   Dutch Team wins v.s Philippines
Nederlands
 AUCKLAND (New Zealand) -
On Tuesday, the Dutch Men Softball Team registered its first win of the World Championship in New Zealand.
The team twice failed to hold onto a lead, but decided the game in the fourth inning en route to an 8-4 win vs. the Philippines after having lost its previous four games.
For the Dutch Team, the win is to late, as it is eliminated for the Play-Offs.
Even in case the Orange squad wins its remaining games against pool-leaders New Zealand and Canada, reaching the Play-Offs is not a possibility.
The team cannot end up in a tie with New Zealand or Canada or both, meaning these two countries always will finish above the Dutch.
With the eventual two wins, a tie with the Philippines (which is in favor of the Dutch) also is no possibility, as this team ends up one win short.
With two additional wins, the Dutch might end up in ties with one or more of the other teams, but that always is not in favor of the Dutch, as the face-to-face games against these teams were all lost.
The Dutch Team plays its next game on Wednesday against host New Zealand.
...Kenny Dame...
...2-run homerun...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
The Dutch Team was off to a good start, scoring twice in the first inning.
With one out, Osandrick Statia reached on an error, then Kenny Dame followed with a homerun to make it 2-0.
A third run was added in the second inning.
Eldrick Dijkhoff led off with a single, but was forced out on a grounder by Randy Lo-A-Tjong.
Rien Smulders followed with a single and a wild pitch moved the runners to the next base.
A grounder by Tim Verbrugge, which led to no outs, enabled Lo-A-Tjong to score and make it 3-0.
With runners on first and third, Verbrugge was called out for leaving first base too early, then Mike den Braven walked, but a strikeout ended the at bat.
Things went the wrong way for the Dutch in the bottom of the second inning.
The defense didn't made the outs and so, the Philippines was able to put down three sacrifice bunts, score three runs and tie the score.
Starting pitcher Jeroen Mulder walked the lead-off batter, then an error was made on a sacrifice bunt by third baseman Randy Lo-A-Tjong.
Hereafter, catcher Kenny Dame also committed an error on another sac-bunt, which led to a run and runners at the corners.
The defense then also didn't made an out on the third consecutive (fielder's choice) sacrifice bunt, which gave the Asian opponent another run and kept runners on first and third base.
The Philippines then came alongside when Ben Maravilles was caught stealing, but at the same time Oscar Bradsaw scored from third base on the throw.
And so, it was a complete new game with a 3-3 score.
Facing a new pitcher, the Dutch Team re-took the lead in the third inning.
With one out, Enrique Javier walked, then scored when Glennsig Polonius followed with a double.
Eldrick Dijkhoff then lined out and the inning ended when Polonius was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a single by Randy Lo-A-Tjong.
Again, the Philippines was able to come alongside.
Erwin Visser took over in the bottom of the third for Mulder and gave up back-to-back singles to Orlando Binarao and Jasper Cabrera.
The two advanced on a sac-bunt and Visser followed with a strikeout, but then a single by Dario Bacarisas made it a 4-4 score.
Visser ended the at with another strikeout, but the score again was in balance.
From the fourth inning on, the Dutch Team controlled the game.
It took the lead for the third time and this time held onto it, while the pitching and defense did the rest.
In the last four innings, only one more Filippine runner reached second base.
In the top of the fourth inning, Tim Verbrugge singled with one out, then Mike den Braven homered to make it 6-4.
This led to a pitching change, who struckout the next two batters, but the Orange was on top again.
In the fifth inning, Glennsig Polonius and Eldrick Dijkhoff singled with one out, but two grounders led to two runners being left on base.
The Dutch Team increased its lead to 8-4 in the sixth at bat.
Tim Verbrugge led off with a walk and moved to third base on a single by Mike den Braven.
Two outs followed, but then both scored on a single by Enrique Javier.
Erwin Visser struckout four batters in the last four innings and gave up three singles in that span.
In the fourth, he gave up an one-out single, which was followed by two flyouts.
He retired the side in the fifth, then gave up a lead-off single in the sixth, but then three outs followed, while the baserunner stranded at second base.
In the seventh, he gave up a 2-out single, then ended the game in style with a strikeout.
In this game, 16 of the available 17 players on the Dutch roster played.
The lone player who didn't saw action was pitcher Arjan Baanen.
other games today:
...Adam Folkard...
...15 SO's... |
Game 33: Venezuela vs. Australia
Australia remained unbeaten by winning 5-0 vs. Venezuela.
The game was scoreless for five innings, but then the Aussies scored twice in the sixth inning.
With the bases loaded and no out, Venezuela brought in a new pitcher, but he made an illegal pitch on his fourth delivery, resulting in a run.
A sacrifrice fly then made it 2-0.
In the seventh, Australia added three runs on singles by Nathan Jones and Zenon Winters and an error.
Adam Folkard went the distance, struckout 15 batters and gave up four hits.
With the win, Australia, the reigning world champion, became the first team to officially qualify for the Play-Offs.
Game 34: Mexico vs. Colombia
In the next game today, Colombia also registered a 5-0 shutout, defeating Mexico.
Colombia took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to singles by Lewis Lugo and Yerson Santana and a double by Cesar Jiminez Velez Uribe.
A triple by Lugo and a wild pitch lifted the lead to 5-0 in the fifth inning.
Winning pitcher Ramiro Martinez struckout 10 and gave up only two hits.
Game 35: Czech Republic vs. Samoa
The Czech Republic trailed 2-0 after the first inning, but turned the game around to win 6-2 vs. Samoa.
In the first inning, Samoa scored twice on a single by Duane Jerard, but then their scoring stopped.
The Czechs then rallied for four runs in the third inning on an RBI-single by David Mertl, RBI-double by Petr Vacha and a 2-run single by Vaclav Svoboda.
An error and a homerun by Mertl made it a 6-2 score in the sixth inning.
For the Czechs, the win vs. Samoa in case of an eventual tie for fourth place in their pool.
Samoa, which had a good start of the tournament, remains a candidate for the championship pool, despite their loss today.
...Travis Price...
...No-Hitter... |
Game 36: USA vs. Indonesia
Team USA won 14-0 in 3 1/2 inning vs. Indonesia, which therefore was officially eliminated for the Play-Offs.
Travis Price struckout eight and threw a 4-inning No-Hitter.
He was supported with four runs in the first inning, thanks to a baseclearing, 3-run triple by Joshua Johnson and a single by Dave Lohman.
The Americans then rallied for ten runs with two outs in the third at bat.
In this inning, nine basehits were registered.
After a lead-off double, two outs followed, but then a walk accounted for the next runner.
Then the hitting began.
Jaime Garcia hit an RBI-single, then two runs were scored on a single by Trevor Kelly, followed by back-to-back homeruns by Todd Schultz (2-run) and Adam Lalonde.
A double by Mark Tan, and error and another single by Garcia increased the lead to 14-0.
It was only the second win by the USA, but it still has possibilities to reach the Play-Offs.
...Kenneth Pregnell... |
Game 37: Great Britain vs. South Africa
Great Britain shutout South Africa 2-0 to remain in the race for a spot in the Play-Offs.
Veteran pitcher James Darby struckout 14 batters and gave up only two basehits.
The British team also had only two basehits and one of them decided the game in the fifth inning.
Morgan Ottridge led off the fifth, reached on a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Joshua Peat.
Next, Kenneth Pregnell hit an inside-the-park-homerun to give the British a 2-0 lead.
Game 38: Japan vs. Canada
Japan upset unbeaten Canada by winning 4-1 and moved into a tie for fourth place.
Canada opened the score in the fifth inning on a grounder, but Japan answered with four runs in the sixth at bat.
After a single and hit batter, two outs followed, but then Yohei Ono singled in two runs to give Japan a 2-1 lead.
A following double by Kenji Nakamura then added two insurance runs and made it 4-1.
Because of the Canadian loss, all kind of things are still possible in their pool.
Game 40: New Zealand vs. Argentina
New Zealand closed Day 5 with a narrow 2-1 win vs. Argentina to move into a tie for first place with Canada.
The Kiwis opened the score in the second inning on a single by Wayne Laulu.
The second run was added in the fifth inning when Thomas Makea homered.
Argentina scored its lone run in the seventh inning via a single by Manuel Godoy.
(March 5)
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