U-12 European Championship 2018: Dutch finish job vs Croatia in three innings

One hour and three minutes were all the Dutch needed to finish the game vs Croatia. In three innings the Dutch beat up the Croatian pitching and won 20-0. For the Croatians, this was the third big defeat in a row.

In the previous two games, the team from the Balkan fell to Italy 24-0 and to Belgium 21-2. Today it would not be much better.

After a day of rest as both groups have an odd number of teams, the Netherlands would link Croatia to the chariot as the Croatians were no match.

Croatian starting pitcher Bartol Bosanac had some control issues as he gave up five walks and threw five wild pitches. This resulted in thirteen runs for the Dutch squad of which four were unearned. His successor, Orion Ocvirek, did not give up as many runs but of the seven runs he allowed, none was earned. Their Dutch counterparts, Kimi Verkruijssen and Guido Feldkamp did a lot better. None of the two gave up a run as Verkruijssen struck out two and Feldkamp one.

The Dutch team managed to collect eleven base hits of which Amarensio Franka and Thijs Helms hit three out of three at-bats. Helms also drove in four runs as Franka had one RBI. Compared to their opponent, the Croatians did not get a hit. Taking this into consideration, one can wonder how the Croatian coaches keep their kids motivated as it cannot be fun to be beaten up like this in every game.

After two games, the Dutch share first place with Germany and Italy in group A. One can only wonder how three of the strongest teams can have been put together in one group.
Tomorrow, the Dutch will face Slovakia that was no match for Germany and Italy but beat Austria for its first win today.