A few days ago the Dutch national team left for Sénart, a Parisian suburb. At the field of the baseball club Les Templiers de Sénart, the France International Baseball Tournament is played.
Last night the Dutch faced the Japanese amateur champion Seino Unyu
The Japanese sent Shoji Saeki to the mound.
The Dutch had a hard time to read the pitches of this submarine pitcher. In the first two innings Saeki retired the side and only in the third, the Dutch got on base for the first time when Kevin Moesquit singled. But Moesquit was caught stealing for the third out of the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, it looked like the Dutch would be retired in a 1-2-3 inning again. But then with two outs, Yurrendell de Caster singled to left field followed by a single of DH Gianison Boekhoudt. With runners on first and second, my favorite player, Kalian Sams came through with an RBI single to center field.
Until the eighth inning, the game looked like the first three innings very much, except for the seventh. In the seventh inning, Kalian Sams collected his second hit of the game and eventually advanced to second base on a failed pick off attempt. But with Sams in scoring position, Kevin Moesquit’s line drive was caught by Japanese second baseman Yuta Nakamura for the third out of the inning.
The eight inning started to look like the previous innings again; the first two batters were retired by Saeki, who was still on the mound. But then Nick Urbanus connected for a single to center field, followed by Yurrendell de Caster who hit a sharp single to center field on which Urbanus could advance to third base. When Gianison Boekhoudt singled to right, Nick Urbanus touched homeplate for the second Dutch run. Eventually Kalian Sams popped out to second base for the final out of the inning.
In the top of the ninth, reliever Kevin Heijstek retired the side and the Dutch clinched their first win of the tournament.
Shoji Saeki got the loss despite pitching a complete game in which he fanned seven and allowed two runs on eight hits.
For the Dutch, Diegomar Markwell pitched five innings for the win in which he allowed three runs, walked three and struck out three. Markwell balked one time.
Kevin Heijstek earned the save by pitching the remaining four innings. Kevin allowed just one hit and fanned three.
(photo: courtesey France International Baseball Tournament)
At bat Kalian Sams and Gianison Boekhoudt had the same numbers: two hits in four at bats and an RBI. But Boekhoudt struck out once, while Sams didn’t.
Despite the good game, there was some bad news too. Roger Bernadina was called up by the Dodgers. Don Mattingly said that Bernadina is a pinch runner specialist who can put some speed on the bases off the bench. So the Dodgers are pulling a player from our roster only to be a pinch runner? This is a big loss for the Dutch. I never liked the Dodgers and this is a reason to dislike them even more. 😉
Dutch Baseball Hangout 