Intercontinental Cup
	Netherlands vs. Japan November 12, 2006

Compiled and Copyright © 1997-2006 by Marco Stoovelaar

Dutch scoreless against Japan
Nederlands | Box Score | Play-by-Play
TAICHUNG (Taiwan) - After two victories, the Dutch Baseball Team was shutout 3-0 on Sunday-afternoon by Japan, which therefore remained unbeaten after four games in the Intercontinental Cup-tournament in Taiwan. Japan leads with Cuba, which is also unbeaten and shutout the Philippines on Sunday 24-0, scoring 15 runs in the first inning. No games are scheduled for Monday. The Dutch will play their next game on Tuesday against host Taiwan.

Rookie Leon Boyd started his first game for the Dutch team, after he had pitched 1 2/3 inning in relief last Thursday in the opener against Cuba. The righthander threw six solid innings, giving up only four basehits, but had to give up a run in the seventh. Before that, only one Japanese runner had reached third base. In the second inning, Kei Nomoto reached second base on an error by short stop Raily Legito and moved on a single, but stranded on third as a double play followed. With the double play, Boyd retired eight batters in a row, before giving up a single in the fifth inning.

After Japan had stranded a runner on second base in the first inning, the Dutch got two runners on in their half. With one out, Raily Legito walked, but was forced out on a grounder by Sharnol Adriana, who was hitless today after hitting nine basehits in his last two games. Next, Bryan Engelhardt reached on what appeared to be an error by second baseman Takayuki Terauchi, but he was credited with a basehit by Cuban Official Scorer Carlos Del Pino and his two Taiwanese colleagues. With two runners on base, a flyout ended the at bat. With that flyout, Japanese starter Tadayoshi Masuda started to retire nine batters in a row, before Sidney de Jong singled in the fourth inning with two outs. But moments later, he was forced out on second on a grounder by Ivanon Coffie.

In the fifth inning, Yukitoshi Kosaka singled with one out and the next batter was hit by a pitch, but again Japan left two runners behind. In the home fifth, Danny Rombley singled with one out, but was caught stealing.

...Dirk van 't Klooster... ...back in action... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

After stranding its fifth runner in the sixth inning, Japan scored its first run in the seventh inning. Kei Nomoto led off with a hit towards third baseman Ivanon Coffie, who could have been credited with an error, but the Japanese centerfielder reached first base with a single. He moved into scoring position on the third single in the game by Yukitoshi Kosaka, after which Leon Boyd was relieved by Michiel van Kampen. The two runners then advanced on a sac-bunt by Kenji Suzuki, after which a force play was created by loading the bases, giving Naoto Watanabe an intentional walk. However, next batter Tomochika Onizaki followed with a single to produce the first Japanese run. A double play then ended the inning. In the home seventh, Bryan Engelhardt led off with a single, but then Japan also turned a double play, followed by a great catch from centerfielder Kei Nomoto on a fly by Ivanon Coffie.

Japan added two runs in the eighth inning off new pitcher Gregory Gustina. The lefthander first walked Hiroaki Takaya, who could have been forced out at second on a grounder by Yasuyuki Saigo, but short stop Raily Legito committed an error. The two runners moved on a sac-bunt, then both scored on a single by Kei Nomoto. Gustina was relieved by Nick Stuifbergen, who started by striking out Yukitoshi Kosaka (who was 3-for-3), then also retired the next next four batters he faced.

The Dutch team got one last scoring opportunity in the ninth inning. Eugene Kingsale led off with a grounder towards second baseman Takayuki Terauchi, who made an error, then stole second and third base. But then Raily Legito struckout and, after Sharnol Adriana walked, Japan turned a game-ending double play.

In the home of the eighth inning, Dirk van 't Klooster entered the game as pinch-hitter (groundout) for Danny Rombley for his first at bat in the tournament. The experienced outfielder only appeared as a pinch-runner in the opening game against Cuba and didn't played yet. He was penciled in the starting line-up for Friday's game against Italy, but was scrubbed shortly before game time. In the second exhibition game against China the week before, Van 't Klooster sustained a rib injury and has been bothered by that since then. But today, he also played the last inning in centerfield, making it appear that he is on the way back and might be in the line-up for the next game on Tuesday against Taiwan.

Complete Play-by-Play Netherlands vs. Japan (Game Four)
Box Score Netherlands vs. Japan (Game Four)

Also on Sunday...
Taiwan defeated Korea 9-7 with Dutchman Feiko Drost being the Official Scorer and Dutch Umpire Edwin van den Berk officiating at third base.
In the afternoon, Cuba scored 15 runs in the first inning en route to a 24-0 shutout vs. the Philippines.
In the afternoon, Australia and Italy played a 4 hours and 17 minutes game, which was won by Australia 8-7 in 13 innings. Australia won on a walk-off homerun in the 13th by Bradley Harman, who also had homered in the ninth when Australia scored twice to tie the score at 7-7. Dutchman Jan Esselman was one of the two Technical Commissioners in this game.
(November 12)