauwer scored the tying run. Still with no outs and the bases loaded, veteran Belgian player Benjamin Dille was the next batter. The longtime player of Dutch big leaguer Curaçao Neptunus flied out, but it was not possible to score. Hereafter, Axel Poesmans delivered a walk-off single down the third base-line, where the ball jumped away (near the foul-line) from third baseman Dimitrios Kourtis into foul territory. The internationally experienced Dutch Home Plate Umpire Edwin Louisa immediately gave the fair-signal. All runners advanced and Goffaux scored the winning run, giving Belgium a come-from-behind 5-4 victory. Janssen also continued to score, but of course, his run didn't count. There initially was some confusion after the two runners had scored, as the fielders of Greece, as well as the Belgian baserunners on first and second base, the coaches and the Umpires all remained on the field. The confusion had to do with the inning, as the scoreboard listed the eighth inning instead of the ninth. Louisa checked with the Official Scorers and when it was confirmed that it was indeed the ninth inning, everyone left the field. The Belgian win created a rare ranking in Group A. In the evening, the last game in this Group was played between Italy and Austria. In case, Austria should have won, it would have finished in first place and Italy in second, while Belgium then would be third and Greece fourth. However, this surprise didn't come, as Italy won 14-1 on a 2-out, walk-off, grand slam homerun by Vito Friscia in the bottom of the seventh. With the win, Italy became the unbeaten group-winner, while the other three teams ended in a tie. The head-to-head results created a new tie, so here the run-difference rule (Team Quality Balance) also was needed to determine the ranking. Which also was interesting, as Austria scored 25 runs and also gave up 25, for Greece this was 18-18 and for Belgium 16-16. However, to determine the TQB the offensive and defensive innings played are also used and although the differences in these were also minimal, it did result in a decision. After applying the TQB, Belgium (.0174) finished in second place, followed by Austria (.000) and Greece (-.0143). (September 14) Other scores Day 3: Group A: Belgium vs. Greece 5-4; Italy vs. Austria 14-1 (7 inn.). Group B: Germany vs. Ukraine 15-5 (7 inn.); Spain vs. Croatia 12-0 (6½ inn.). Group C: Israel vs. Great Britain 11-4; France vs. Russia 5-4. Group D: Czech Republic vs. Slovakia 13-3 (8 inn.). Final Standings Preliminary Round: Group A: 1. Italy, 2. Belgium (*), 3. Austria (*), 4. Greece (*). Group B: 1. Spain, 2. Croatia, 3. Germany, 4. Ukraine. Group C: 1. Israel, 2. Great Britain (*), 3. Russia (*), 4. France (*). Group D: 1. Netherlands, 2. Czech Republic, 3. Sweden, 4. Slovakia. (*) - ranking based on Team Quality Balance. Related Articles: Netherlands wins convincingly vs. Czechs on Day 2 Euro Champ. (September 13) Netherlands opens European Championship with shutout-win vs. Slovakia. (September 12) Roster-change Netherlands Team: Raf Cocu replaces Franklin Van Gurp. (September 10) Netherlands Team shuts out Sweden in exhibition game. (September 10) Netherlands Team wins exhibition game against Spain. (September 9) Roster Netherlands Team announced for European Championship. (September 7)

The Netherlands appeared off to a big mercy-rule victory, as the team scored four runs in both the first and second inning. However, from the third inning on, only one more run was added in four at bats, while Sweden came back in the game with a 4-run rally of its own in the third inning. In the first at bat, all nine Orange-batters stepped up to the plate and eight of them reached base. However, the four runs were scored with two outs off of starter Erik Marqvardsen. Calten Daal led off with a single, but when he tried to stretch his hit into a double, he was eliminated at second base. Hereafter, Roger Bernadina walked (and stole second base) and Ray-Patrick Didder was hit by a pitch. Next batter Denzel Richardson hit the ball into deep centerfield, where it was caught, but it became a sacrifice fly, as Bernadina scored from second base. Didder advanced to third base and then scored on a single by Sharlon Schoop. The bases then got loaded when Dashenko Ricardo singled and Junior Martina walked. John Polonius followed with a 2-run single. He was then forced out on a grounder by Julian Rip, but the team had taken an early comfortable lead. Four more runs were added in the second inning off of new pitcher August Mattsson, again with two outs. After the first two batters flied out, Ray-Patrick Didder homered. Denzel Richardson and Sharlon Schoop then singled and scored when Dashenko Ricardo also homered. ...Dashenko Ricardo... ...4 hits, HR, 3 RBI's... (© Photo: Henk Seppen) Orange-starter Kaj Timmermans retired the side in the first and second inning, but then had a tough top of the third inning, giving up six basehits (five consecutive) and four runs, which cut the Dutch lead in half. The righthander gave up a lead-off single to Oskar Jerfsten down the rightfield-line, but he was eliminated when he tried to advance an extra base. But with one out, Timmermans got the bases loaded when Per Sjörs, Tommy Lindell and Joel Johnson all singled. They all scored when Daniel Johnson followed with a baseclearing, 3-run double. Timmermans followed with a strikeout, but then gave up a runscoring single to Niklas Melin. Hereafter, it was Trolle Brandt who drove the ball into deep centerfield, but there Roger Bernadina caught the ball to end the inning. The Netherlands got one run back in its third at bat. With one out, Julian Rip reached on an error and moved on a single by Calten Daal. After the two runners had executed a double steal, Rip scored on a sacrifice fly (in foul territory) by Roger Bernadina. Sweden also scored again in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, Per Sjörs doubled, advanced on a passed ball and scored on a following single by Tommy Lindell. That ended the afternoon on the mound for Timmermans, who was relieved by Jayden Gonesh. The rookie walked Joel Johnson, but then closed with a strikeout. With the score now at 9-5, The Netherlands didn't score in the next three at bats. Sweden was kept scoreless from the fifth inning on, while the Netherlands then added six more runs from the seventh inning on. In the bottom of the fourth, off of new pitcher Sam Börjes, the Netherlands got two baserunners with one out when Sharlon Schoop walked and Dashenko Ricardo singled. Junior Martina followed with a line drive, but that was caught by second baseman Trolle Brandt. The two runners were left behind. After Sweden was retired in order in the fifth, another Orange-runner got into scoring position in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Roger Bernadina was hit by a pitch and moved to second base when a pick-off ended in an error, but then was left behind. In the sixth, the Orange Team got two baserunners with two outs. Dashenko Ricardo singled, then pinch-hitter Dwayne Kemp walked. The latter was then forced out and two runners were left behind. The Netherlands was then more productive again in the seventh and eighth inning, scoring three runs in each of these at bats. In the seventh inning, the Netherlands offensense clearly showed that it wanted to take more distance, as its runners went on to take extra bases either by stealing them or advancing on errors. With one out, Calten Daal doubled, stole third base and scored on a wild pitch. Roger Bernadina then walked and stole second base. The former Major Leaguer then also stole third base when next batter Ray-Patrick Didder walked. The running by Bernadina triggered a throwing error and so, he scored the next run. Hereafter, it was Didder that stole second base. He then moved to third base after Denzel Richardson flied out and when that was followed by an error, Didder also scored to lift the lead to 12-5. Sweden stranded a runner on first base in the top of the sixth, then was retired in order in the seventh inning by new pitcher Raf Cocu, who then struckout three batters. In the eighth, Cocu gave up a lead-off single to Niklas Melin, but he was caught stealing. Two pop-flies ended the Swedish at bat. In the bottom of the eighth, first baseman Per Sjörs became the next Swedish pitcher. With one out, John Polonius homered, then Julian Rip singled. After Calten Daal had flied out into deep centerfield, Roger Bernadina and Ray-Patrick Didder connected for back-to-back RBI doubles. That made it a 15-5 score and ended the game. The following players came into action for the Netherlands: Calten Daal (2B, 3-for-6), Roger Bernadina (CF, 1-for-2), Ray-Patrick Didder (RF, 2-for-4), Denzel Richardson (DH, 1-for-4), Sharlon Schoop (1B, 2-for-3), Dashenko Ricardo (C, 4-for-5), Junior Martina (3B, 0-for-2), Dwayne Kemp (PH/3B, 0-for-1), John Polonius (SS, 2-for-5), Julian Rip (LF, 1-for-5) and pitchers Kaj Timmermans, Jayden Gonesh and Raf Cocu.

Netherlands - Sweden 15-5 (8 inn.) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Sweden 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 - 5 9 5 Netherlands 4 4 1 0 0 0 3 3 - 15 16 0 (two outs when 10-run difference was reached in the eighth inning) pitchers Sweden inn. SO BB H R ER Erik Marqvardsen, L (0-1) 1 - 2 4 4 4 August Mattsson 2 - - 5 5 4 Sam Börjes 4 2 5 3 3 3 Per Sjörs 0.2 - - 4 3 3 pitchers Netherlands inn. SO BB H R ER Kaj Timmermans 3.2 3 - 8 5 4 Jayden Gonesh, W (1-0) 2.1 2 1 - - - Raf Cocu 2 3 - 1 - - (Gonesh credited with the win based on Rule 9.17 b) Homeruns: Netherlands: Ray-Patrick Didder (2)(2nd,solo,2 outs,off Mattsson), Dashenko Ricardo (1)(2nd,3-run,2 outs,off Mattsson), John Polonius (1)(8th,solo,1 out,off Sjörs). Box Score Play-by-Play Umpires: HP-Oswald Tscharf (Austria), 1B-Tomislav Ozimec (Croatia), 3B-Christopher Feuerecker (Germany). Official Scorer: Marco Rocci (Italy). Play-by-Play Scorer: Fabio Zaccaria (Italy). Technical Commissioner: Jaroslav Mika (Czech Republic). Starting Time-3:00 PM. Time Played-2:51 hrs. Site-Campo da Baseball, Complesso Valter Aluffi, Settimo Torinese (Italy) (site Baseball Club Settimo). Game Notes: 30th international game of the Netherlands against Sweden. 30th victory of the Netherlands against Sweden. Weather conditions at game time: Partly cloudy, 27° C (80,6° F); wind direction east-northeast; wind speed 5 kmh (3,1 mph); wind force 2 Bft; humidity 54%.

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