Super 6 2018: Day one

Since the WBSC Europe pushed back the European Championship to 2019 because it will serve as pre-qualifier for the Olympic Games, the Super 6 tournament was organized. This tournament hosts the six best baseball and softball countries in Europe. The six best baseball countries are Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Today, the games Italy vs Germany, Spain vs Belgium and the Kingdom of the Netherlands vs the Czech Republic were scheduled.

 Germany  1  –  11  Italy 

In a lopsided, slow and boring game, Italy bested Germany partially thanks to several home runs. There was a strong wind blowing out of the ballpark and once a fly ball was caught by the wind, it was blown out of the park.
In the first 4.5 innings, Germany could keep pace with the Italians rather well as they trailed 3-1 but in the bottom of the fifth, several fly balls cleared the fence for home runs and contributed to five runs. By then the game wasn’t a game anymore.
The German head coach used six pitchers in the game as they threw two innings at most. Thanks to the constant change of pitchers, the game had a very slow pace.
Eventually, Italy scored three more runs in the seventh to finish the game in seven mercy rule-shortened innings.
Italy used only two pitchers of which Luis Lugo earned the win after six innings in which he gave up one run on three hits and two walks and struck out four. Daniel Thieben pitched 1.2 innings in which he gave up only one run but that was enough to be tabbed with the loss.
Best hitter for Italy was Alessandro Vaglio who went 3 for 3 with an RBI. Chris Colabello had the most impact with five RBI.

 Belgium 1  –  13  Spain 

Another mercy rule-shortened game as Spain needed seven innings to shove Belgium aside. Boldly, Belgium took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a single down the right-field line by Thomas de Wolf. But the runner-up of the 2016 European Championship scored twice in the bottom of that very same inning and never looked back. Kenny van den Branden, Belgium’s best pitcher, was hit hard. After 2.1 innings he had given up eight runs and by then the race was already run. In this game, Spain homered thrice which lead to five runs. The three fielding errors Belgium committed helped Spain to several extra runs.
Lowuin Sacramento earned the win for Spain. In six innings he gave up one run on six hits and a walk and struck out five.
Best hitter for Spain was Daniel Martinez who went 3 for 4 with three RBI and a run scored.

 Czech Republic 6  –  7  Kingdom of the Netherlands 

Unpredictable winds led to a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Dwayne Kemp hit a high fly ball that normally would have been a lazy fly out but now dropped next to the right fielder who didn’t have a chance to catch it. A stand-up triple by Dudley Leonora allowed Kemp to score the Dutch second run.

Video provided by Super 6

A high hit ball by Curt Smith was carried by the wind as well for a home run to make it 4-0.
In the meantime, Orlando Yntema mowed down the Czech lineup as he gave up two hits and two walks and fanned eight in the first five innings.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Czechs had a big opportunity to get into the game as they had runners in scoring position with only one out. But Yntema served up a pitch that ended as a lineout to shortstop Dudley Leonora and Yntema struck out Martin Schneider for the final out of the Czech at-bat.
Doubles by Dwayne Kemp and Curt Smith led to another Dutch run in the fifth inning.

Eventually, in the top of the sixth inning, the Czech Republic got on the board as Ademar Rifaela wasn’t able to catch Daniel Vavrusa’s fly ball down the left field line and as a result it bounced over the outfield fence for a ground rule double and allowed Matej Hema to score the Czech Republic’s first run of the game.

The bottom of the sixth proved to be another fruitful inning for the Dutch as they scored two runs on a single by Dashenko Ricardo and a sacrifice fly hit by Kirvin Moesquit.

In the eighth inning, the Dutch relief pitching faltered as it allowed the Czech Republic to score six runs and to make it a game again. It started with Ber van Driel who gave up a single, a walk and a sac fly that put runners on the corners. Jim Ploeger replaced van Driel in an attempt to limit the Czech offense but Ploeger gave up a run on a fielder’s choice and walked one to load the bases. Kevin Kelly, who replaced Ploeger, did not fare much better as he allowed a two-run single and allowed the Czechs to score their fifth run on a 5-3 groundout. Eventually a single by Petr Zyma signaled the end of the inning. Premek Chroust could score the sixth run for the Czechs but Arnost Dubovy was thrown out at home plate for the final out of the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Dutch had a huge opportunity to extend their lead as they had runners in scoring position with no outs but a pop out, a foul out and a fly out ended the chances for the Dutch.

After a poor eighth inning, Kevin Kelly settled down and retired the side in the ninth for the save. The win went to Orlando Yntema.

Best hitter for the Dutch was Ademar Rifaela, who had a terrific debut with Team Kingdom of the Netherlands with three hits out of four at-bats and two runs scored.