The Dutch team opened strong and went ahead 4-0 quickly. Ray-Patrick Didder had a RBI double in the first and later scored on a sac fly by Juremi Profar. One frame later Delano Selassa scored on an error. Profar made it 4-0 with a solo shot in the third.
Spain got on the board in the fourth inning with a RBI double by Wander Encarnacion. But Sicnarf Loopstock completely destroyed a ball for a two-run homerun in the bottom of the fifth to give the Netherlands a commanding 6-1 lead.
But Spain didn’t gave up. Gabriel Lino cut the deficit to 3-6 with a two-run double in the sixth. A RBI groundout by Daniel Jimenez and a sac fly by Wander Encarnacion made it 5-6 in the eighth.
In the ninth Dutch closer Kevin Kelly got two outs quickly. Then Omar Hernandez singled on the first pitch, got to third with a stolen base and a wild pitch.
Afterwards the Netherlands had Edison Valerio, who walked, in a run down, but couldn’t get him out on the steal attempt. This proved costly, as Jesus Ustariz singled to third base and went the throw went wide both Hernandez and Valerio scored to give Spain the 7-6 lead. The Netherlands didn’t find an answer and had to settle for the loss.
All games can be followed by live streaming on www.baseballeurope.tv and live play by play through www.wbsceurope.org.
Photo by Petra Voet
