(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
     Curaçao records second win in Caribbean Baseball Cup
Nederlands
 NASSAU (Bahamas) -
Curaçao had a comfortable early 10-0 lead on Monday-evening (December 5) against host Bahamas in its second game in the Caribbean Baseball Cup-tournament, but in the end, the team won only 12-10.
On Monday-afternoon, Cuba shutout the US Virgin Islands 9-0 in The Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Complex in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.
Puerto Rico had no game scheduled on Monday.
Two teams will qualify for participation in the Central American and Caribbean Games, which will be held next year (June 23-July 8) in El Salvador.
Cuba already has qualified for the event.
Curaçao opened the fourth edition of the tournament on Sunday with a 7-1 victory against Puerto Rico.
Curaçao is the defending champion after winning the event last year.
The tournament then was held in Curaçao-capital Willemstad.
In the game against the Bahamas, Curaçao rallied for four runs in the first inning, then added five more runs in the second at bat.
The team led 10-0 after four innings, but Bahamas the suddenly staged a 6-run rally.
After seven innings, Curaçao led 11-6, but gave up four more runs in the final two at bats.
In the bottom of the first inning, Curaçao scored its first run on a sacrifice fly by Kay-Lan Nicasia.
Thererafter, two runs were scored on basesloaded walks and in between one on a wild pitch.
In the second inning, a runscoring single by Darren Seferina started a 5-run rally.
The bases then got loaded when Dudley Leonora and Kay-Lan Nicasia walked.
Another run was then added when Swindley Lint got a basesloaded walk.
Thereafter, Raywendley Van Gurp delivered an RBI-single.
A sacrifice fly by Raysheandell Michel brought in the next run and an error on a grounder by Ulrich Snijders accounted for the fifth run and increased the lead to 9-0.
In the third inning, a single by Van Gurp made it a 10-0 score.
With that, a mercy-rule win came in sight, but the game was far from over.
...Nelmerson Angela pitching for Curaçao during...
...the Baseball Week Haarlem this year...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Nelmerson Angela started for Curaçao and threw four solid innings.
The lefthander struckout two batters and walked five, but gave up only one basehit.
This season, Angela pitched in the Dutch big league for Amsterdam Pirates for whom he also will play coming year.
In the top of the fifth inning Djenior Mogen took over from Angela and ran into problems.
The Bahamian team staged a 6-run rally and narrowed the deficit to 10-6.
Mogen walked the first two batters he faced, then got the bases loaded via a single.
Thereafter, two runs were scored when Mogen hit the next two batters with a pitch.
That led to a pitching change and Temesh Lourens took over.
Lourens, who played in the Dutch big league for Quick Amersfoort, then saw the next run being scored on a grounder.
With runners on second and third base, Lourens also hit a batter, then gave up a 2-run single to Kristin Muneroe and RBI-single to Adari Grant.
Curaçao got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to a double by Dudley Leonora.
He played for some different teams in the Dutch big league, the last time last year with Curaçao Neptunus.
This year, Leonora played in the Italian Baseball League for San Marino.
Temesh Lourens encountered no problems in the sixth and seventh inning.
In the meantime, Curaçao was retired in order in the sixth inning and left a runner behind on first base in the seventh.
With Curaçao leading 11-6, Lourens ran into problems with two outs in the top of the eighth.
An error could have accounted for the third out, but instead it enabled the Bahamas to score more runs.
Lourens began with a strikeout, then an error led to runner.
That was followed by a flyout, which could have been the third out.
But now, a productive at bat followed.
Bahamas got the bases loaded via two walks, then Lourens also walked Dante Stuart.
That led to a run, but also a pitching change, as Risandro Pastor took over.
With the score now at 11-7 and the bases loaded, Pastor was greeted with a 2-run single by Warren Saunders, but then closed with a strikeout.
In the bottom of the eighth, Curaçao added an insurance run when Raysheandell Michel homered with two outs to make it a 12-9 score.
The Bahamas managed to score an (unearned) run in the top of the ninth, but with a runner on first base, Pastor closed the game with a strikeout.
Dudley Leonora was 2-for-3 with two walks and scored twice, while batting in on run for Curaçao.
Raywendley Van Gurp was 2-for-4 and batted in three runs, while Darren Seferina scored three runs.
(December 6)
| 
