(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
      Netherlands eliminated via tiebreak-rule after loss vs. Italy in World Baseball Classic
Nederlands
 TAICHUNG (Taiwan) -
The Netherlands (or Team Kingdom of the Netherlands) ended up short against Italy and was eliminated for the Second Round (Quarter Finals) of the fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic, losing 7-1 on Sunday-evening (March 12).
A disappointing development for the Orange Team, which had qualified for the Semi-Finals in the previous two editions in 2013 and 2017 and had set hopes high for this year.
It marks the second time that the Netherlands is eliminated in the First Round.
The first time was during the inaugural edition in 2006.
Three years later, in 2009, the Netherlands was elimininated in the Second Round.
Sunday was a crucial final day in Pool A of the global event.
The day began with a 7-1 win of Cuba against Chinese Taipei.
In the evening, the Netherlands lost with the same score against Italy.
With that, all five teams in Pool A ended up in a tie, having won twice and also having lost twice.
The first tiebreak-rule when teams are tied is the head-to-head result, but that created another tie.
And so, the ranking had to be made up based on the second tiebreak-rule, which was the lowest quotient of the runs allowed divided by defensive outs.
In the end, that ended in favor of Cuba and Italy.
Cuba had the lowest average with .139 (15 runs allowed divided by 108 defensive outs) and therefore finished in first place.
As Italy allowed only one run in the game against the Netherlands, it lowered its average to .157 (17 divided by 108) to end up in second place.
The Netherlands finished in third place with a .186 average (19 divided by 102), followed by Panama with .200 (21 divided by 105) and Chinese Taipei with .295 (31 divided by 105).
Before today's two games, it was the Netherlands that had the lowest average (.156), followed by Cuba, Italy, Panama and Chinese Taipei.
Cuba dropped below the Netherlands today after giving up only one run against Chinese Taipei, while the Asians were eliminated after giving the seven runs in this game.
Of course, Chinese Taipei also ended up in the tie, but its average was higher than Cuba and Panama when the Netherlands-Italy game began.
By giving up only one run, Cuba more-or-less secured first place in Pool A.
It not necessarily was a problem losing today's game.
Of course, with a win, the Netherlands would advance to the Quarter Final.
But with a loss, it was important not to give up that many runs.
And is what happened.
In case of a loss, the Netherlands even could give up four runs and still stay under Italy's average, providing that the Orange Team at least scored twice itself in nine innings.
There were two crucial moments in the game between the Netherlands and Italy.
Of course, the fourth inning was desastrous when the Netherlands gave up six runs.
However, in the sixth inning, the Orange Team had the bases loaded with no outs, but failed to score.
That was more crucial than the Italian 6-run rally.
...The entrance of Taichung Intercontinental...
...Baseball Stadium, the site of Pool A...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
With the score at 6-1 in favor of Italy after four innings, the Netherlands needed to score at least three more runs in the remainder of the game (and of course not giving up more).
Two runs would result in a tie (.176), which then would give the advantage to Italy based on the head-to-head result.
With three runs scored, the Netherlands would stay at an .176 average, under the .185 average of Italy in this situation.
With five more at bats, scoring three runs could have been possible for the powerful line-up of the Netherlands.
Especially when it got the bases loaded with no outs in the sixth inning.
But the three runners were left behind.
When Italy added another run in the bottom of the eighth inning, there still was a slim chance for the Netherlands to advance.
However, this time, the Orange-squad had to score at least four runs in the top of the ninth to avoid elimination.
But that proved to be too much.
In case the Netherlands would have scored four runs, it would still have lost the game, but Italy's run-average would have been .194 and that of the Netherlands .186.
And so, the Netherlands was eliminated for the Second Round, which are the Quarter Finals.
Instead of traveling to Japan for this game, the team now had to return home.
The Netherlands Team opened the event on Wednesday-afternoon with a 4-2 win against Cuba.
The next day, the team also won its second game, defeating Panama with a 3-1 score to move into first place in Pool A and to move itself into a good position to advance to the Second Round.
But on Saturday, the Netherlands lost 9-5 to Chinese Taipei.
With that, today's game against Italy became decisive for everyone.
In Pool B in Tokyo (Japan) today, host Japan advanced to the Quarter Final after winning 7-1 against Australia.
South Korea won 7-3 against the Czech Republic.
In Pool C in Phoenix (USA), Canada won with a big 18-8 scored in 6½ inning against Great Britain.
By scoring 26 runs combined, the two teams set a new WBC-record.
In the evening, Mexico stunted against the USA by winning 11-5.
In this game, Dutch Umpire Edwin Louisa was at second base.
This time, he was accompanied by Nicaraguan Jairo Mendoza at first base and American Major League-Umpires Alan Porter (HP) and Cory Blaser (3B).
In Pool D in Miami (USA), Israel nipped Nicaragua, 3-1, while Venezuela recorded its second win, this time a 9-6 victory against Puerto Rico.
For the Netherlands, the starting line-up had been adjusted somewhat for today's game.
In the previous three games, Jurickson Profar had been the lead-off hitter and Roger Bernadina batted second.
Today, Ray-Patrick Didder made his first start as rightfielder and batted in the lead-off spot, while Profar dropped from first to second.
Bernadina today batted sixth, which had been the spot of DH Wladimir Balentien, who now batted seventh.
The Netherlands started well today and had a (small) 1-0 lead halfway the fourth inning.
But then, Italy rallied for six runs.
Although that amount of opposing runs probably already was too much, the Netherlands still had enough at bats left to turn things (run-average formula) in its favor, as explained above.
The decision really fell in the sixth inning when the Netherlands got the bases loaded with no outs.
At that moment, the Orange Team could gave struck, end up losing in the end, but nevertheless had advanced to the Second Round (as explained above).
Six Italian pitchers (all born in the USA) had a solid outing today.
Combined, they gave up seven basehits, but also struckout twelve batters, most of them at crucial moments.
Five Orange pitchers (two born in Curaçao, one in Aruba, one in Saint Martin and one in the Netherlands) gave up twelve basehits and struckout five batters.
By the way, all players used today by Italy were born in the USA, but all have Italian backgrounds.
Of the players used by the Orange Team, two were born in the Netherlands, pitcher Mike Bolsenbroek and first baseman Didi Gregorius.
But the latter grew up on Curaçao.
Of the sixteen players who today played for the team, eight were born on Curaçao, four on Aruba, two in the Netherlands and one each on Saint Martin and in the USA.
And that's why the team is called Team Kingdom of the Netherlands in international tournaments, as Aruba, Curaçao and Saint Martin are all part of the Kingdom.
Although this was the 138th game between the Netherlands and Italy overall, it was the first time that the two European archrivals met during a World Baseball Classic.
And it also was the first time that Mike Piazza was the Manager of Italy while playing against the Netherlands.
From 1992 through 2007, the former catcher played in 16 Major League-seasons for Los Angeles Dodgers (1992-1998), Florida Marlins (1998), New York Mets (1998-2005), San Diego Padres (2006) and Oakland A's (2007).
Piazza played in 12 All-Star Games, was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1993 and was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2016.
In 2006, Piazza played for Italy during the first Classic.
In November 2019, Piazza was named Manager of Italy for the 2020 European Championship and the 2021 World Baseball Classic after he already had been Hitting Coach during the Classic in 2009 and 2013.
But then, many tournaments were cancelled due to the worldwide coronavirus-pandemic (COVID-19).
The European Championship was postponed to 2021.
The Classic needed to be postponed, as the Qualifying Tournaments were cancelled in 2020 and 2021.
However, during the 2021 European Championship, the Netherlands and Italy didn't play against each other.
The Netherlands then captured the title.
Last year, during the Baseball Week Haarlem, the two teams met in the first game of the international tournament in Haarlem (Netherlands).
The Netherlands won with a 2-1 score, but Piazza was not with the team.
At that moment, he was in New York attending the ceremony of New York Mets, which retired the uniform number of his former teammate Keith Hernandez.
Piazza arrived later in Haarlem, but the two teams didn't play against each other in the remainder of the tournament.
By the way, this also was a game in which four sets of brothers were on the two rosters.
For the Netherlands, Jurickson and Juremi Profar, Jonathan and Sharlon Schoop and Josh and Richie Palacios.
And for Italy, David and Dominic Fletcher.
All played, except Sharlon Schoop and Richie Palacios.
In the top of the first inning, the first Orange-batter reached base off of starter Matt Harvey.
The righthander first struckout lead-off hitter Ray-Patrick Didder, then hit Jurickson Profar with a pitch, but he stranded on first base.
Harvey pitched in nine Major League-seasons for New York Mets (2012-2013, 2015-2018), Cincinnati Reds (2018), Los Angeles Angels (2019), Kansas City Royals (2020) and Baltimore Orioles (2021).
He pitched in 180 games (172 starts) and was 50-66 with a 4.42 ERA and 867 strikeouts.
Last year, Harvey pitched in the Minor Leagues.
While playing for Los Angeles Angels in 2019, Harvey was a teammate of Andrelton Simmons.
In the second inning, Harvey gave up a 2-out comeback-single to Wladimir Balentien, but he also was left behind on first base.
...Italy celebrates the win and qualification...
...for the Quarter Final...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
But in the top of the third inning, Chadwick Tromp led off for the Netherlands and belted the ball over the rightfield-wall for a homerun.
Harvey recovered and retired the next three batters, closing with a strikeout for Xander Bogaerts.
Tromp was the catcher for the Netherlands in all four games.
Sicnarf Loopstok and Dashenko Ricardo were the other catchers, but they didn't play.
Back-up first baseman Zander Wiel also didn't get into action for the Orange-squad during the event.
Orange-rookie Jaydenn Estanista was the starting pitcher for the Netherlands.
The 21-year old righthander, born on Curaçao, plays professionally since 2021 in the Philadelphia Phillies-organization.
He played in the Rookie League in both 2021 and 2022.
Estanista made his debut in the Netherlands Team last weekend (March 5) in an exhibition game, but today, the righthander made his international debut.
Estanista did well in his international debut.
He gave up an one-out single to Nicky Lopez in the first inning, but a flyout and groundout ended the opening at bat of Italy.
Lopez plays in the Major League since 2019 for Kansas City Royals.
Last year, he played in 142 games, hitting .227.
In the second inning, Estanista got a runner with two outs when he walked Vito Friscia, but he was forced out.
Friscia plays in the Minors for Philadelphia Phillies, but is a non-roster player in Major League Spring Training this season.
In the bottom of the third inning, Mike Bolsenbroek took over the Orange-pitching and retired the side.
So far, so good for the Netherlands.
But then, the bottom of the fourth inning began and that was to be desastrous for the Netherlands.
Bolsenbroek gave up a lead-off (ground-rule) double to Dominic Fletcher, who then scored the tying run when Brett Sullivan followed with a single.
Fletcher plays in the Minors for Arizona Diamondbacks, Sullivan in the Minors for San Diego Padres.
With Sullivan on first base, a single followed from Vinnie Pasquantino, who last year played in 72 Major League-games for Kansas City Royals.
With two runners on base, the first out was recorded when leftfielder Jurickson Profar caught a line drive from Miles Mastrobuoni, who last season made his Major League-debut, playing in eight games for Tampa Bay Rays.
The rally developed quickly hereafter.
First, Bolsenbroek got the bases loaded when he hit next batter Vito Friscia with a pitch.
The righthander then uncorked a wild pitch, which enabled Sullivan to score the go-ahead run.
That was followed by a runscoring single from Ben DeLuzio, another player who made his Major League-debut last year, as he played in 22 games for St. Louis Cardinals.
With runners at the corners, another line drive-out followed.
This time, David Fletcher lined the ball into centerfield, where it was caught by Roger Bernadina, but Friscia could not score in this situation.
David Fletcher plays in the Major League for Los Angeles Angels since 2018 and also has been a teammate of Andrelton Simmons when the two played together there for three seasons (2018-2020).
With this new line drive, it was clear that Bolsenbroek was hit hard and was in problems, but he stayed on the mound.
Now with two outs, the righthander gave up another runscoring single, this time hit by Sal Frelick, who this year is a non-roster player in Major League Spring Training for Milwaukee Brewers.
With Italy now leading 4-1, the Netherlands went to the bullpen and Eric Mendez Matos took over with runners on first and second base and two outs.
The Aruban-born righthander was greeted with a 2-run triple off the bat of Nicky Lopez.
A flyout finally ended the long at bat, desastrous for the Netherlands, very productive for Italy, which now led 6-1.
All six (earned) runs were credited to Bolsenbroek.
...Reliever Joe LaSorsa shows...
...his emotions after he avoided...
...giving up runs in the...
...basesloaded situation...
...in the 6th inning...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Italy cleary had set the tone, but the Netherlands still had enough at bats left to realize qualification for the next round.
In the top of the fifth inning, Andre Pallante took over the Italian pitching.
Pallante, who last year pitched in 47 Major League-games for St. Louis Cardinals, walked lead-off hitter Wladimir Balentien, but the veteran was eliminated when next batter Andrelton Simmons grounded into a double play.
Italy got another runner in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth.
With two outs, Mendez gave up a single to Miles Mastrobuoni, who stole second base and moved to third base when a throwing error followed from catcher Chadwick Tromp.
Next batter Vito Friscia walked, but he was forced out.
And then, the top of the sixth inning began, which could have been a game-turner for the Netherlands.
The Orange Team quickly got the bases loaded, as Ray-Patrick Didder led off with a single, Jurickson Profar walked and Xander Bogaerts also singled.
With no outs, this was a big scoring opportunity to not only come back into the game, but also put up the number of runs allowed by Italy, as that of course would increase its runs-against-divided-by-defensive-outs-average.
A pitching change followed and Joe LaSorsa was inserted.
The lefthander plays in the Minors for Tampa Bay Rays since 2019, but is a non-roster player in Major League Spring Training this year.
And LaSorsa did outstanding, as he retired the next three players, who all played in the Major League.
With the bases loaded, Didi Gregorius went after the first pitch LaSorsa threw and hit a pop-fly towards short, which became an infield-fly.
With one out, LaSorsa then struckout Jonathan Schoop (Detroit Tigers) and Roger Bernadina.(seven MLB-seasons, four clubs).
When he struckout Bernadina to end the inning, LaSorsa pumped his fist and screamed on the mound.
With his outing, he had just sealed the win for Italy.
But still, the game wasn't over yet and the Netherlands still had three at bats to qualify.
But it still had to score at least three runs and of course, the team was now running out of innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, Italy got a runner on third base off of Curaçao-born Kevin Kelly.
With one out, Sal Frelick doubled and moved to third base on a wild pitch.
Next batter Nicky Lopez walked, but a double play ended the at bat.
The Netherlands got another runner in scoring position in the top of the seventh off of new pitcher Vinny Nittoli, who pitched in the Majors for Seattle Mariners (one game, 2021) and Philadelphia Phillies (two games, 2022).
He began by striking out Wladimir Balentien, then gave up a single to pinch-hitter Juremi Profar, but also struckout Chadwick Tromp.
Moments later, Profar was awarded second base when a balk was called.
But with a runner on second base, Nittoli closed with another strikeout, this time Ray-Patrick Didder.
While at Philadelphia last year, Nittoli didn't play together with Didi Gregorius
Nittoli played his games in September, but that was after Gregorius had been released by the club (in August).
After the Orange-defensive had turned another double play in the bottom of the seventh, the offense got another baserunner in the top of the eighth off of new pitcher Matt Festa, who pitched in the Major League for Seattle Mariners in 2018-2019 and last year.
With two outs, Festa gave up a single to Didi Gregorius, but then closed with a strikeout for Jonathan Schoop.
...Disapppointing faces in the Netherlands dug-out...
...after the loss and elimination...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
With a 6-1 lead, Italy added another run in the bottom of the eighth.
This could be labeled an insurance run, as the Netherlands now had to score at least four runs in the top of the ninth to avoid elimination.
Vito Friscia led off with a walk.
He was replaced by pinch-runner John Valente, who plays in the Minors for Detroit Tigers.
During the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Valente was a teammate or Orange-pitcher Tom de Blok when both played for West Michigan Whitecaps and Lakeland Flying Tigers (both Single-A).
After Kevin Kelly had struckout Ben DeLuzio, the righthander gave up singles to David Fletcher and Sal Frelick, which enabled Valente to score.
With Italy now leading 7-1, Franklin Van Gurp (born on Saint-Martin) took over the Dutch pitching with runners on first and second base.
He got a grounder from Nicky Lopez, which led to a force out, but also gave Italy runners at the corners.
Lopez then stole second base, but more runs were avoided, as leftfielder Jurickson Profar made a great diving catch on a line drive by Dominic Fletcher, which ended the at bat.
And so, the Netherlands got one final chance to something back.
But as mentioned, the team needed to score at least four runs, which proved to be too much.
The team got a chance to do some scoring off of new pitcher Mitchell Stumpo, who last season pitched in Triple-A for Arizona Diamondbacks.
The righthander walked lead-off hitter Roger Bernadina, then gave up a single to Wladimir Balentien, who was replaced by pinch-runner Josh Palacios after having reached first base.
But again, the two runners would be left behind.
Stumpo struckout next batter Juremi Profar (foul tip), then caught a pop-fly himself in foul territory, which was hit by Chadwick Tromp.
Next, Stumpo also struckout Ray-Patrick Didder.
And that ended the game and all teams were tied at 2-2 in Pool A.
During the game, it had become clear that Cuba would end up in first place via the run-formula, so that would now determine who would advance with them.
Italy won, which was not the biggest problem.
But the Netherlands had given up seven runs and Italy only one.
With that, Italy dropped below the run-average of the Netherlands to finish in second place and qualify for the Quarter Final.
The Netherlands finished in third place and was eliminated.
What was left for the Orange Team was a disappointing flight home.
For Italy, this is the second time it advances to the Second Round.
The first time was in 2013, the team was then eliminated in the Second Round.
The team was eliminated in the First Round in 2006, 2009 and 2017.
Despite being eliminated, the Netherlands will be one of the participating countries again during the sixth edition in 2026.
Sixteen countries have automatically qualified by finishing in the Top-4 of their Pool in this years Classic.
That means that Europe will be represented by at least five countries again: Czech Republic (4th place Pool B), Great Britain (4th place Pool C), Israel (4th place Pool D), Italy (2nd place Pool A) and the Netherlands (3rd place Pool A).
The countries that finished in fifth place in their Pool will have to qualify again via the Qualification Tournaments.
These countries are Chinese Taipei (5th place Pool A), China (5B), Colombia (5C) and Nicaragua (5D).
| Netherlands vs. Italy, World Baseball Classic |
| Date | Score | Site |
| March 12, 2023 | 7-1 loss | Taichung (Taiwan) |
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For the Netherlands, the following players came into action today:
Ray-Patrick Didder (RF, 1-for-5, 3 strikeouts), Jurickson Profar (LF, 0-for-2, walk, strikeout), Xander Bogaerts (SS, 1-for-4, strikeout), Didi Gregorius (1B, 1-for-4), Jonathan Schoop (2B, 0-for-4, 2 strikeouts), Roger Bernadina (CF, 0-for-3, walk, 2 strikeouts), Wladimir Balentien (DH, 2-for-3, walk, strikeout), Josh Palacios (PR, 0-for-0), Andrelton Simmons (0-for-2), Juremi Profar (PH/3B, 1-for-2, strikeout), Chadwick Tromp (C, 1-for-4, homerun, run, RBI, strikeout) and pitchers Jaydenn Estanista, Mike Bolsenbroek, Eric Mendez Matos, Kevin Kelly and Franklin Van Gurp.
(March 12)
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Fourth game World Baseball Classic 20223.