Women’s Baseball World Cup 2018: Dutch not able to cope with Puerto Rican hitting

Also their third game the Dutch ladies were no match.A big second inning decided the game prematurely.  In 4.5 innings the Netherlands fell to Puerto Rico 16-1.

Things started well for the Netherlands when Esther Maliepaard scored the opening run. Maliepaard got on base on a walk, then stole second and as she stole third base, the Puerto Rican catcher made a throwing error that gave her a free pass towards home plate.  But the lead did not last long as Puerto Rico tied the game in the bottom of the first inning.

In the second inning, the Dutch ladies had a golden opportunity to take a lead again as they had runners on the corners. But this time the team could not cash in as Bianca Mooi was caught stealing and Jessica Kroeskop flied out to center field.

The bottom of the second inning was a disastrous one. With two quick outs, the Dutch had the chance to get out of the inning but thanks to a throwing error by the second base woman, the Dutch couldn’t get out of the inning. Puerto Rico took full advantage of the error as they scored seven runs. In each of the next two innings, Puerto Rico would score four runs so the Dutch were not able to make up again.

In the third inning, the Dutch ladies were denied a triple play. With the bases loaded and no outs, Puerto Rican batter Kiara Resto Losada hit a line drive that ended in the glove of third base women Famke Gildemacher. But Gildemacher could not cling on to the ball and dropped it. Gildemacher recovered by stepping on third base for the first out, threw the ball to home plate where the runner from third was tagged out. Since Resto Losada wasn’t running towards first base, the Dutch pitcher threw the ball towards first base to record the final out of the inning. At least she thought. But the line drive by Resto Losada was ruled an infield fly (!) so she was called out even though the play wasn’t made right away. Eventually the poor judgement of the home plate umpire did not result in more runs. The video below shows the action described above.

At bat, the Dutch ladies could not do much as they were kept in check by the Puerto Rican pitchers. Angelis Rivera Ramos lasted four innings in which she gave up one run on one hit and three walks and struck out one. Her reliever, Quetsy Colon Nadal, pitched the final inning in which she gave up just one hit.

The two Dutch ladies who got a hit today were Winke Verdick (1 for 2) and Bianca Mooi (1 for 1).